Doki Doki Literature Club!

Doki Doki Literature Club!
The four main characters pose in front of a white background dotted with pink polka dots. The game's logo sits in the top left corner.
Cover art with the main characters (from left to right): Sayori, Yuri, Monika, and Natsuki
Developer(s)Team Salvato[a]
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Dan Salvato
Programmer(s)Dan Salvato
Artist(s)Satchely
VelinquenT
Writer(s)Dan Salvato
Composer(s)
  • Dan Salvato
  • Nikki Kaelar (Plus!)
  • Jason Hayes (Plus!)
  • Azuria Sky (Plus!)
Engine
Platform(s)
ReleaseOriginal
  • WW: September 22, 2017
Plus!
  • WW: June 30, 2021
Genre(s)Visual novel
Mode(s)Single-player

Doki Doki Literature Club! (sometimes shortened to DDLC) is a 2017 visual novel video game developed by Team Salvato for personal computers. The story follows a student who reluctantly joins his high school's literature club at the insistence of his friend Sayori, and is given the option to romantically pursue her, Yuri, or Natsuki. Club president Monika also features heavily in the game's plot. The game features a non-traditional plot structure with multiple endings and unlockable cutscenes with each of the main characters. Although it initially appears to be a light-hearted dating sim, it is actually a metafictional psychological horror game that extensively breaks the fourth wall.[1][2]

The game was developed by Team Salvato, an American independent game studio, in an estimated two-year period by a team led by Dan Salvato, previously known for his modding work as part of Project M. According to Salvato, the inspiration for the game came from his mixed feelings toward anime and a fascination for surreal and unsettling experiences. The game was released as freeware for Linux, macOS, and Windows, initially distributed through itch.io, and later became available on Steam.

Doki Doki Literature Club! received positive critical attention for its successful use of horror elements and unconventional nature within the visual novel genre. The game also inspired various internet memes and achieved a large online following. An expanded version of the game, subtitled Plus!, was released as a premium game in 2021 for PCs as well as the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S home consoles. It received generally positive reviews, with praise for its side stories and gameplay on consoles, but some criticism for its lack of changes.


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  1. ^ "Doki Doki Literature Club: Scariest Moments of the Game, Ranked". TheGamer. May 19, 2020. Archived from the original on April 11, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  2. ^ Travers, Sean (2022). Trauma in American Popular Culture and Cult Texts, 1980-2020. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 5. ISBN 978-3-031-13286-5.