Reviews

Slay the Princess begins with a deceptively simple premise: you walk through the woods, reach a cabin, and are told to kill the Princess in its basement to save the world. Almost immediately, the game reveals that this is not a task to be solved, but a question to be lived with. Gameplay is stripped to its barest form: choices, dialogue, belief. And yet, those choices carry surprising weight. The game constantly interrogates your intentions—are you acting out of fear, duty, curiosity, love, defiance? The branching narrative is staggering, with paths that fracture, loop, contradict each other, and remember what you thought you knew. What initially feels like a visual novel slowly becomes a philosophical maze, where the Narrator, the Princess, and even your own inner voices argue over meaning, control, and identity. The horror here isn’t about jump scares—it’s existential, intimate, and deeply psychological. What elevates _Slay the Princess_ is its presentation. The hand-drawn pencil art feels raw and alive, constantly mutating to reflect your decisions. The voice acting by Jonathan Sims and Nichole Goodnight is exceptional, shifting effortlessly between menace, tenderness, humor, and despair. The music is subtle but lingering, reinforcing moods rather than dominating them. Progress demands time and mental energy; seeing “enough” endings requires commitment, reflection, and sometimes walking away just to breathe. Slay the Princess is not just a game you play - it’s a game that plays with you. Unsettling, brilliant, exhausting, and unforgettable.