Parasite in Love
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Parasite in Love
A biological romance horror visual novel
Infected with the parasite commonly known as the “brain eating amoeba”, you have 10 days left before your death. One of the symptoms is hallucinations. And through that, “he” starts to talk and confesses his love to you. Will you be able to convince the parasite to leave your body before it’s too late? Or will his love consume you “until death do us part”?
This game was made for the Spooktober VN Jam 2022.
Body Horror and Tokophobia (Fear of Pregnancy).
Player discretion is advised.
This game also contains flashing lights, animated effects, and vivid colors which may not be suitable for some players.
There is a "Reduce Motion" option in the game settings should you wish to turn off the animation and transition effects.
- 8.5k words
- 4 endings
- 8 CGs
- atmospheric music
- hauntingly beautiful art
- partial voice acting, fully voice acted endings
- plot-consistent UI changes
Direction, Art, Writing by NiAsobu
Marlowe voiced by Coda
Niall voiced by Trickle
Background Art by Baguetti
Programming by Ooyu
Editing by Allie Vera
Music, Sound Effects, and Voice Edits by Amidst
Voice Direction by MAHO! Cody
Casting Direction and Marketing by Elm
Logo, UI, Itch page Design, and Trailer by ingthing
You can find a link to our presskit here.
Our other games:
Download
Install instructions
This game may cause a ‘do you trust this?’ window to pop up upon installing.
Mac/Macbook:
(Option 1) Go to settings, and click ‘open anyway’ in the privacy setting for trusted apps. (Option 2) Right-click/CTRL and click on the game icon, click ‘open’ once, then click ‘open’ again.
Windows:
Click the ‘more information’ button, afterward click the ‘run anyway’ button. If no files can be found after download, check if your Windows Defender might be deleting files automatically. If the itch.io app doesn't work, try downloading the zip folder directly from the website.
Development log
- Parasite in Love Postmortem: Part 5 - Our advice to future spooktober teamsOct 31, 2022
- Parasite in Love Postmortem: Part 4 - Our Jam Successes & ShortcomingsOct 30, 2022
- Parasite in Love Postmortem: Part 3 - Adapting to the element of surpriseOct 24, 2022
- Parasite in Love Postmortem: Part 2 - Approaching the (Un)known in game jamsOct 22, 2022
- Parasite in Love Postmortem: Part 1 - Joining a JamOct 17, 2022
- Full OST Release on Youtube!Oct 16, 2022
- Trailer Release + PiL v1.32 now available!Oct 04, 2022
- Parasite in Love Endings Guide added!Oct 02, 2022
Comments
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i feel like this
so scared to have the bad endings, so just happy ending because i'm scared
Played this game a while ago but I really loved it so much!!! such a creepy story and the art and atmosphere was great
音乐太美丽了，那种不和谐但空灵的氛围简直就像精神错乱的幻觉。第一次见到这种类型游戏（这种类型的恋爱对象（？），UI设计很吸引人！它在某种程度上可以说是一个健康宣传游戏（？）重新唤起了我对淡水湖和生肉的恐惧。。。好吧，为什么不把niall养在水族箱里呢（
does anyone know hod to dowload the game with linux
Oh Niall, my beloved... (<-- Sacrificed his children to THE RIVER)
this was definitely not the way i thought this story would go!! not me thinking nothing of the warnings LOL!!! it was definitely an uncomfortable experience and i loved it <3 niall's love was kinda child-like? pure but VERY unhappy when not getting his way. so it's a corrupted kind of love. like a parasite.
im scared
"hasta que la muerte nos separe" es el primer final que tengo justo ahora después de descargarlo. Admito que me conmovió Nail, aunque se armo tremenda historia dramática de familia XD, aunque me morí, no me arrepiento de que hagan mi vida un drama de 10 días, novela 100/10. personalmente me encanta este final donde me muero casada, jajaja
"Te mueres casada" hahaha amé la frase... es el mismo final que saqué yo... pero estoy viendo que hay 4 finales... no sé cómo ya le di en todas las opciones xD
LOVED IT!!!
Eu realmente gostaria que houvesse uma versão deste jogo traduzida para o português do Brasil
LOOOVED IT!! Everything you want in a romance horror VSN and more!! Looking forward if you do decide, to make another one. 10/10! def recommend!! :))
Sometimes Niall was so relatable tbh.
sigh i will never be able to truly explain how beautiful this game is. its all written so well and every single little thing about the game is worth swooning over but i could never fit that into a single comment.
the artstyle is so good and i love how it makes niall look so creepy yet so loving because thats basically his concept. i love that this isn't necessarily meant to be a love story because what it is is a parasitical relationship LITERALLYY ugh ITS SO BEAUTIFUL !!!!!!!
all the details in the story especially with the way the ui changes over time is so so pretty i love itttt, i don't think this game gets the overwhelming amount of love it deserves
Is this stream friendly?
I love the artstyle omg
Hello
I was very interested in your game, but I didn't understand almost anything when I downloaded it. My English is not good at all but I have to help with the translator, and I would like to know if there is an option to translate it into Spanish. and success for your game.
This is one of the most beautifully written visual novels I have ever read. Thank you.
is it weird that i actually wanted a happy ending for them haha
not weird at all :'D
unbelievable.. Because of the completeness of this game, both CG and BGM, including character dubbing, are fantastic!!! This is my first time playing this terrifying romantic game, and the intelligent character of the female protagonist is very good (Niall is a bit pitiful haha, but it is true that humans and parasites cannot be together). Because the entire game looks great in terms of graphics and sound, I look forward to more of your works!!!
I had a very time experiencing it, and I hope many others enjoy it too!
I can't download it. It says "virus detected".
There shouldn't be anything wrong with the file. Maybe your Windows Defender or other Antivirus software flagged it wrong? We aren't officially registered in a software shop or anything similar, so that can happen. Have you tried following the Install instructions we have on the page here?
It was so uncomfortable and terrible that it was just great.
Quick question, is the MC a woman, unspecified or non-binary (to help the self insert if the player is maybe trans or non-binary but I'm not sure) because I've seen a few people refer to the MC as They/Them but there is pregnancy in the game so I'm confused if it's just people avoiding giving a gender to the MC but it's a woman or if it's non-binary so you can interpret it as maybe a trans man or something.
I’m pretty sure the MC is canonically a woman lol ppl are probs just avoiding giving the woman a gender so you can interpret it. There is an ending where you hear the MC speak and she has a feminine voice and wearing two piece bathing suit. I’m not entirely sure though bc it’s been awhile since I’ve played but I remember the MC being a woman.
Ok thanks, I did remember the MC being a woman as well from who played the game on YouTube (as I watched a few minutes of the game before closing the video) but then when I looked the game up again I was confused because everyone kept using They/Them XD
I admit in a way it would have been cooler/more comfortable to play if it was unspecified, as a Trans man it would have been cool and even more relatable for the fear of pregnancy if I could assume the MC was of my choice with gender, but at the end of the day it's not a major issue for the game given the creator is obviously free to chose the MC gender, the only reason I'm not playing it is because I don't have the time to play it because of other games that are more time consuming than this and require constant "attention", maybe one day I will have time to play it hopefully.
This is definitely one of our favorite games, to date! Spooky oppressive romance, we are here (?) for it!
This was my first venture into horror VNs, so I wasn't sure if I would like this, but I am so glad I gave it a chance! I thoroughly enjoyed it and ended up playing through all the endings in a single night! It's delightfully horrifying, disturbing enough that it lived in my head rent-free for a few days after finishing without causing nightmares lol, definitely recommend!
Honored that our game is your first venture into horror VNs!!! Haha, please continue to sleep well
looks cool, btw does this have anything to do with the manga?
Hi! I wasn't even aware there was a manga of the same name. It's an original story. I am aware of a movie with the same title, but story wise they're pretty different. Hope you have fun playing it :3
hi! thanks for the reply was just curious about it :)
This game is really amazing. That creepy and unsettling atmosphere was captured really well though the use of of the art and music.
Dude, this game made me feel so weird and creeped out and gross, which is exactly what I came for, so thank you lol
you just called the game ugly
Well, the game is meant to make you feel uncomfortable and grossed out it doesn't mean they were calling the game ugly.
If someone felt like that it means the game is well written and it succeeded with it's objective.
Personally I'm uncomfortable for the whole different reason that playing as a girl is almost like a "phobia" to me, so the game uncomfortable to play wouldn't stop me even if I watched the most heavy gore scene in existence.
The only thing that really makes me unable to make me play is the MC gender, but that's a me problem/"phobia", I don't even know if there's actually a phobia about being "forced" being a woman in videogames (it only apply to games as it would be rare if in real life someone come and tell me to be a woman because I have to according to them) but the only reason I can't "stand" to play it myself is for the MC gender.
I remember watching someone else play it, even then it made me uncomfortable the fact that it was a woman MC but I remember the game being really good.
Either way I'm getting distracted.
They aren't calling the game ugly, it makes sense to call it uncomfortable or disgusting given it's not really meant to be cute.
(Actually I don't know if the MC is a woman or not, it does say pregnancy but people refer to the MC with neutral pronouns from what I've seen)
oh Niall victimize me kidnap me torture me break me murder me kick me beat me kill me spit on me smack the sh1t out of me gaslight me manipulate me i want you🤤😫
ur so real for that LMFAO😭
Hello, dear creator! I have some concerns regarding this game. I've been reading all the comments and I'm eager to try playing it. However, when I downloaded the Windows version, the file appeared to be empty. I attempted to download it again several times out of desperation to try it, but unfortunately, each attempt failed. I have already extracted the file, but it remains empty. :(
Do you have any suggestions for alternative methods to play this game? I'm really desperate right now!
hi! I'm the lead dev. Could it be you're using the itch io app? I never tested it on the itch io app. When you directly download the zip folder from the itch io webpage, it should work. We haven't had any problems for the 1+ year it's been on here, so I'm wondering why it's showing empty for you. A friend also just told me it can happen that Window Defender might delete some downloaded files automatically, so I would check that too, just in case
Oh yes, I do have a Window Defender and it deletes any file that is considered as a threat. I don't know what are the other choices to play this game without the files getting deleted 😭 Could you help me?
Looks like a cool game, but when i dowlaoded it the windows version and opened the maps i got nothing, i tryed 4 time and i got nothing very dissapointing.
hi! I'm the dev and want to help.
Could you clarify what you mean with "maps"?
the files of the game
Okay, so you downloaded the zip folder for windows. Have you extracted the files and then clicked on the exe file to start the game?
this game creeped me out in such a good way, i love every bit of it 10/10 i love this game
this game broke my heart in a good way wtff. awesome voice acting, and cool ending and CGs!! i love how you can hear niall more clearly as the infection worsens
Can you add it on Android?
such a creepily good game!! loved the voice acting and art, they really brought the characters to life and made it so much scarier
Interesting concept, and so uncomfortably well executed. Two places where this shines is def the voice acting and the UI changes. I cannot stress how much I adored the attention to detail with the progressively more distorted UI. BUT THE VOICE ACTING? OMG. Most people likely noticed Niall's especially at the ending where I assume MC chokes to death,which yes, was powerfully emotional, huge props to the VA. BUT, I feel that whoever voices MC, especially the non-verbal elements like the pained cries, screams and retching are just so violently accurate; it really adds to the horror realism
Sooo creepy, but such a cool game as well