# Doki Doki Literature Club Doki Doki Literature Club is a free psychological horror visual novel released by Team Salvato in September 2017 that disguises itself as a cute anime dating sim before turning into a metafictional story about mental illness and self-harm. The game spawned a large modding scene, viral Let's Play videos, and the catchphrase 'Just Monika'. ## Overview Doki Doki Literature Club, usually shortened to DDLC, is a free-to-play visual novel from indie studio Team Salvato that sells itself as a bright anime dating game before flipping into a psychological horror story[1]. The player is dragged into a high school literature club by their childhood friend Sayori and meets three other girls named Natsuki, Yuri, and club president Monika, then writes poems by picking words that appeal to a specific character to steer their romantic route[1]. Monika, notably, does not have her own route[5]. What looks like a standard romance simulator turns dark across three acts, with characters becoming aware they exist inside a game and Monika manipulating the game's code to remove her rivals[2]. Faces distort, dialogue glitches, background music slips out of tune, and progressing at certain points requires the player to open the game's actual program folder and edit files[5]. Team Salvato attaches a warning that the game is not suitable for children or anyone easily disturbed[4]. The game is credited to Dan Salvato, who handled writing, coding, and music himself[1]. Its shock reveal, meta horror tricks, and cast of four archetypal anime girls made it a magnet for YouTube reaction videos, fan art, and one of the most active modding scenes any 2017 indie release picked up[2]. ## How It Spread One day after release, Redditor Mithost posted to /r/arg about hidden .chr files sitting inside the game's program folder, which turned out to contain secret QR codes, images, and messages that formed a full alternate reality game[5]. On September 24th, 2017, the /r/DDLC subreddit launched as the main discussion hub for the game[5]. YouTuber ManlyBadassHero uploaded the first in a Let's Play series on September 26th, and the Doki Doki Literature Club Wiki went live on October 6th[5]. A modding scene formed almost immediately around demand for happier alternatives to the base ending. Work on a mod called Monika After Story started on September 26th, 2017, from a player who used the name Backdash, and it grew to draw contributions from dozens of collaborators through a Discord chat organized by a modder named Pi along with Redditors CampinKate, Logokas, and PM_ME_SOMETHING_[2]. The mod passed 100,000 downloads within roughly a year of launch[2]. YouTuber Karl Campers posted a 'Monika Route' playthrough on October 15th, 2017, that pulled around 220,000 views[5]. Other mods followed quickly. Doki Doki Literature Club 1.1.0 and the in-progress A Brand New Day both let players save the girls from their scripted fates[5]. A mod announced on January 21st, 2018, called Doki Doki Literature Club: Purist Mod, tried to rework the game as a straight romance visual novel with the horror stripped out[5]. On January 15th, 2018, the Game Theorists streamed themselves playing mods for over 318,000 viewers, and Bijuu Mike's playthrough of the 1.1.0 mod passed 980,000 views on YouTube[5]. ## How to Use As a meme, Doki Doki Literature Club is used in three main ways. The catchphrase 'Just Monika,' which comes from a late-game screen where Monika's name replaces the other characters in the menu, is typically dropped in comments or thumbnails to signal that a piece of media is about to turn horrifying[5]. Screenshots of Sayori, Natsuki, Yuri, and Monika are commonly cropped into reaction images, often paired with distorted or glitched text to reference the game's meta horror style[6]. Modders who want to build on the base game are pointed to the DDLCModTemplate project maintained by the Monika After Story team[3], and player-made content is shared through /r/DDLC and /r/DDLCmods rather than any official channel[5]. ## Cultural Impact Doki Doki Literature Club was linked to a real-world tragedy in early 2018. Fifteen-year-old Ben Walmsley of Radcliffe, a pupil at the former Philips High School, died in February 2018, and both police and the coroner investigating his death connected the case to the game[4]. The inquest at Rochdale Coroner's Court was delayed until November 22nd, 2018, to give Bury Council's safeguarding hub time to complete a serious case review[4]. Police and the coroner issued public warnings about the game and repeated Team Salvato's own notice that it is not suitable for children or anyone easily disturbed[4]. Kotaku followed the mod scene closely and interviewed Monika After Story project lead Pi, who said he found the mod's development version on 4Chan after finishing the game and could not stop thinking about it[2]. Pi told Kotaku that the game's requirement to open its own files gave modders an obvious on-ramp, and that fans wanted prequels, sequels, and alternate endings almost immediately[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Doki Doki Literature Club? It is a free psychological horror visual novel from Team Salvato, released in September 2017, that is disguised as an anime dating game and turns metafictional by its second act[1]. ### Where did Doki Doki Literature Club come from? Solo developer Dan Salvato built the game under the Team Salvato name and released it on DDLC.moe and Steam on September 22nd, 2017[1]. ### What does Doki Doki Literature Club mean? 'Doki doki' is a Japanese onomatopoeia for a racing heartbeat, a common trope in anime romance, and the title plays on that expectation before the horror twist lands[5]. ### How do you use Doki Doki Literature Club? As a meme, players quote the catchphrase 'Just Monika,' share glitched character reaction images, and build mods that alter or rewrite the game's ending[5]. ### Is Doki Doki Literature Club still popular? It is a classic of the indie horror scene with an active modding community around Monika After Story and derivative projects on /r/DDLCmods[3]. ### Who made Doki Doki Literature Club? Dan Salvato of Team Salvato wrote, coded, and scored the entire game himself[1]. ### Why is DDLC considered a horror game? After a cheerful first act, characters become aware they are inside a game, faces distort, dialogue corrupts, and Monika edits the game's code to eliminate the other girls[2]. ### What is the Monika After Story mod? Monika After Story is a fan mod started on September 26th, 2017, by a player named Backdash that turns the ending into an ongoing simulator where the player can spend unlimited time talking to Monika[3]. ### Was Doki Doki Literature Club linked to any real-world tragedies? The death of 15-year-old Ben Walmsley from Radcliffe in February 2018 was linked to the game by police and coroners, prompting a serious case review by Bury Council[4]. ### What is 'Just Monika'? 'Just Monika' refers to a late-game screen where Monika deletes the other characters and only her name is left in the menu, and it is now used online as shorthand for the game's horror twist[5]. ### What is DDLC 1.1.0? Doki Doki Literature Club 1.1.0 is a fan mod that rewrites parts of the story so the player can save Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki from their scripted fates[5]. ## References 1. [https://ddlc.moe]() 2. [https://kotaku.com/doki-doki-literature-club-mods-make-the-game-less-depre-1822392125]() 3. [https://github.com/Monika-After-Story/MonikaModDev]() 4. [https://www.burytimes.co.uk/news/16320531.ben-walmsley-inquest-delayed-until-november-for-serious-case-review-by-bury-council/]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/doki-doki-literature-club]() 6. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Doki%20Doki%20Literature%20Club]() 7. [https://store.steampowered.com/app/698780/Doki_Doki_Literature_Club/]() 8. [https://www.reddit.com/r/DDLC/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/doki-doki-literature-club Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library