Horror visual novels Psychological horror Short horror Horror

Dermimi's!

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A sweet pink shop, two girlfriends, and something stitched up wrong.

Platforms: Browser, PC, Mac
Stores: itch.io
Price: Pay what you want
Rated: 4.7/5 from 281 ratings on itch.io; 7th overall and 1st for graphics in Winter MelonJam 2024
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse: click to advance and choose; click in time during the felting minigame
Made by: cinnamew, PocketNii and adexia

What frightens Mimi runs a cute pink shop with her goth girlfriend Domo, and everything is hearts and soft music, until the scene glitches into static and something is wrong with Domo. Between felting little animals, the sweet surface peels back toward taxidermy and death, with violent language, implications of suicide and abuse and gory horror imagery by the makers' warning.
Content: gore, violent language, implications of suicide and abuse, taxidermy and death.

Dermimi's! is a short horror visual novel by cinnamew, PocketNii and adexia, made in 72 hours for Winter MelonJam 2024. You follow Mimi through a cute day with her girlfriend Domo in their pink shop, until the sweetness starts to glitch and the truth underneath comes through.

About Dermimi's!

Dermimi's! was made in 72 hours by cinnamew, PocketNii and adexia for Winter MelonJam 2024, on the theme of polarity: two girlfriends with opposite looks and moods, a cute pink girl and a goth. It took 7th place overall and 1st for graphics. It plays in the browser on itch.io, with older Windows and Mac downloads, and the makers say no generative AI was used.

You play through a short day at Mimi's shop, Dermimi's, where she makes felted animals and dotes on Domo. The art is all pastel pink, hearts and sparkles, broken by a felting minigame in which you click as you are prompted to shape a little animal, and by phone calls from customers. You make a few choices along the way.

The page warns early that cute girls are not the whole story. The picture keeps glitching into dark static, and talk turns to stuffing, thread and taxidermy. The makers list violent language, implications of suicide and abuse, talk of taxidermy and death, and gory horror imagery. Two endings wait depending on your choices.

It suits players who like short cute-horror visual novels in the line of Doki Doki Literature Club, where the sweetness is the setup, and who can finish a game in one sitting.

How to play Dermimi's!

Open Dermimi's! on itch.io and press Run game; the web build can take a while to load.
Click to advance the story.
In the felting minigame, click the screen when prompted.
Pick an option when choices appear; they decide which ending you reach.
Play again with other choices to see the second ending.

Screenshots

Dermimi's! screenshot: pink-haired Mimi and blushing dark-haired Domo in a pastel shop at night

Dermimi's! screenshot: the same scene darkened and glitching into static, with Domo saying Mimi...

Dermimi's! screenshot: the felting minigame, a hand with a needle shaping a fluffy blue animal on a wooden table

Dermimi's! screenshot: Mimi in a pink apron saying Scissors, thread, stuffing... I have everything I'll need

Tips

If the web build will not load, download the Windows or Mac version; it is older and misses one minigame.
Pay attention to what the narrator does not say.
Expect gore and disturbing implications late on; read the content warnings first if needed.
Two endings: a second run is quick.