Horror visual novels Psychological horror Zombie Short horror

Tokidoki Tactical Squad

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Keep your squad alive through the outbreak. The simulation knows your name.

Platforms: Browser, PC, Mac, Linux, Android
Stores: itch.io
Price: Free
Rated: 5.0/5 from 26 ratings on itch.io; #25 overall of the Spooktober Visual Novel Jam 2025 entries, from 28 jam ratings
Length: about 2 hours (maker's estimate)
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse or keyboard: click or press Space to advance, click to choose.
Made by: CuteShadow (directed by Justinn, written by Arquelu)
Released: 2025

What frightens A retro military simulation about a squad of girls surviving a viral outbreak turns brutal: infected Vireons claw their way up a vehicle for the fresh meat on board while a friend screams, and the game reaches out of its frame to show your own desktop time, wallpaper and name.
Content: gore, blood, violence, guns, zombies, flashing lights, uses your desktop name and wallpaper.

Tokidoki Tactical Squad is a free horror visual novel from the Spooktober VN Jam 2025. You play Iris, a squad leader keeping her friends alive in a retro military simulation of a world ravaged by a viral infection, in a yuri story that turns gory and starts to look back at the player.

About Tokidoki Tactical Squad

Tokidoki Tactical Squad was made by a team led by CuteShadow for the Spooktober Visual Novel Jam 2025, directed and programmed by Justinn and written by Arquelu, with partial voice acting, eight original songs and nine illustrations. It runs in the browser on itch.io and can be downloaded free for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. Its page states that no generative AI was used; the backgrounds are edited stock photos credited on the page.

You boot up a retro military simulation and take the role of Iris, a squad leader among a corps of animal-eared girls trying to survive a world ravaged by a ruthless infection. The game looks like a 1990s anime visual novel set inside an old computer interface, with a desktop, folders and a file called About Vireons. Between quiet scenes by a campfire and talks in the barracks, the squad faces hordes of the infected.

The maker tags it psychological horror and Doki Doki Literature Club, and warns of guns, violence, zombies, gore, blood and flashing lights. Infected creatures tear into the squad in grim, bloody passages. It also warns that your desktop time, wallpaper and name may appear in the game, which matters if you stream it.

It is about 25,000 words, roughly two hours, with one complete story. In the jam it placed 25th overall. It suits players who liked Doki Doki Literature Club and want a story where the cute surface and the fourth wall both give way.

How to play Tokidoki Tactical Squad

Press Run game on the itch.io page, or download it for Windows, Mac, Linux or Android; the maker recommends the download for performance.
Click or press Space to read on, and pick options when choices appear.
Look through the in-game desktop and its files when the story opens them.
If you stream, note that your desktop time, wallpaper and name may appear.

Screenshots

Two soldier girls rest against each other by a campfire in ruins as Iris says all she can think about is keeping them alive

A ruined town at dusk with text describing the Vireons' claws piercing a girl's sides as they climb toward the fresh meat on board

Two anime soldier girls in a sci-fi corridor as one asks, Oh no, are we too late

Tips

Download it rather than playing in the browser if you want sharper art and smoother play.
Read the content warnings first: gore, blood, flashing lights and zombies.
Leave voices and music on; much of the mood is in the sound.
Allow about two hours; it is longer than most jam games.