Placebo Love
So this guy gets some spam about finding his soulmate. And what does he do? He clicks send… twice.
Oops.
The next day he bumps into twin strangers who look alike, talk alike, and don’t seem to know the other exists.
You’re Lorne’s silent Muse. His guiding hand. His Jiminy Cricket.
Draw him from his loneliness to connect with acquaintances, reunite with family, and explore the ebbing romances of two distant cities. Maybe you’ll unravel his doppelganger dilemma and reveal “true” love. Or maybe he’ll end up alone.
This is a mystery at its heart, not a love story. Although the bond between romance and mystery is always tighter than it first appears. Still, enter this narrative with an open mind and curiosity, like a detective, inspecting the crime scene that is placebo love.
KEY EXPERIENCES
- FOMO: Navigate a tight schedule of diverse bonds
- HONESTY: Choose when to tell the truth or hide those feelings
- FUTURES: Unlock multiple endings by juggling contacts
- INSPIRATION: Be the gentle push and pull of lonely lives
OTHER FEATURES OF NOTE
- Narratively rich. Like a dense brownie made of book parts. Expect a lot of good reading.
- Gorgeous soundtrack by Lannie “Merlandese” Neely III and Fernando “Ferdk” Carabajal. We’re proud of it.
- LGBTQ+ inclusion.
- A schedule system. That’s the heart of it. Think of, like, a Persona game but with none of the dungeon-y stuff.
- Alcohol is represented and in some cases abused. Be careful.
- Sex is implied and mentioned in some cases, but is never the focus.
WHAT NOT TO EXPECT
- A harem. There are many people to spend time with, but not in the “romantic” or “sexual” way.
- True love. We don’t know what that is. The best on offer is a placebo.
- Simple solutions. Not everything will become completely clear by the end, like life.
Game Discussion
Steam User 2
Reminds me of Persona games but with pixel graphics. I loved the mystery and trying to handle building up relationship bonds with all of the characters. This is a severely underrated game.
Steam User 2
Even tho im not a fan of visual novels, i cant deny that this game has very funny dialogues, catchy characters and awesome artstyle. Every aspect just shines with passion of the developers. Anyone whose attention span is still alive will enjoy this game, because the plot and the main mystery are very intriguing, i hope that someday ill get throught myself at finish this game
Steam User 1
Not my usual style of game, but I was greatly curious on how Twelve Tiles would handle that dating sim/time management/social sim kind of game. Overall, I think Placebo Love does a good job at being a social sim kind of game, with the majority of characters not being romantic relationships. All of the characters are interesting, and the main character manages to have his own personality (which can be rare in the genre). I also really appreciate that in most cases, rather than choosing from various dialogue options, you instead usually get to pick whether Lorne tells the truth, lies, or says half-truths, as it both helps make Lorne be able to have a personality, and it gives more interesting outcomes than the common "correct options"/"wrong options" that you get in a lot of games.
I think Rawn and Annie were my personal favorite characters, and (as an aro person), I really appreciate NOT feeling like romance was the whole point. Various forms of relationships are all present and important, which makes all of them feel more meaningful.
I also enjoyed seeing what happened to some of the characters from other Twelve Tiles games, too (I greatly enjoyed Last Word, for instance).
On top of that, the soundtrack and art style are both good and work well with everything.
Some of the big plot can feel a bit unexpected depending on what choices you make, but ultimately, that ends up feeling appropriate, since if you choose to have the protagonist not look into matters, you won't learn about them.
Now that I've given it a bit of time since my last playthrough, I think I'll give it a second playthrough relatively soon so I can see some of the characters I missed and learn a bit more about the world.