Game modifications, or mods, often provide a way for fans and gamers to interact with game content and characters beyond the limitations of the developer’s original work. However, when modders invent new content and storylines for independent activist or art games, they can disrupt the developer’s intended message. This is the case with two mods, Monika After Story and A Brand New Day that were created for the popular independent game, Doki Doki Literature Club (DDLC). The unmodded version of DDLC is a psychological horror game that critiques both the cultural hegemony that drives the dating simulator (dating sim) genre and the concept of player control over narrative games. Both mods restore the dating sim’s original tropes to the narrative by allowing the player to “save” all of the doomed characters or continue to romantically pursue the game’s antagonist, Monika. To complicate the relationship between the game and its fans, developer Team Salvato has released a policy expressly prohibiting mods created with the intention of replacing the original game; all DDLC mods must be extensions of the experience to be played after the game rather than standalone products. Through this complicated relationship, the themes of psychological terror and loneliness present in the original game are replaced with heartwarming sentimentalism and even humor traditionally found in dating sims. Thus, both mods erase the activist message even as they provide solace to players who were initially disturbed by DDLC’s characters and themes.
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