So, yesterday Dan Salvato posted on the Serenity Forge Facebook feed that Doki Doki Literature Club Plus was just taken down from the Google Play Store. In other words, there’s no direct way to play it on Android devices now. According to the post, it was removed because it violates Google Play’s terms of service because of its depiction of sensitive themes. This comes only four months after it was released on Android and iOS, though it’s been available on PC, Mac, and every current console for some time.
If you haven’t played it, watched playthroughs of it, or seen any discussion about it, DDLC does contain instances of self-harm, domestic abuse, and suicide. They aren’t gratuitous by any means. DDLC is so loved not just because of its [SPOILER], but also how it weaves through those subjects without seeming gratuitous or edgy for edginess’ sake. It doesn’t glorify those subjects at all, and treats them with weight.
I talked about this before, but automatic or kneejerk censorship of difficult subjects doesn’t protect anyone besides platform owners who want to avoid any liability without bothering to take responsibility by having actual human beings make decisions about what goes on their platforms, people who want to pretend those subjects don’t exist, and the monsters who enable or encourage the problems in the first place and want to continue to benefit from them unimpeded. This is the kind of bullshit that has kids and content creators both saying “unalive” and “grape” instead of actually having earnest discussions about suicide and sexual assault.
DDLC is pretty great. It isn’t for everyone, both because of the subjects it involves and because it’s an anime-themed visual novel (though one that takes some amazing swerves if you haven’t been spoiled on it), but it’s still excellent for what it is and what it tries to be.
You can still play DDLC+, just not on your Android device (officially, and if you were to find the APK somewhere else and load it directly I’d still recommend buying the game in some form because for as popular as it’s gotten it’s still an indie from a small team). In fact, the original Doki Doki Literature Club on PC is free on Steam and Itch.io, as it’s always been. It’s the same core game as DDLC+, which you can buy for $15 on everything but Android, but without the enhancements of the Plus version (higher-resolution art, more music, and six more side stories).
