From the viewpoint of a new father, visual novels are perhaps one of the easiest games to pick and play with an infant in arm. It's a lot of reading and clicking for good old family fun. This is only partially the case with perhaps the most surprising free game I would try this year: Doki Doki Literature Club! Fun for the family, this game is not.

I'm not going to be the one to necessarily spoil the details of where Doki Doki goes with its story of a high school after-class club devoted to books and poetry, but my nervous reactions to my four fellow female schoolmates legit made my baby daughter upset. After a couple of hours moving the story along, I declared that I can't play this game while in dad mode. Strangely enough, it had nothing to do with the lustful romance you'd expect from unsupervised teenagers. There are things I can't unsee. There is cutesy music I can't unhear.

I haven't finished the last stretch of Doki Doki, but I've done my research and this shit is indeed bonkers. Like "climb into bed at the end of a long day and suddenly your eyes are wide open" bonkers. I don't know why I do this to myself at all. Thanks for the warning that this cute game would be disturbing, Doki Doki Literature Club!

Games of 2017

Throughout January, the Games of 2017 will lead the way towards The 2017 Grimmys - Horrible Night's Games of the Year Awards.

Previous years