Studio Wife, Cornmandog, and Yotsuba Interactive have released I Write Games Not Tragedies. With a clear nod to Panic! at the Disco!, this visual novel aims to make every person who knows Emo wasn’t just a phase feel seen in-game.
A homage to British emo and goth subcultures, the developers utilize a unique hand-drawn art style, original music, and a rhythm game that literally screams for attention. With art that reminds me of my favorite zines and My Chemical Romance CD inserts, I Write Games Not Tragedies is an exciting release.
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And if you’re looking for a new game to play, the developers have announced that to commemorate its release, the game will be available at a 20% discount for the next two weeks (November 14, 2025, to November 28, 2025).
With a press release that highlighted the quote, “Sometimes I wish all of my pain was fake,” picking up this visual novel, rhythm game hybrid was easy for me. Keep reading for more information on I Write Games Not Tragedies.
What is I Write Games Not Tragedies about?
The game’s official synopsis is as follows:
Like most misunderstood misfits, Ash’s secondary school life is not so great. Trapped and isolated by so-called friends and the awful popular kids, his only solace is the loud music playing through his headphones… and maybe a certain beautiful blonde normie – except why does he have to be so nice?!
In the game, we play Ash through different years of his life, from his “baby bat” years in 2009 and into his 2010, where he struggles with alcoholism, and finally ending it in the 2020s, where Ash is the elder emo, just like the person playing the game.
The game brings players through his anxieties, romances, and discomfort. The core mechanics of the game bridge visual novels and rhythm games by asking players to hit lyrics to the beat at the right points, all while living his life.
More about the publisher, Yotsuba Interactive:
Yotsuba Interactive is a micropublisher dedicated to finding small stories for players with big hearts. The inspiration for the name “yotsuba”, which means four-leaf clover in Japanese, comes from a desire to convey the excitement and joy of a child discovering a four-leaf clover for the first time. Yotsuba Interactive is a spin-off brand of the Japanese-Swedish marketing agency, Neon Noroshi.
