Unheroic Misfits is a small little story RPG about a kid trying to save their friend. You play as Loo, an insect-like humanoid who explores the yellow, blue, green, and red kingdoms, passing a series of trials by helping other characters overcome their psychological problems.

I like to think of it as an RPG, but it’s almost like a visual novel or what I’ve termed interactive literature. Basically, if you’re looking for a traditional RPG experience, this might not be for you. But if you’re willing to try something new and read a lot of text, maybe you should give it a shot! There’s no fighting: the major interactions are exclusively dialogue-centric. There’s also only one ending, but feel free to interpret it however you’d like.

The characters of Unheroic Misfits tend to alternate from goofy to philosophical, and sometimes both at the same time. There are lots of metaphors and symbolic elements: I wasn’t joking when I described it as interactive literature!

Made in RPG Maker XP, the game lasts about 30 minutes to an hour depending on how many NPCs you choose to interact with. My hope is that experiencing Unheroic Misfits will be cathartic both for people who have struggled with mental health and for people trying to accept the loss of a loved one.