Doki Doki Literature Club!

"I'm super excited for you to make friends with everyone and help the Literature Club become a more intimate place for all my members. But I can tell already that you're a sweetheart—will you promise to spend the most time with me? ♥" —Monika, official description of the game

Doki Doki Literature Club! is a 2017 visual novel by Team Salvato, available on Steam and itch.io for free.

An Ordinary High School Student (with a custom name) is invited by her ditzy childhood friend Sayori to the Literature Club. Reluctant at first, he finds out all four members, including Sayori, are girls! As he bonds with Natsuki, the cute but feisty Tsundere, Yuri, the shy bookworm, and Monika, the club's President, he may fall in love just in time for the Festival…

This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.

Tropes:

Act 1

Note: The main character will be referred to here as "MC".

• Apologises a Lot: Yuri. Lampshaded by MC on the third day, who convinces her to apologize less often.
• Beige Prose: Natsuki swears on this technique for her poems, on the condition of including cute words in them. She utterly despises Purple Prose.

[If MC shows Natsuki a poem that appeals to Yuri.] Natsuki: I hate when people try to sound fancy or add more meaning just by using annoying and complicated language. Just make it simple, cute, and to the point! Yuri's head over heels for all this cryptic nonsense, but I see right through that BS. Hah! Making your reader look so hard for all this deep meaning is just an excuse to have no meaning at all.

• Actually, Natsuki is not so much a Beige Prose writer, she just likes to write simple poems that some people may call childish.

• Beneath the Mask: Sayori is a very happy person on the outside, but she suffers from depression inside.
• Big Eater: On the fourth day, when making cupcakes with Natsuki at his kitchen, MC says that if Sayori were here with them now, there would be ten less cupcakes and she would still be hungry for dinner. That's in contrast to Natsuki, who has to keep her appetite for her father's dinner.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall:
  • Monika frequently breaks the fourth wall, giving the tip of saving the game as one of her Writing Tips, pointing out that an Incredibly Lame Pun in Japanese by Natsuki doesn't make sense in translation, pointing out that humans are "two-dimensional", only to get corrected by MC (it's "one-dimensional"…).
  • Every time this happens, she acts as if she made a mistake, playing dumb.
• But Thou Must!:
  • On the third day, choosing to help Sayori for the festival preparations ends up with the three other girls insisting that she will be helped by Monika. The choice prompt then appears again, minus the choice for Sayori.
  • Choosing Monika will prompt a big argument between the three (Monika already has Sayori to help, and she needs the least help; ulterior motives?). In the end, Monika will relent and let MC choose between the other girls.
• Buxom Is Better: Yuri gets comments about her large chest from Natsuki (as an insult) and Sayori (as an endearing, but embarrassing compliment).
• Damned By Faint Praise: In the beginning of Yuri and Natsuki's confrontation:

Yuri: [Your poem] is… cute… Natsuki: Cute? Did you completely miss the symbolism of something? It's about the feeling of giving up. How can that be cute? Yuri: I-I know that! I just meant… The language, I guess… I was trying to say something nice… Natsuki: Eh? You mean you have to try that hard to come up with something nice to say? Thanks, but it really didn't come out nice at all!

• Eating Lunch Alone: Yuri reveals to MC in third day (if she reads a poem she likes) that she eats alone during lunchtime.
• Excited Show Title
• Foreshadowing:
  • On the first day, Yuri tells MC about her favorite literature genre, surreal horror, and how she is engaged with complex turns and twists in her books.

Yuri: Isn't it amazing how a writer can so deliberately take advantage of your own lack of imagination to completely throw you for a loop?

• On the second day, when following Yuri's route, MC is surprised at the darkness of Yuri's book:

"Yuri made it sound like it was going to be a nice story, so that dark turn came from nowhere."

• When showing her first poem "Hole in Wall", Monika mentions to MC an "epiphany" she had, but doesn't say what it is.
• Yuri: I guess there's a little devil inside all of us, isn't there?
• Sayori: Writing's the best! I'm gonna keep writing until I die!
• In general, some of the poems gets darker and darker.
• Yuri: [about her poem "The Raccoon"] I wanted to express the way it feels for me to indulge in my unusual hobbies... It's those sorts of things I'm usually forced to keep to myself.
• On the third day with Natsuki:

Natsuki: [to Monika] See what happens when you put the manga on the top shelf?! Are you trying to kill your club members or something?

• Yuri: This club is seriously going to be the death of me…
• Yuri: Stagnating air is common foreshadowing that something terrible is about to happen…

MC: In your books, maybe!

• (When foreshadowing lampshades itself…)

• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Sayori says this to MC often, but it turns out she loves him, and it hurts.
• Knife Nut: On the fourth day, when making decorations with MC, Yuri admits to him that she is a fan of knives and has a collection of them.
• Living Emotional Crutch: As revealed later on the fourth day by Monika, Sayori is very dependent on MC and is the only reason she lives.
• Mini Game: The poem-writing mini game (click on words that appeal to different girls).
• Moment Killer: On the third day with Yuri, just as MC puts another chocolate in her mouth while sitting very close together, Monika pops up and announces the usual poem sharing session. MC then thinks "The spell is abruptly broken".
• Non Sequitur:
  • "Dear Sunshine" by Sayori is an earnest poem, but then ends with "I want breakfast".
  • Monika's second Writing Tip of the Day is to save the game.
• OOC Is Serious Business: When MC sees Sayori, usually full of happiness, in a dejected mood at school, he becomes very concerned about her.
• Show Within a Show: Yuri's book Portrait of Markov and Natsuki's Slice of Life manga Parfait Girls.
• Spoiler: In-Universe. Both Natsuki and Yuri interrupt themselves to avoid revealing spoilers in what they read to the main character.
• Stealth Insult: When MC and Natsuki are spending time together reading manga on the second day, they talk about people who judge manga readers:

MC: Honestly, it takes a lot of effort to find friends who don't judge, much less friends who are also into it… I'm already kind of a loser, so I guess I gravitated toward the other losers over time. But it's probably harder for someone like you… Natsuki: Hm. Yeah, that's pretty accurate. MC: [thinking] …Wait, which part??

• Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion: Natsuki points out that she used the trope in her poem "Eagles Can Fly".
• That Makes Me Feel Angry: Yuri has a habit of stating her emotions.

The Festival

• Driven to Suicide / Spurned Into Suicide: Sayori hangs herself, and MC witnesses her corpse.
• Foreshadowing: During the Festival, when Monika talks about him and Sayori:

MC: Jeez... You don't know the full story at all, so... Monika: Don't worry. I probably know a lot more than you think.

• (MC felt "a chill down [his] spine after hearing that.")

• Madness Mantra: Sayori's final poem has "Get Out Of My Head" repeated many, many, many times.

Act 2

• Arc Words: "Can you hear me?"
• Brutal Honesty: When Natuki or Yuri talk, sometimes the text gets glitched with black/white text in script, and they say what they really mean about something (that's usually hidden in their mind). And what they think is either very nasty or disturbing.
• Dissonant Serenity: Natsuki reacts to Yuri's corpse by screaming, vomitting and running away, while Monika reacts simply by laughing and saying "Well, that's a shame."
• Driven to Suicide: During her love confession to MC, Yuri, overflowing with emotion, stabs herself with a kitchen knife and drops dead. The player's choice to either accept or decline her confession doesn't change a thing.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Regarding Yuri and Natsuki's confrontation:

Monika: I'm sure Natsuki will forget all about it by tomorrow. Completely.

• After the second outburst between Yuri and Natsuki, Yuri says that she wasn't mentally sound at that time and that she regrets her words.
• Monika mentions writing a song that isn't done yet.
• Monika: (to MC) Sometimes it feels like you and I are the only real people here. You know what I mean?
• During Yuri's "déjà vu" scene:

Yuri: I just want to stay here. Just the two of us. We can stay here until the club ends. And then we'll have the club room all to ourselves. Nobody to interfere with our reading time. (Yuri shows her crazy eyes) Nobody to make me feel like stabbing myself in the throat. (Yuri's eyes go back to normal) Ahaha... That was a joke! Just a joke.

• Yuri: (with a crazed expression) You're too nice, [name]. I've never met anyone as nice as you. I could die... N-Not really, but-!
• If MC writes three poem that Yuri likes, Monika, when chosen for the poem sharing session, will simply say: "Don't say I didn't warn you, [name]."
• The day before the weekend, Yuri obsessively describes how she feels when around MC, then says:

"But if it feels so good... Then why does it feel more and more like something horrible is going to happen?"

• Leave the Camera Running: Played for drama. After Yuri kills herself, her corpse stays on the classroom floor, her dialogue box filled with corrupted text, and there is seemingly no end to the dialogue. Clicking the Skip button shows that MC stays inside the classroom for the entire weekend, day to night, her corpse and her blood fading.
• Morton's Fork: Even if the proposal that she gives gets hit with accepting her, Yuri will still commit suicide as though she was rejected.
• Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: One of the special poems is not actually a poem, but a drawing of a hanged Sayori rendered in a childish way. hxppy_thxughts.png is derived from that image.
• Slasher Smile: Yuri shows hers whenever her obsessive emotions take over.
• A Worldwide Punomenon: The usual disclaimer text has a chance to be changed to "This game is not suitable for children / or those who are easily dismembered."

Act 3

• Call Back: Monika ends her tip about saying the right words for criticism with "...Well, I guess that would be Monika's Debate Tip of the Day!"
• Contemplate Our Navels: Monika, now alone with you, speaks her mind about various topics, from horror, to college, to her own friends.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: Monika is very happy to achieve her own ending, even though it meant breaking the entire game.
• Hip Hop: Discussed by Monika as one of her topics, who used to hate it, but grew more appreciative of the genre.
• In-Universe: Defied. In Act 3, Monika rejects any pretense of talking about the circumstances between her and MC and talks directly to you.
• Jump Scare: If you stream Monika's final scene, she'll notice and talk to the audience of a Let's Play. She will then want to show a trick. The camera zooms on her face... Just Kidding, it was nothing after- and then she hits you with a jump scare.
• No Fourth Wall: Act 3 basically has no story. Monika admits that the script is broken beyond recognition at this point.
• Redemption Equals Death: Struct by guilt over the horrible things she did to get closer to the player, Monika restarts the game, restoring every girl except herself.
• Ret-Gone: Discussed by Monika, about Sayori:

"Gosh, it's been a while since you've heard that name now, hasn't it? Yeah...it's because she doesn't exist anymore. Nobody does. I deleted all their files."

• There Are No Therapists: Defied by Monika, who brings up mental illness and the stigma of getting help as a topic. She suggest to the player to consult a professional if they need it.
• Tsundere: Discussed by Monika as one of her topics. She brings up Natsuki as an obvious example, and Deconstructs the Freudian Excuses of her personality (as a defense mechanism, her home situation).
• Yandere: Discussed by Monika as one of her topics in Act 3. She brings up Yuri as an example of the trope.
• You Monster!: When deleting Monika's character file in Act 3, her voice will react in outrage at your action. After a while, she will say she still loves you, and will react to her actions with My God, What Have I Done?.

Act 4

• Bittersweet Ending: (Good Ending) Sayori thanks MC for joining her club, saying she already knew he would join, then obliterates the fourth wall (revealing her Medium Awareness) by thanking him for caring about all the girls in the game (by saving and loading to go through all the CGs). She then, with sadness, states the game is finished and thanks the player for playing. Fade to Black.
• Call Back: The game ends with a voiced message from Monika, who plays the song she was talking about in Act 2.
• Cruel Twist Ending / Downer Ending: (Bad Ending) Sayori thanks MC for joining her club, but then says she already knew he would join. She then thanks him for getting rid of Monika, and says she knows everything. Taken by adoration for MC, Sayori warps to Monika's glitched classroom, taking her place, wanting to say with MC f.o.r.e.v.e.r. Suddenly, Monika hijacks the game, deletes Sayori, laments the game's cruel fate, and makes the whole thing crash.
• The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: If you add back a backup of Monika's character file at the start of Act 4, a message will appear: "Please stop playing with my heart. I don't want to come back." Monika's file then deletes itself.
• Game Breaking Bug: After the end credits, Monika or Dan Salvato's final message is displayed. Then, an error message appears, telling the player to reinstall the game, and the game crashes. Rebooting the game does the same thing.
  • Deleting the "firstrun" file fixes the error.
• Heroic Sacrifice: When Sayori displays Medium Awareness and an obsession for MC, what remains of Monika, realizing that the Literature Club will always corrupt innocent minds, hijacks the game and deletes everything in it, including herself.