Belladonna

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It always starts with a bar. Tonight it may end with poison.

Platforms: Browser, PC, Mac, Linux, Android
Stores: itch.io
Price: Pay what you want
Rated: 4.7/5 from 27 ratings on itch.io
Length: about an hour
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse or keyboard: click to advance and choose; there is no save, but you can skip text you have read.
Made by: Button Cupcake and Chisera
Released: 2021

What frightens It always starts with a bar: a woman with a life of heartbreak meets a stranger with a flower, and over one night of drinks, talk of a serial killer and a dead husband, and questions like 'Have you ever wanted to kill someone?', the evening can turn deadly; belladonna, the title says, is deadly nightshade.
Content: death, poison, strong language, flashing lights.

Belladonna is a short noir horror visual novel by Button Cupcake and Chisera, made for the Spooktober Visual Novel Jam 2021. Over one night in a bar, a woman worn down by heartbreak meets a stranger, and their talk of killers and sins can end in salvation or death across fourteen endings.

About Belladonna

Belladonna is a horror visual novel written by Button Cupcake and Chisera, with code, script and interface by Button Cupcake and art by Chisera, made in Ren'Py for the Spooktober 3rd Annual Visual Novel Jam in 2021. It plays in the browser, with downloads for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, and the makers state that no generative AI was used.

The title has two meanings: deadly nightshade, and beautiful woman in Italian. Life has been an endless cycle of heartbreaks and false hope, but maybe tonight will be different. It always starts with a bar. A woman walks in, a clumsy waitress spills a drink, and a stranger holding a flower asks if you would like to be his sweet lie for the night.

The story is told in grey ink drawings with splashes of red, and you steer the conversation with choices such as asking whether a death was the work of a serial killer, what happened to a husband, or whether he has ever wanted to kill someone. It is nonlinear: there is no save, by design, and thirteen endings plus one more to find, with a walkthrough from the makers if you get stuck.

The makers describe it as a horror story about passions and sins, with sensitive content, flashing lights and coarse language but no screaming sounds or explicit sex. It is a slow-burning noir rather than a game of scares, and suits players who liked Dead Plate or Beary the Hatchet.

How to play Belladonna

Open the itch.io page and play in the browser, or download it for Windows, macOS, Linux or Android (name your own price).
Click to read the night's conversation in the bar.
Choose what to say and do when options appear; each choice shapes the ending.
There is no save, so replay and skip text you have read to find other endings.
Use the makers' walkthrough if you are stuck on the last endings.

Screenshots

Ink-drawn art of a pale woman and a man holding a flower outside a bar, as he asks: So, would you like to be my sweet lie for the night?

Dialogue choices: Do you think it's the work of a serial killer? What happened to your husband? Have you ever wanted to kill someone?

A clumsy waitress apologises in a dim bar with faceless patrons behind her

The Belladonna title menu framed by red flowers and ribs

Tips

The makers recommend the download; the browser version uses Ren'Py's beta web build.
In the browser, use the game's own Preferences to go full screen, not itch's button.
Try very different choices on each replay; there are fourteen endings.