Indie game developers, Little Snake Studio have recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for their new otome game project, House of Petals, a psychological thriller otome visual novel that blends romance, mystery, and slow-burn horror. Set in a beautifully haunting version of ancient Asia, it invites you to investigate, explore, and survive.
The game currently offers a free demo available on Steam and itch.io. The demo features 9 bad endings and 2 non-bad paths.
TRAILER
PREMISE
You awaken in the serene yet unfamiliar Lotus Pavilion with no memory of who you are or how you got there. Beside you is Han—a gentle, soft-spoken artist who claims to be your husband. He insists you simply suffered a fall and lost your memory. Everything he does seems devoted to your comfort… but the more you explore, the more unsettling things become.
Is Han truly who he says he is? And more importantly—who are you? You have 4 days to survive and find out the truth.
CHARACTERS
GAME FEATURES
- Point-and-click investigation – collect clues, make deductions, uncover secrets
- 1 yandere love interest (and the ability to romance 2nd love interest with the DLC)
- Highly replayable – multiple endings and non-linear story branching
- Beautifully haunting anime-style CGs and atmospheric art
- Customizable protagonist name
- Partial voice acting in demo
- Optional DLC: Expansion Pack unlocks hidden areas, secret routes & more endings
The game’s Kickstarter campaign currently aims for full voice acting for both love interests (Han and the secret LI), as well as additional stretch goals for other language localizations, including Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish.
MINI REVIEW, FIRST IMPRESSION
From what I’ve played in the demo, House of Petals certainly has the kind of eeriness + uncanniness that I go out of my way to look for when it comes to romance VNs with a thriller/suspenseful theme. The sound design was fantastic, and I think was even the main hook that made the game more intriguing to play, imo.
Great eerie atmosphere, decent voice acting. Also, the trailer was tone-aware of the themes its trying to market, and quite effective on that front I’d say. I would definitely recommend watching it for anyone curious about the game.
I think the Live2D animations during the intro could be smoothed out a little bit, as the movements feel slightly jarring and wobbly from what I’ve seen. That said, it may very well be a stylistic choice from the developers, so I didn’t mind it too much.
Writing-wise, I feel like it could use more purple prose, given that the setting is in Ancient Asia. Not only in Han’s dialogue, but also during the MC’s musings. There was a part where she reads a diary, and it would’ve been great if the writing style of the diary had more expressiveness or some sort of eloquence-flow to elevate the mystery it’s telling the audience/player. Then again, this is only the demo, so there’s definitely room for improvement in the final game, I’d assume.
While playing the demo, I had unlocked five bad endings before I stopped. I do hope the full game will have more story progression rather than abrupt bad ends. Or perhaps the bad endings need to be spaced farther apart, as it becomes kind of repetitive in the long run when one option leads to a bad end, only for you to restart and have another option right near the previous one lead to yet another bad end. LOL 🤣
Nonetheless, my gameplay for House of Petals was still a pretty good run though! The title’s atmosphere is phenomenal and I’m even quite pulled in the premise (or rather, the cliffhanger) as well as where the story is going. I also think the investigative part of the gameplay was very intuitive. I do hope this campaign gets fully funded so we can see & find out the whole picture. I definitely recommend checking the demo out, especially for those who enjoy dark, atmospheric stories with an LI dripping with red flags.
For more information about this game, its current campaign, and exclusive rewards, visit the House of Petals Kickstarter page here.
Otome Kitten 