Dark visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club has been released on mobile for free

Cult visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club has now been released on mobile, and the base game is entirely free.

Doki Doki Literature Club was originally released in 2017 as a free PC game, and quickly gained a reputation for its surprisingly dark twists.

While the game initially appears to be a light-hearted visual novel similar to countless other dating sims that have originated mainly from Japan over the years, it eventually becomes a fourth-wall-breaking psychological horror game.

The game developed a large cult following, and received an expanded premium version called Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! which was released on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC in 2021.

Now the original version of the game has been released on iOS and Android, and is entirely free to play.

This means players can play through the entirety of the main Doki Doki Literature Club release at no cost, with no ads or microtransactions.

Publisher Serenity Forge instead intends to earn money by making the content that was available in the Plus! edition as paid DLC, priced at $9.99 / $9.99.

The Plus! content consists of six new side stories which are “about friendship and literature, totalling hours of new content”. It also includes more than 100 unlockable images, 26 music tracks and a built-in music player.

Serenity Forge reminds players on the game’s App Store listing that despite its initially charming appearance, the game is “not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed”, and the game is rated 18+ on both the App Store and Google Play store.

When Plus! was released in 2021, the game included extra content warnings that appeared before key disturbing scenes. Although these were new additions for Plus! it’s not yet known if these content warnings have been added to the base mobile version.