10 Indie Horror Games That Changed Everything

Two things that make Doki Doki Literature Club stand out are its bold strategy in its release: not giving away its twist and allowing word of mouth to generate interest; as well as its surprisingly invasive mechanics, where deleting certain game files become part of the story.

Marketing itself at first as a simple, run of the mill dating sim with cute anime schoolgirls, it takes a violently dark turn when one of the main love interests, the cheery and bubbly childhood friend Sayori, commits suicide by hanging.

While it feels out of nowhere due to the game's tone, there are hints to her personality being a front for severe depression, and from this moment, the game takes a horrifically dark turn, with Sayori literally "erased" from the game—including save files which record her existence.

Themes such as child abuse, self-harm, obsession, and further suicide become prominent, culminating in sections of the game where the player must delete certain files in order to progress the story. This seemingly simple dating sim turned horror game is one of the most innovative in recent memory, though these days, most people know of its twist (and massively triggering content).