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YAAAAAAAAAS. Please go play this!

We are happy to say that Drops of Death has been released and features partial voice acting! 🎉🎉🎉 Special shout out to Cody from MAHO! Studio for being our fantastic voice director! 🥳🥳🥳 Our phenomenal cast:

Time to date those killers!!! 💀 Play Drops of Death on Steam 💀

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Witness the might of the power throuple! ☁️🪱☀️It's Still Pronounced Rules with lyrics is out now!

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DtD DATE! Devlog - Part 10, "Danish"

Welcome to my Defeat the Darkness DATE! Devlog! This is a multi-part series covering the development of my Otome Jam game, Defeat the Darkness DATE! (free to play on itch)

(sprite art by salt)

In the original Defeat the Darkness, Danish lived in the woods under Sir Beaumont's tutelage guarding North Town Forest and didn't have to deal with society. In this universe, however, constantly moving has forced them to deal with society, then another move shuffles the deck and makes them deal with a new society from scratch, and so on. This is difficult and traumatizing, especially when your family/support network SUCKS. They retain some of their deadpan snarker traits from the original DtD but here they're overwhelmed, they're stretched too thin, they never feel comfortable, and that makes them liable to snap at others. None of the LIs ever get angry (and have no angry sprites) because Danish does plenty of it on their behalf.

The decision to only see them at the end of the game was a matter of efficiency: I didn't want the artists to have to toil over making an entire expression sheet across two uniforms, and scenes were easier to stage because everything happened through Danish's eyes. We only see them when they look in the mirror near the end to establish who they are, before the player sees them dancing/hanging out with their chosen love interest.

Danish's ambiguous gender in the original DtD was originally inspired by a loose collection of things (including Hideyoshi from Baka and Test and Vaarsuivius from Order of the Stick) and while it was an interesting novelty in 2012, it needed to mean more in 2025. The player's choices don't change the fundamental character of Danish: They are who they are, and the player chooses the boxes Danish puts themselves in to please the figures of authority. Scientists like to disparage horoscopes because they fit all of humanity into just 12 boxes, now consider putting 7 billion people into just two (2) "genders." As a cishet male in his mid-30's, I'm not exactly a gender expert, but I have a lot of opinions on labels and how they're used as a form of social control, so that's the angle I attacked it from and tried to be as true to my own experience as I could. I hope that it's an entertaining angle for you to experience, as well.

Aside from that, the other theme of the game is what happens when you don't know how to receive love. Can you truly feel comfortable letting people into your world when it's worked out approximately zero out of zero times? What can make you open that door again? Having a closed-off heart seems easier in the moment, but finding people who enjoy having you around, and you enjoy in kind, is the key to a long and happy life. The choice branches were made deliberate and literal because Danish knows what road they're going down if they choose not to take chances on these people.

Please don't ever give up.

And thank you for reading! I hope this was a fun insight into the development process of DtD DATE! We're planning a few more up-DATEs, so stay tuned.

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DtD DATE! Devlog - Part 9, "Danish's Family"

Welcome to my Defeat the Darkness DATE! Devlog! This is a multi-part series covering the development of my Otome Jam game, Defeat the Darkness DATE! (free to play on itch)

(sprite art for "Dad" by jay)

The family in this story are essentially just plot devices. Mom has one line at the beginning, and it is to sell the idea of a "normal" high school AU VN for about fifteen seconds before Defeat the Darkness DATE! truly kicks the player's teeth in. Owen, Danish's older brother, is occasionally mentioned as an example for Danish not to follow. Dad serves as our 'face' despite the literal barrier he holds between himself and his child. I don't think I could be any more direct or literal about how bad the family situation is here, and how Danish/the player are not able to rely on them for emotional support. We are cast to the wolves to build it ourselves.

The game has an undeniable thread of cruelty in it, but without that cruelty we would not have the same game, the same struggles, or the same payoff for the protagonist. Danish is allowed to give up, to mimic the cruelty they've been taught, or, despite how difficult and unfair the entire process is, break the cycle and manufacture their own happiness. In order for those choices to matter, in order for that happiness to matter, the player has to be given the opportunity to explore those very possible realities where Danish simply cannot change who they've been nurtured to be.

NEXT TIME: Meet Our Protagonist (Danish)

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DtD DATE! Devlog - Part 8, "Mr. Krimp"

Welcome to my Defeat the Darkness DATE! Devlog! This is a multi-part series covering the development of my Otome Jam game, Defeat the Darkness DATE! (free to play on itch)

(sprite art by salt)

I was not going to disparage the legacy of the original Defeat the Darkness by having any of those characters stoop to the level necessary to hammer home how awful North Town High can be. Mr. Krimp is his own monster, unfamiliar on purpose and free to be as evil and cruel as he needs to be.

salt drew him a little stockier than I initially imagined, and I think this works really well. It gives the assumption of a military background, which helps explain his desire for order/compliance and ties into Danish's family problems (constant moving, the threat of military school).

I felt it was important not just for Danish to feel more comfortable in North Town, but also to tell the player that Mr. Krimp wouldn't be THIS BAD, FOREVER after they closed the game. Everyone is accountable to somebody, and Krimp has to answer both to Principal Dagon as well any mutual friends he has with Ned on their boomer social media site of choice (Tumblr? lmao).

NEXT TIME: Meet the Family

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DtD DATE! Devlog - Part 8, "Mr. Krimp"

Welcome to my Defeat the Darkness DATE! Devlog! This is a multi-part series covering the development of my Otome Jam game, Defeat the Darkness DATE! (free to play on itch)

(sprite art by salt)

I was not going to disparage the legacy of the original Defeat the Darkness by having any of those characters stoop to the level necessary to hammer home how awful North Town High can be. Mr. Krimp is his own monster, unfamiliar on purpose and free to be as evil and cruel as he needs to be.

salt drew him a little stockier than I initially imagined, and I think this works really well. It gives the assumption of a military background, which helps explain his desire for order/compliance and ties into Danish's family problems (constant moving, the threat of military school).

I felt it was important not just for Danish to feel more comfortable in North Town, but also to tell the player that Mr. Krimp wouldn't be THIS BAD, FOREVER after they closed the game. Everyone is accountable to somebody, and Krimp has to answer both to Principal Dagon as well any mutual friends he has with Ned on their boomer social media site of choice (Tumblr? lmao).

NEXT TIME: Meet the Family

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DtD DATE! Devlog - Part 7, "Principal Dagon"

Welcome to my Defeat the Darkness DATE! Devlog! This is a multi-part series covering the development of my Otome Jam game, Defeat the Darkness DATE! (free to play on itch)

(sprite art by salt)

Much like Beaumont, Dagon was a very tropey character in Defeat the Darkness: The hammy all-powerful final boss. For DtD DATE!, he retains his power, his presence, and his nobility. Difference here being that the corrupting influence of this modern-day school system has nothing on the magic of the Tower of Paradise. He's out here doing his best. North Town High is old, and so carries a lot of prestige (not many new kids end up here) but the unnamed "new school" gets way more funding (as newer schools tend to do). Dagon works hard to spin his limited resources and keep the underprivileged from slipping through the cracks.

His diplomas represent the recurring color palettes in RPG Maker PS1 (Red/Green/Blue/Purple/Black). The rest of the room says "This is a nice guy, you should like this guy, you should trust this guy" which a normal player would do but makes our protagonist Danish bristle. They are not comfortable feeling comfortable. They've moved too often. At this point in our story, it's effectively impossible and this scene becomes their first reluctant step.

The scene with Dagon is hands-down the most resource-intensive scene in the game: It requires its own character sprite, two backgrounds, and (just for fun) its own (stock/licensed) music track. Without this scene, we are simply trapped in Danish's head and lose the ability to foreshadow any of the story or mechanics. Danish's dialogue after telling Dagon you don't need his help was a shock to more than one playtester and made it clear they were not playing this game as themself, they are playing as a traumatized teen who is not used to anyone offering genuine empathy. It's a dash of hot sauce which communicates the theme and the potential consequences of their future actions.

As in the original, Dagon's role is small, but leaves an important early impact.

NEXT TIME: Side Characters (Mr. Krimp)

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DtD DATE! Devlog - Part 6, "Sir Beaumont"

Welcome to my Defeat the Darkness DATE! Devlog! This is a multi-part series covering the development of my Otome Jam game, Defeat the Darkness DATE! (free to play on itch)

(sprite art by salt)

Sir Beaumont was a very tropey character that was much easier to remix than the leads: A deft and chivalrous knight that sometimes didn't have his priorities straight. I could keep basically all of it as a TV career and tack a real guy on top.

His acting tenure is loosely based on action shows of the 90's like Hercules/Xena/Highlander/Brisco County Jr: Cheesy adventure-of-the-week outfits that weren't the biggest thing in the world but were pretty good and had their niche. And of course kids would eat that shit up. The different seasons were easy to handwave with executive meddling and gave each of the protags something unique to like within their shared fandom, including their own characters like Lady Genevieve (S1), the Mad King (S2) and the Dark Duke (S3).

As far as his life as "Ned," I decided he's the role model figure: He's a humble dude from a small town, he had a taste of the city, he's satisfied with his time there and ready to come back home. The name "Ned," like many things in game development, was a placeholder. Nothing too long or pretentious. It happened to stick and keeps him relatable.

He also embraces the most fantastical element of the game: There are adults who want to help you, and they don't care if you're a little bit cringe.

NEXT TIME: Side Characters (Principal Dagon)

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We have 14,500 wishlists on Drops of Death 🎉🎉🎉🩸💀

We launched a new marketing campaign for Drops of Death a little over a year ago now, and it's amazing to see how much progress we've made as we rapidly approach the release of the game.

Thank you all for your support! This has been so wonderful for our small studio to get this much recognition, and we hope we can continue to see that wishlist number skyrocket 🚀

✨ Steam ✨

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Just a heads up that, in light of the new itchio content restrictions revealed today, I......

........will not be taking anything off. They can pry OW out of my cold vegetilian hands 🫡 I don't wanna be snuffed without a fight.

(Though I am actively working on that free Patreon as a backup host.)

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DtD DATE! Devlog - Part 5, "Milia"

Welcome to my Defeat the Darkness DATE! Devlog! This is a multi-part series covering the development of my Otome Jam game, Defeat the Darkness DATE! (free to play on itch)

(sprite art by salt)

Milia's arc in Defeat the Darkness has been tweaked slightly for DtD DATE! - Instead of shooting monsters with a bow, she now shoots animals with a camera. Instead of being forced out of Pleasanton when it gets destroyed, she gets forced out via a move and she slowly loses contact with her friends there, effectively erasing them. Still optimistic and naive, still a little rough-and-tumble. Of all the love interests, she carries over the most DtD DNA.

Originally I fell into the trap of "she just moved here" being her personality, resulting in more of a "trauma bond" with Danish. Multiple members of the team advocated for more out of her, and as a result of their enthusiasm I pushed myself to give her more, which made the "she just moved here" aspect into a "second level" of her character that elevated her arc in ways above the other two LIs (for example, the camera was salt's idea since loving the outdoors generally means taking lots of pictures of it, as well).

She has a depth and a connection with Danish that the Waldo and Isaac can't match. Because they're both dealing with a difficult move that they didn't ask for, Danish and Milia are forced to think about themselves in a new way as they witness someone else handling it: Milia leaving the only home she's ever known, Danish moving too frequently to have ever felt like they had one. They reflect each other and invite comparison, much in the same way my character and Jethro do in the the original DtD when they are handed an unexpected amount of power.

Ironically, this isn't my first time working to improve Milia's story arc: Most of DtD Ep 20 was written in 2017 (three to five years after the rest) to give her some more development and closure before the final battle.

The scene with Beaumont at the Red Rooster just sort of exploded out of me one day. I knew she was shy about being a fan of the romance focus in Season 1 but I didn't know how to approach it. Both of the guys got to be toxic fans; I'd be short-changing Milia if she didn't get that kind of development, too. For roughly two hours, I was in a split state: This was way too extra, but also the right thing to do. I hadn't pulled any punches so far and this was no time to start. Only by exploring these dark corners can you give them light. Ned's reaction has an entirely different power here than if Milia had been a shy moe uguu protagonist who never lost her cool.

At the dance scene, she and Danish are roughly the same height, moving as one and moving as equals. I've occasionally asked myself if I did right by this character back in the day, and that personal pressure (alongside a lot of support from the team) gave Milia the kind of happy ending here that I think she always deserved.

NEXT TIME: Side characters (Ned/Sir Beaumont)

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DtD DATE! Devlog - Part 4, "Isaac"

Welcome to my Defeat the Darkness DATE! Devlog! This is a multi-part series covering the development of my Otome Jam game, Defeat the Darkness DATE! (free to play on itch)

(sprite art by starri)

Let's not bury the lede. His name had to change. "Chinchin" was the right name for the original show 13 years ago - It wouldn't be out of place in a stoner comedy of the era, but having a sequel means it is no longer a one-off joke. Additionally, I knew as far back as February that I didn't want to voice him, so this was no longer a meta joke about the showrunner calling himself a ding-dong. And finally, general knowledge of Japanese culture is at the point where it was no longer a funny haha for people in the know - it caused playtesters to actively avoid him, even if they liked his personality. They didn't feel comfortable dating him, talking about him, or even recommending the game. The stigma of the playtesters, imo, feels similar to Adam's character squicking out at Princess Lilac's odd voice in the original DtD - a case of life imitating art, I suppose.

It would be not be fair to my team to let their hard work languish over an outdated joke, so after perusing several JRPGs/SRPGs and looking at about 2,000 names, I kept circling back to Isaac. This is my boy now. On reflection, it ended up being the final piece of the puzzle to make him his own character.

Isaac's script was written entirely under his former name, and that whole time I was wondering how much of 'me' should be in him. Additionally, would it be the 'me' that was writing him right now, or an attempt to write him as he was written 13 years ago for the original Defeat the Darkness? I identified a few key factors and filled him in as necessary.

He uses his massive brain to plan and think ahead, which I think is a good way of demonstrating his intelligence without slamming the brakes on the plot. In the other routes, he pushes both Waldo and Milia to confess to Danish. It's not that he wishes to exist in the background, but he's frequently bullied for his size/mannerisms and has found a way to fade into the background, thrive there, and weaponize it, like a little albino Batman.

He's stand-offish in his "Get to know" segment because anybody who broke his camouflage is either a close friend or some kind of threat. His ending is a bit of a subversion because it's his guard that goes down instead of Danish's. He's also a 'switch' and will either follow or lead the ending dance at the player's choosing. I think focusing on these aspects helps him be the silly nerd he still is without him and Waldo sharing too much of the same road.

It was interesting writing a guy as the "shrinking violet" trope character and I hope now, free of his old baggage, that people enjoy getting to know him.

NEXT TIME: Meet the Love Interests (Milia)

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DtD DATE! Devlog - Part 2, "The World"

Welcome to my Defeat the Darkness DATE! Devlog! This is a multi-part series covering the development of my Otome Jam game, Defeat the Darkness DATE! (free to play on itch)

Obviously, North Town is based off the very first town in Defeat the Darkness, North Town. This ends up working in context because even large IPs like High School Musical use painfully generic-sounding locations like "East High School" and give the world of DtD DATE a thread of familiarity. The school colors are blue, with purple and gold, to match the flag of North Town in the original DtD. Our sports team is the North Town Knights, because North Town is the most developed city in DtD and also I just love alliteration.

In a broader worldbuilding context, it made sense to name the city center "The Castle Square" but when the majority of the game takes place at the high school it created disconnects both communicating with the team and even remembering it myself. It would have made more sense if we spent more time outside of the school but the demands of a game jam be as they are and we have to limit fluff locations and fluff scenes.

For example, it's only necessary to see Danish's room to communicate the vibe/mood for the home scenes, so we don't see any of the rest of the house. There is still some fluff, however - the Castle Square Park is hardly used, and the principal's office is only used once.

I still felt they were important to include because dramatic events take place that cannot be done within the other locations. The vibe of the other locations would be permanently altered if, for example, we face the bullies directly inside the Red Rooster and it no longer feels like a safe hangout space away from adults and other social pressures.

My good friend Jon played some roles in the original DtD and as our dm has been expanding the world of DtD in at least two tabletop campaigns. He helped provide some lore and worldbuilding advice for a modern North Town. It made sense to make North Town a small town that was having a population boom. It's growing and undergoing a lot of change, like our protagonists.

NEXT TIME: Meet the Love Interests (Waldo)

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DtD DATE! Devlog - Part 3, "Waldo"

Welcome to my Defeat the Darkness DATE! Devlog! This is a multi-part series covering the development of my Otome Jam game, Defeat the Darkness DATE! (free to play on itch)

(sprite art by salt)

Originally, Waldo was based off my good friend Adam, who gets sucked into JRPG-land with me in the original Defeat the Darkness. I kept a lot of his DNA for this, and he even contributed a couple lines for the script. When I asked if he wanted to reprise his voice role, he declined, saying "I was just a dude in a Waldo costume" which gave me plenty of freedom to adapt him for DtD DATE! and also made me feel very comfortable with my earlier decision to step down from my own voice role.

Waldo's character remains as a chill, down-for-whatever kind of nerd. It makes him a good 'himbo' character and an important item on the otome ingredient list. If you're here for the angst, there are two other characters to help you explore that. If you just want to date a cool dude, like most other otome, then Waldo's got you covered.

For the character guides, I gave the sprite artists two rules: They must make the love interests a certain height (for the dancing scenes to make sense), and they must retain the character's original hair color (to keep them familiar). Our artist salt adapted Waldo into a kind of 'gyaru' style and I think that worked really well for him. I'm also going to use this space to shout out the artists taking the limited color palette and giving every character a unique skin color. Definitely adds a lot of personality to the game. That wasn't an instruction from the director, that was just a cool thing they thought to do.

When the bullies arrive, I knew what they would knock the other two LIs for, but not Waldo. I asked Adam "Hey, what's a thing that's embarrassing in school but doesn't actually matter?" and he said "Uhhhh, they threw up in class!" and I not only used it for Waldo, but adapted it into a plot point. Something in the back of my mind was nagging me about giving him a physical disability when the other two protags have unresolved mental issues instead, but this turned out to be a classic case of Sometimes Cody Worries A Little Too Much(tm).

Because Waldo was made with ingredients from another person, I wondered if I gave him the proper consideration that I did the other routes. His popularity with the beta testers confirms that I did him justice.

NEXT TIME: Meet the Love Interests (Isaac)

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Drops of Death

A Killer dating sim coming August 7th, 2025 💀💔

In Drops of Death, there's been a murder at the university pool. A mysterious hooded killer is responsible for the death of innocent students. MC Adrien barely manages to escape with their life, but now they must face the threat of an unknown killer looming.

There are four love interests Adrien meets along the way, including a detective, a junior detective, a shy student and former swim team member, and your best friend. The twist? Each love interest can spawn as the killer at the start of your playthrough. They each have their own killer routes, killer romance endings, and they also can be innocent too. The thrilling part is, you could be dating the killer and not even know!

Choose your pronouns (She/her, He/Him, They/Them)

Choose between a masculine or feminine appearance

LGBTQ+ romance

Collect evidence to uncover the truth

Randomized killer

Unlock the ability to preselect the killer after completing a full playthrough of the game

Partial Voice Acting

50+ Endings (SO many possibilities)

Love is a dangerous game in Drops of Death. 💀💔

Wishlist the game on Steam.

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DtD DATE! Devlog - Part 1, "The Concept"

Welcome to my Defeat the Darkness DATE! Devlog! This is a multi-part series covering the development of my Otome Jam game, Defeat the Darkness DATE! (free to play on itch)

In May of 2024, I finally sat my ass down and outlined/began writing a sequel to the original Defeat the Darkness (2012-2018). It would have been another isekai webseries featuring new characters in a new game once again focusing on man's relationship with technology.

Over that year, it became increasingly obvious that youtube/google/alphabet was not just doubling down but tripling down on their investment into AI and I no longer felt comfortable making a show for them. This would mean either adapting DtD2 into an actual playable "game" in RPG Maker, or pivoting into making something else. DtD2 became difficult to work on because of this new reality so in order to keep writing I dropped all pretense and in February began earnest work on DtD DATE!, intended from the start to be a playable game where it could live on other websites.

According to my files, I had come up with a DtD visual novel pitch at least as early as July 2024 (it was spun into its own document in 7/2024 and might have been birthed earlier). From the start, Danish had always been envisioned as the protagonist because their gender was malleable and their side character status meant they had room to be expanded upon. Certain choice branches would be no-brainers for our defined protags but Danish had room for development and player autonomy.

The three LIs were the "core dateables" and attempts were made to flesh out other DtD protags (Lilac/Kay/Jethro/etc.) but they were unfortunately scrapped to limit the scope of the game.

Part of what spawned both DtD 1 and 2 is how I frequently moved as a child and how that shaped my connection with media such as tv and video games, which did a better job of following me on these moves than people did. Danish would of course be the new kid in town and learn to bond with the LIs over their mutual love of an old tv show. Sir Beaumont, therefore, naturally fit as the star.

Almost every side character is an asshole. This made narrative sense, as it gave Danish enemies to overcome. It also limited asset generation because if the player is told not to care about them, it's natural that they wouldn't have sprites/etc. Also, my apartment flooded within a week of starting to write this and I dealt with various aspects of that for 46 days. Creating this script became a form of catharsis. This also gave me my core concept: When you are raised without love for so long, when you feel that nobody cares, can you recognize the love when it is there? And will you trust yourself to do something with it?

NEXT TIME: Adapting the world of DtD into a visual novel

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A fumble of this caliber messes with a man's psyche...better avoid his broken-hearted rage lest you become toast.🪐 You Were Wrong. Go Back. with lyrics from OMORI is out now!