- 33% OFF for the Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival! - 1 September 2026
Fall in Love? I don't know about that, this is therapy after all ... But there IS a fat discount, 33% for the first time! =]Also, TONS of fascinating visual novels in this festival, so take a look!#FallinLoveFestival
- Dev Blog: The structure of a game | Monstrous anatomy - 11 August 2026
Even though pacing has become a popular lens through which we analyse media, the general structure of video games is still underdiscussed. Sometimes, that’s probably an aftereffect of the level-by-level logic used in early arcade gaming, sometimes writers simply take the structure of films or TV shows for granted, with mixed success. But since all of this has a MASSIVE impact on the overall experience, today I’m going to dissect the structure of Monster Girl Therapy. A monstrous example, so to say!SPOILER WARNING from here on! MacromonsterFirst, the game as a whole, starting with the basics:There is an intro that introduces (duh) the overall concept and the protagonist as briefly as possible. 2–3 minutes may not sound like much, but in a text-based game, I wouldn’t want to ask much more of the players. The setting is established along the way or simply relies on stereotypes in people’s…
- OUT NOW in English & German! - 20 July 2026
Long story short: Monster Girl Therapy can now be played in English and German! With the German version, we also have a batch of news, fittingly focussed on the German-speaking world. (But enough of all that after this one!)Welcome to Monstermädchentherapie!Ah, these wonderful compound words! As an official name for a video game, this one would be rather unwieldy though, so I’ll stick with Monster Girl Therapy … which doesn’t change the fact that the interactive narrative with minigames and puzzles can now be played in German! After updating, just change the language in the menu at any time. In fact, this isn’t just any random translation: Even though I originally wrote the game in English, I am a native speaker and planned for both versions from the start. Practically speaking, the German one can be understood as a “second original”! I wouldn’t go so far as to say you should play the g…
- Dev Blog: Translating things - 14 July 2026
If everything works out, the update with the German translation of Monster Girl Therapy will be released on July 20th—just about a week from today! =)And since translation is a COMPLEX art riddled with fascinating little rabbit holes, today’s blog post is going to be a bit more unstructured than usual.A long list of names for monster girls, places, and concepts, mixed with random thoughts and anecdotes about translation, as well as brand-new German insultsMay contain character spoilers here and there! Also, none of this is final.I’m a huge fan of free translations (and even localizations, if they make sense!), and this game has practically no direct ties to English-speaking cultures anyway. So there’s no reason to cling to the “original”—a free translation it is!My names follow one simple rule: anything linguistically inspired by other cultures (like “Equitania Equinox” or “S’Sinbal”),…
- Dev Blog: You can’t play as a girl. Here’s why. - 5 July 2026
First and foremost, I’d love for women, non-binary folks and everyone else to play Monster Girl Therapy. But the character you’re playing? He’s a guy, as cis-het as they come, and definitely not someone who would even use words like that. This blogpost explains how the game makes sure you know that—and of course why!Celebrating the gender revealI know for a fact that a specific moment of my game has hurt its financial prospects. (In case you haven’t played yet, no story spoilers… yet!) Right off the bat, you have to choose an avatar, and you’re shown a bunch of archetypical fantasy characters, clearly divided into two gendered sections. If you go for a female avatar, the protagonist refuses and deletes the corresponding choices from the game.“Wait, no! That’s a girl, isn’t it? I’m a guy, so I’ll take one of the guys.”After that, only the “guys” remain, and you’ll also get an achievement…
- A sale, a fix, an itch! - 8 June 2026
Stuff is happening! Small stuff... but stuff, without a doubt!Some fixingFirst of all, while translating the game, I also somewhat polished the English dialogue. No major changes in content, but especially for the typical “first encounters” with Equitania and Shaliva, I phrased things more clearly and added a line here and there to guide new players. Just to make this very clear: If you have played the game already, you would likely not even notice these differences. I only hope to make the game more accessible ... and also, it's very hard to just let things be!Some platformingAlso, I have released Monster Girl Therapy on the platform itch.io! Of course, that’s not massively exciting for players on Steam, but still, here are a few thoughts.In most cases, itch is SIGNIFICANTLY weaker in terms of sales numbers.However, experimental and especially narrative-driven games tend to be quite po…
- Dev Blog: Postmortem – A quiet, cozy launch - 6 April 2026
A game’s launch is usually crucial, and now that things have calmed down a bit, I want to take a look at the first two weeks of Monster Girl Therapy—in numbers! So we’ll be talking about sales, wishlists, playtime, and how I interpret all of that.And to get it out of the way right away: this launch was very quiet, but also quite cozy!NumbersSales.Just under 300 copies sold and around $1,500 in revenue, before Steam’s 30% cut. Most of that happened in the first two days, followed by the first week. The US and Germany are the biggest markets, although the German numbers likely include a lot of friends and people I know from here or there. Otherwise, the stats are surprisingly international!There were 14 refunds, which makes sense and is honestly below my expectations. :D“Not fun” is always fair—especially for a very text-heavy RPG Maker game—but I’d really love to know what “Other issues”…
- 1.02 Hotfix + Cloud Saves - 15 March 2026
Quick fixes:1. Before, a bug prevented the Steam overlay from being shown correctly in fullscreen, especially for achievements. This should work now!2. Cloud saves are now activated.This means saves could be overwritten IF you've played on more than one device! Use the device with the most recent saves first! If you're unsure, make a backup of your files. It could also lead to a smaller font size in-game. How to fix: Load the affected save, change the font in the menu (and back), save the game and close it. When launching again, it should be fine!Both fixes are thanks to 60 from the community hub. Thanks a lot! :)3. The use of a mouse is now discouraged, especially in the minigames and the sewers. The tutorial for the controls has been updated accordingly.Sorry for any inconvience!
- Thanks for the reviews! Cloud saves incoming! (Careful!) - 13 March 2026
Hi everybody! First of all...A big fat THANK YOU to all the players! The game didn't sell massively or anything (specific numbers will be coming in a later blog post!), but it was a real joy to see your reactions and read the reviews!! ^-^ Keep them coming – the launch discount is still up until Tuesday! :D Cloud saves on Sunday!A quick heads-up: On Sunday around 2 pm EDT (7 pm CET), I'll turn on cloud saves for the game! I hadn't figured out how to do this, but luckily, a nice person helped me out. Thanks a lot! This also means saves could be overwritten IF you've played on more than one device! After the update, use the device with the most recent saves first! If you're unsure, make a backup of your files. Bugs?And finally: If you find bugs (not the monster girl one – sorry!), please post them in the community hub! I'll still be tweaking small things here and there. For example, Equit…
- 1.01 Hotfix - 11 March 2026
Quick fix: Equitanias first race gives you 3s more, the second race 2s. Both records allow for 1s more. That should make for an easier difficulty curve!
- Monster Girl Therapy is OUT NOW! - 10 March 2026
Everybody... Monster Girl Therapy is OUT NOW!...including a launch discount of 20%!But first things first: THANK YOU for your interest in this little game of mine and, of course, for your interest in these monster girls! So... HAVE FUN! :DI'm THRILLED to see how people react to the game!There's also a new trailer!If you happen to like the game...and you'd like to support an indie?Reviews on Steam, even short ones! There's a lot of shit out there, so many people are waiting for honest impressions. (Understandable!) Telling someone who might be interested, telling the people on social media... or even telling your favourite gaming influencer!Following Zwiebelspiele on social media and interacting a bit: Bluesky, Twitter, TikTok, YoutubeThanks again!!
- Dev Blog: A love letter (to RPG Maker) - 4 March 2026
My game is out in just under a week, my head is spinning with a lot of annoying publicity… So it should be the perfect time to take a step back. Remembering 200XMy first impression of RPG Maker was probably Ente die Ente or “Duck the Duck” – capturing the tone of the game perfectly! We were at a friend’s place, and even though, in that moment, the vast world of video game development was slowly opening up before me, I mainly remember cartoon animals made with MS Paint and an antagonist named Atze Hutler. I also learned of Vampires Dawn that day, with its deeply adolescent fondness for fountains of blood and a completely ridiculous excess of exclamation marks. If a game looked actually good back then, though, the resources were DEFINITELY ripped from Secret of Mana or some other jrpg. (Most developers had no clue!) Even the trendy youth mag Bravo‘s spin-off Screenfun didn’t give a damn a…
- Dev Blog: A date and a price (Launch on March 10!) - 11 February 2026
Let’s cut to the chase: Monster Girl Therapy launches March 10 and will cost $6.99. There’ll also be a 20% launch discount during the first week—for everyone who takes a leap! :DThat said, I also want to explain the thoughts behind these numbers. And the most important thing right up front: a large part of my decision-making is based purely on vibes. As a semi-professional solo developer, I can afford to listen to my gut sometimes—and luckily, the brain tends to go along… most of the time, at least.DatingThere’s a lot of well-meaning advice out there on when to launch a game: autumn is packed with huge releases that suck up all the attention, you should avoid holidays, and so on. But I also realized that for every rule, there’s plenty of exceptions. In the end, the core idea seems to be intentionality. Just think about it?Originally, I wanted to release my game in January or February, b…
- Dev Blog: Monster Girl Casting – Creating compelling characters - 18 January 2026
Time for a little dev blog, this time about writing!At their core, role-playing games and visual novels share a similarity: without exciting, genuinely lovable characters, they’re quickly forgotten. If you, like me, grew up during the heyday of Final Fantasy and BioWare, you’re also aware that you don’t need a ‘real’ dating sim to form parasocial bonds with pixels and polygons. And let’s be honest: in Monster Girl Therapy, the monster girls aren’t just in the title, they’re also the main appeal of the game, at least at first glance. And at second glance as well! :DSo: How to create compelling characters?Start with ANYTHING … (The Spark)Seriously: anything! This could be a wild idea (‘A child in a purple cloak full of eyes!’), a pragmatic gameplay consideration (‘Everyone likes grappling hooks!’), or even inspiration from media (‘Oh my god, idol X from K-drama Y was so damn cool!’). In m…
- Dev Blog: Launched! - 28 December 2025
Hi everybody! Since Monster Girl Therapy is my first somewhat commercial game, I'm following this wild process with a dev blog. It aims to show basics steps in the development as well as some more specific numbers and experiences. The first posts (about the concept and some financial stuff) are up now!https://zwiebelspiele.wordpress.com/the-blog/In the future, I will also post new blogposts directly here ... I just didn't, because obviously, all of this IS a learning process for me. :DIs there something you'd be especially interested in?Enjoy the end of the year!Andre ("Zwiebelspiele")
