Every article tag can be clicked to get a list of all articles in that category. Every article tag also has an RSS feed! You can customize an RSS feed too!
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Slay the Princess from Black Tabby Games is an impressive and engrossing horror novel, from the same team behind Scarlet Hollow and it's available now. If you like choice-driven novel games with some light RPG elements, then this is probably exactly what you should go and play through.

YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

It's been getting great reviews elsewhere and on Steam it's now rated Overwhelmingly Positive, and from my own time with it previously I very much enjoyed how different it was to other novel-styled games. The artwork and atmosphere it gives really is great.

Game Features:

  • Fully voice-acted by the impeccable Jonathan Sims and Nichole Goodnight.
  • Hand-penciled art - every background and sprite is drawn traditionally with pencil and paper by Ignatz-winning graphic novelist Abby Howard.
  • A princess. She's very bad and you have to get rid of her for all our sakes.
  • No, the Princess isn't a cosmic horror. She's just an ordinary human Princess, and you can definitely slay her as long as you put your mind to it.
  • Don't even think about trying to romance her. It won't end well for you.
  • Hopefully you won't die. But if you do, you'll die a lot. Be careful and stay focused on the task at hand!
  • Time loops No time loops. Don't be ridiculous. Time is a strictly linear concept and it certainly doesn't "loop," whatever that's supposed to mean.
  • A branching narrative where what you say and what you believe determines both who you are and how the story unfolds.

You can buy it on GOG and Steam. Sadly they've had issues publishing the full version on itch.io, as they were told it's too big to be hosted there.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
12 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
8 comments

kaiman Oct 24, 2023
I had this wishlisted for a while, but I'm not fully convinced that I'd actually enjoy it. For one, the goal of the game, if the title can be trusted, doesn't sound all that desirable to me. But maybe the title doesn't tell the whole story ...

More importantly, having too many choices, especially if their outcome is hard to predict, can be quite paralyzing. Yeah, it's only a game; yeah, you could restart or reload any time; but it's just not my idea of fun.

I guess it'd be okay if I could blindly take the choices behind which I'd stand IRL, but I assume those would not lead to a "good" outcome. So I feel that I could only lose (either by abandoning my moral compass or by running into a "game over"). So, sadly, the only way to win is not to play.

Still, conceptually and artistically it's quite an interesting game!
Shmerl Oct 24, 2023
Looks interesting.
razze Oct 24, 2023
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: kaimanI had this wishlisted for a while, but I'm not fully convinced that I'd actually enjoy it. For one, the goal of the game, if the title can be trusted, doesn't sound all that desirable to me. But maybe the title doesn't tell the whole story ...

More importantly, having too many choices, especially if their outcome is hard to predict, can be quite paralyzing. Yeah, it's only a game; yeah, you could restart or reload any time; but it's just not my idea of fun.

I guess it'd be okay if I could blindly take the choices behind which I'd stand IRL, but I assume those would not lead to a "good" outcome. So I feel that I could only lose (either by abandoning my moral compass or by running into a "game over"). So, sadly, the only way to win is not to play.

Still, conceptually and artistically it's quite an interesting game!

As far as I understood the demo that somebody on youtube played, there is no wrong/right game over/not game over - everything you can choose leads to a different story. Some of those might be shorter, some longer.
Phlebiac Oct 25, 2023
QuoteSadly they've had issues publishing the full version on itch.io, as they were told it's too big to be hosted there.

itch.io has a size limit, and a visual novel is too big?
pleasereadthemanual Oct 25, 2023
Quoting: Phlebiac
QuoteSadly they've had issues publishing the full version on itch.io, as they were told it's too big to be hosted there.

itch.io has a size limit, and a visual novel is too big?
Apparently, it's normally 1GB, but if you use Butler to upload the game, it can be up to 2GB. According to the Butler docs:

QuoteLimits: currently, the itch.io backend will reject builds with a total uncompressed size that exceeds 30GB.

Slay the Princess is 9GB according to GOG. This is pretty big for a visual novel, but it isn't unheard of. From my own library:

  • TroubleDays - 572MB
  • Higurashi Chapter 5 - 610MB
  • The Expression Amrilato - 749MB
  • Aki Uso - 1.7GB
  • Suteki na Kanojo no Tsukurikata - 2.3GB
  • TRianThology - 2.5GB
  • H2O - 2.7GB
  • Fortune Arterial - 3.1GB
  • Subarashiki Hibi - 3.3GB
  • Hatsuyuki Sakura - 4.1GB
  • Aiyoku no Eustia - 4.1GB
  • DRACU-RIOT - 4.3GB
  • Aokana - 9.5GB


Edit: I called this game "Slay the Spire" the first time, lol.


Last edited by pleasereadthemanual on 25 October 2023 at 7:35 am UTC
Zlopez Oct 25, 2023
  • Supporter Plus
Already have this on my wishlist, pretty excited about it. It doesn't seem like something I already saw before.
Glittery Oct 26, 2023
something really new, I'm surprised
Shmerl Nov 6, 2023
Just finished the game. It's really good! Very creative writing and gameplay mechanic.


Last edited by Shmerl on 6 November 2023 at 5:12 am UTC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
Login / Register


Or login with...
Sign in with Steam Sign in with Google
Social logins require cookies to stay logged in.