VN - Ren'Py - Ruin Me [v0.61.1] [Phanes]

The art is primitive, but the story by far makes up for it.
There's obvious triggerwarnings to all content, and while it's not everything that can be avoided it makes it easy to skip the parts you dont't want to read.

This is the only game on this site that has made me open thesaurus, repeatedly.

The writing is great, just enough mystery to get you spooked and hooked, and just enough exposition to make you feel like you're part of solving it without ruining the atmosphere.

Things became a little too clear-cut by the end of previous update - felt like you already know what's what in this world, so hoping for more mystery and horror going forward.

I admit the artstyle did take me some getting used to, but it does fit the setting and is actually pretty cute.
But the writing is where this game really shines. It explores various fetishes, often revolving around BDSM, but manages to always stay within parameters the player is comfortable with. I have a big soft spot for wholesome-ish soft-scenarios and this game does a wonderful job of portraying just that. Extra applause also for the marvelous handling of gender and sexuality. All in all, a really good game.

Amazing atmosphere and a promising game from head to toe. Artwork and some lines of dialogue feel a bit a bit rusty, but that doesn't throw a shadow over such a gem. Will be following the development, keep it up!

4.5/5.0

Review of version v 0.30.1: A cerebral Lovecraftian CYOA taking us on a tour through a variety of existential themes, leveraging heavily on the imagination; while presently, art is sparing and a bit simplistic, this is more than balanced by the strong narrative and high level of textual polish. With stronger visuals, this game has the potential to become a masterpiece.

This game is awesome!
It's easy enough to see the simple graphics and blood-stained lady on the preview pic and move on to another game - I made the same mistake myself for the longest time. But if you do, you'll miss out on one of the most stimulating games of recent memory.
The world is fairly open, enough so that you feel a sense of freedom but not so much that you're ever lost or struggling to determine where to go next. The smut is plentiful and of great quality and it's paced in such a way that you don't get bored but you also don't race through it so there's actually a sense of anticipation. This game has the feel of a real corruption story.
And the writing is great. If there were no sex, I could play with great enjoyment just for the side quests and story. So much the better that high quality, well-written, and unrushed sex scenes predominate the story.
The graphics are basic, but they are enough to set the mood and let the story be carried through the text and dialogue.
Do yourself a favor and check this one out.

-Barbarella2021

First and foremost: Don't let the bad quality art put you off. This game is a real gem, it's a very well written erotic horror story, with the most consentual and respectful BDSM/training interaction I've seen in any game on this site.

Absolutely give this game a try, and if the art is really bothering you the game provides an option to hide the character art.

Ruin Me may look unnappealing at first sight, specially considering the other stuff here that thrives on "fuck your DAZ3d (step)mom" which plagues this site. But you should still give it a chance, it is way better than silent hill in the "eldritch abomination with sex" department, instead of frustrating monsters that look hot, you have ugly humans that want you to fuck them.
The art is not very well done, but at least the developer is trying to improve, and also it looks way better than that "bob's burgers in space" crap over there. Also the story makes a come up for its flaws, if you disable art you can see it can still be erotic with a bit of imagination. This is the strong point of this game, it is not just "a porn game" it has actual and carefully crafted lore, world building, character development and progression. Give it a chance, you won't be disappointed, unless you want another DAZ3d game with pretty pictures, if so, go check the other 524965215264520148746320.02549865201 games in this place

The story is pretty good, the customization options are nice too.

The wording is well done and the quests are engaging.

A nice set of easily avoidable content let's almost anyone play.

The art is not that great, really hoping that the developer would update it soon. The scenes and accessories are also somewhat lacking but overall it's a good game.

A wonderful horror-themed trainer-style game with the twist that the trainee wants to be corrupted from the outset. Once you get past the art for the characters (which has its charm in an amateurish way but YMMV), you'll find that the writing really holds this whole thing together, evoking that sleepy-town horror feel that I adore, and if you've played Quest for Glory 4 or Gabriel Knight 3, you'll know exactly what I mean (in fact, the GK3 soundtrack complements this game perfectly).


Good:

- Fetishes, especially BDSM and exhibitionism, are approached in a mature way. Which is not only refreshing to see in a game, but it works perfectly for the relationship between the very worldly protagonist and Theresa, who is eager and bright, but shy.

- You can customize you character to be male, female or non-binary and change it during gameplay.

- Fetishes are clearly-labeled in cases where it's not immediately obvious before choosing an action. Which is especially good, because this game gets weird, especially with transformation and body horror.

- Even though most of the dialogue options don't alter the outcome of conversations/scenes unless clearly indicated, it's still very good to have them rather than just having to read a novel. You get to express opinions that other characters may agree or disagree with, you can be more considerate, selfish or rude, and while it doesn't ultimately change the course of the story, it does wonders to keep me invested.


Bad:

- While the game is very sex-positive and made to accommodate a range of player preferences when it comes to gender and genitalia, with basically everyone being bisexual and often speaking in gender-neutral terms... this does water down the potential for femdom/maledom quite a bit if you're into that. Though there is femsub centered on Theresa.

- The progression currently is somewhat limiting. With the 3 attributes (essentially Dom, Sub and Foreplay), I imagined I could make Theresa much more assertive than submissive. Unfortunately, as far as I could tell in my playthrough, you have to max out all three before moving on to the next chapter. Also there's much more emphasis on Sub than Dom when it comes to Theresa. You could argue that Debauchery doesn't necessarily stand for dominance, but then there are some options for verbal humiliation of the protagonist that are definitely that, and hopefully there'll be more of it. What I like to see more than anything is a less linear progression of Debauchery/Permissivity that leads to different dialogue and different options as you progress through the story.

- I also felt the progression was just a tad too quick, even for someone who *wants* to be "ruined". It's not realistic to go from "I get panic attacks from being lightly touched" to "I'll perform an occult ritual completely in the nude while degrading myself and getting someone off at the same time" within a couple weeks, and then from "I agreed to be penetrated for the first time by someone I trust implicitly" to "sure, I'll prostitute myself on the docks every night" basically on the same day. For the most part, the scenes are good, the writing is strong and I found myself invested in the characters, but the pacing feels off. I wish there were more bumps in the road, more hesitation, even if it means delayed gratification for the player.

While some people might knock this game for not having the best art style (which I would agree that I would prefer it be improved). I feel thats judging the book too harshly by it's cover seeing as this games strongest pro seems to be the writing (which, compared to most Adult 3DCG games I've played before, makes this game appear Shakespearean by comparison)

If what you want Is ridiculously proportioned characters with the writing of a horny 14yr old, by all means don't try this game out. While the writing in this game isn't anything crazy, it sure isn't the basic "She breasted boobily" type writing I've come to see in other titles.

While you could make a joke about adult games having loads of "plot" sometimes it's actually nice to have a little plot in games like these.

A very, VERY bizarre game.

The game is written in a far more elaborate and literary fashion than most giving it a unique feel and it does seem to be trying to say more than most games. Possessing elements of horror and mystery. Feels like it has more artistic ambitions than most games on this site and that is admirable.

The issue is, the art style is extremely ugly in my view and it does put me off in a big way. Also the game suffers from being very slowly paced and begins to feel grindy in places.

A game I sort of recommend for novelty, there is nothing else on this site quite like Ruin Me. However I feel if more games tried to do what this game does it's shortcoming would become even more apparent.

I played it for 2 hours and didn't feel I wasted my time, but I highly doubt I will play it again.

This game wasn't made for me, but that didn't stop me paying my £2 pledge to see where it goes.

I thought it seemed quite niche at first, but with all the themes and kinks included, and likely planned for the future, playing as a "Male with Phallus and No Chest" who is only really interested in girls of the opposite I find I'm probably in the minority. The choice is there though; I knew what I was getting myself into as it's clear from even before starting what it the game entails, but thanks to rollback and skippable content if I don't want fingers or eggs up my pee-hole, I don't need to and I appreciate the courtesy. I came for a particular kink, and it let me do just that

Image-wise the scenery is suitable moody and suits the Lovecraftian setting, though the characters are self admittedly quite basic and inconsistent for now it doesn't matter as the content is in the writing and it makes the whole game. There's more than enough imagery in the descriptions it would be enough reading this as a book, but Theresa is cute and it certainly a bonus. The relationship between her and the player has me hooked more than the other mysteries surrounding this story.

It's good to have a game with a future here that isn't family or animals or whatever stuff just doesn't make sense to me, but it's opening me up to more BDSM stuff that I was always too squeamish to consider. I'll be following it for a while.

The game is a solid visual novel, the premise is fantastic, and the writing and dialogue tracks perfectly with the lovecraftian style. If you can find a professional artist capable of balancing pornography and body horror, Ruin Me would be absolutely deserving of a five star rating. Excellent job so far, can't wait to see more.

Excellent mix of story and eldritch horror, and the erotic content is actually integral to the story, rather than merely being tacked on as fap material. That alone raises its quality in my mind, but the nature of the integration makes it even more enjoyable.
The character art is clearly not of professional quality, but the story is so enjoyable that I quickly found myself not caring.

If you come to games solely for fap material, you may want to pass this one over. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a game that gives you an enjoyable introduction to eldritch things, with optional erotic horror content, this game is worth more than a second look.

The following review is based off my personal experience with playing this Game/Visual Novel... I try to be as brutally honest and detailed as I can, and these are my own opinions and thoughts, from one or more play throughs... The version this review is based on is v0.17...

Horror based games, of any sort, are not really my thing, but I still gave this VN/Game a go anyway...

The visuals are hand drawn 2D for all the characters, being of a moderate to low quality... The developer does mention at the beginning that the current character visuals are not permanent, so I'm guessing they are just place holders... The backgrounds are mostly real images that have been altered, which although original looking, they are also of moderate to low quality... I'm hoping they are also temporary, because using just filtered real images feels a bit lazy, especially knowing the character visuals are temporary...

The script is very well done, as I rarely ran into any spelling/grammar errors... The story telling itself is also very well done... The plot revolves around a protagonist of your choosing, as the options are numerous for varying gender setups (they can even be altered mid play)... The time of the setting is somewhere in the not too distant past from what I could tell, as there are automobiles but also horse and carriage... The protagonist is an archeologist but also a specialist in erotica on the side, having authored many books on the subject... He/She/It is hired to help out a rich and reclusive woman in an old sea side town with investigating some strange things happening with both the woman herself, and the surrounding town...

The game play mechanics are a mix of Trainer, Exploration, and Investigation... Using easy text based choice menu's... The trainer content is gated now and then by the main exploration and investigation story lines... Which are a mix of magical, mystical, spiritual, ancient and horror based themes... Along with nightmares bathed mostly in what appears to be random like horror events that occur during most nights... The game day is broken up into 3 sections, with some activities using up Time and some not... There is also a form of currency, in the form of Ken, which is gained through a small list of activities and spent to do very specific exploration and investigation activities...

There are many varying forms of erotic content that are linked to various events throughout the entire VN/Game... Most of it is slightly avoidable if you feel it is a bit more risque for your tastes, while some others will occur whether you like it or not... So the trainer erotic events are not the only source for the erotic content... And even during the trainer content, you are presented with many choices for how you want the interactions to play out... The developers have tried very hard to allow for varying levels of erotic choice... But not necessarily in the form of just different fetishes... Although it does have plenty of various available fetishes now and then as well...

Even though this VN/Game has plenty of erotic content, most of it exists through the story telling, and less so through visuals... Which I didn't really mind all that much... The writers did a very good job with their writing style and it shines through in the details of the story telling... The writer/s have gone to great lengths to include various highly believable details surrounding the history aspects of the town, and all the various tid-bits and so forth... I would have to say, that it is some of the best story telling I've run into in this niche market...

Yes, I did avoid certain things I did not want to read about, because I'm just not big on horror themed erotic content all that much... Some was not too terrible, but some I felt was beyond my limits to deal with (in particular anything gore related or disgusting)... But thankfully, in most cases you are presented with the choice to lessen the impact of the event, if not avoid it entirely, while still completing needed goals... Dream sequences and a few of the main story line events, alas are not avoidable... As they are used to set the mood of spookiness, dread, and horror... I would probably place it into a moderate horror level, with some occasions of higher level horror now and then, again, sometimes varied depending on choice, when a choice is offered...

Overall, even though the character visuals are not all that great, with some actually being a little disturbing looking, the story is told rather well... The main female character and the protagonist have deep and meaningful personalities... The side characters are not quite as deep, but they are more of less there as brief side content and/or supporting characters... So I really didn't mind them too much... Do be prepared for some surprises (wink wink) with a few though...

Obviously the developer is still early into development, with this mostly story based VN/Game... I do hope the future character visuals are not as disturbing as might be suggested by some of the text descriptions... And I also hope the backdrops are not all permanent either... But the developers have plenty of time to work all that out... Will I be revisiting this one? At first I was feeling a bit hesitant, mostly because of the horror (and occasional gore) aspects... But I still may give it another go somewhere a bit further down the line, once it's had a chance to mature a little bit, work out it's visuals, and so on... I wish the best of luck to the developer/s...

Interesting writing and story, terrible porn game.
What this game does well is crafting a world, depicting Lovecraftian monsters and mysteries and having an interesting main character (the girl, not the protagonist).
The rest of the characters don't stand out as nearly as interesting but they're mostly not terrible either. The archaic way of speaking is obviously done with much effort and certainly good enough. If you're well-versed in it you do notice that it doesn't always sound like it comes to the characters naturally, but that's easy to overlook and doesn't break immersion.
What the game doesn't do well is basically everything in regards to the pornographic side of things. The illustrations are terrible, the sex scenes often weird and rarely interesting from a pornographic point of view (the otherworldy-horror thing is done well though) and sex with anybody but the main character is a quick, dirty, barely and badly illustrated affair.

Should you play it?
If you like that kind of story, sure, why not. It's not that bad.
Should you play it to masturbate?
lol no

The good:
The writing - More elaborate and thought out than 99% of the games I've played. Fits the atmosphere and time period to a T. The description of the sex scenes is spot on.
The fetish(es) - If you're into BDSM there is certainly something here to satisfy you.
The pacing - It's good, the training scenes have an exploration requirement which breaks up the action without becoming a grind.
The story - Quite a deep narrative, if you enjoy H.P. Lovecraft this will pique your interest. Not sure if I'd play it just for the story, though.
The characters - They each have a personality, although not as deep as other games. Still, they're more than jpegs with dialogue. If played by someone attracted to the main fetish and who appreciates the story (me and probably others) it doesn't really detract from the appeal.

The bad:
Graphics - Just awful. This game deserves a better art style. Much more than the umpteen cookie cutter incest games, in my opinion. It's a somewhat unique game here, it shouldn't look like this. Also, can't really put my finger on it, but it's like the uncanny valley fucked a 5 year old's drawing and spawned the creepiest art style ever.
Non-porn content - Your mileage may vary, but the constant juxtaposition between hot porn scenes and gross/creepy dream scenes or exploration bits is a bit disconcerting. You get aroused and 2 minutes later the game starts narrating a scene involving maggots and slime. It's almost as if it's trying to see how fast it can wilt an erection.

All in all, an awesome game if you can get past the graphics and the creepiness. Certainly adding something new to a mostly stale scene. Worth a spot on anyone's watch list.

I can't get past the art. I normally don't care about the art of a game all that much, but this one is different for some reason, not sure exactly why.

There's so much care put into this game and so much intelligence and craftsmanship and originality in the writing, but there's no getting around the really awful art. I *hate* the fact that something so shallow impacted my enjoyment of this game so much, but it is what it is.

I would like this game 1000x more if it was purely text-based. I have a feeling I'll really love this game if they switch out the art to something better

That art. Telling people just ignore the art in a visual adult game would be like telling someone ignore a girl you're about to sleep with having vagina dentata because she has a good personality.
... and that example isn't all off because, the games got some personality. I almost gave it another star. Unfortunately I've never before asked 'would this have been better text based' and for that, I have to round down.
[That said, if you like text based games or this art somehow does it for you this is probably a 3 or 4 for you]