A Role to Play
A downloadable visual novel for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
Yet Another Gay Visual Novel from Echo Project
In A Role to Play, an armored fellow of varying potential names must escort a princess through a besieged kingdom to safety, accompanied by several colorful, non-human companions.
Of course, that's only half the story.
Our real protagonist, Danny, has spent the past year recovering from a life-threatening incident that left him severely injured. Nearing his 21st birthday, and with some pressuring from his father, he leaves the solitude of his home to meet up with a local group of tabletop gamers at his town's library. A newcomer to tabletop, Danny finds that his new friends are about as unusual as the characters they play in-game.
Ultimately, ARtP is a gay, branching visual novel about roleplay, identity, and escapism. There are three main "routes" for this story, with each route being associated with a certain character. Those familiar with other Echo Project titles (Echo, Adastra, The Smoke Room, Arches) will be right at home with this framework.
- A narrative that explores escapism, roleplaying, and all the weird gay stuff that goes with it
- Two distinct art styles separating roleplay from reality
- Three routes with varying choices for replayability
- Original soundtrack by Abyuse, Anthemics, and Hop-skip and the Chewtoys
- Updates via itch.io
- CW: Adult themes, drug and alcohol use, strong language, sexual references, violence
If you enjoy this and would like to support us on Patreon, you can do that HERE!
And finally, for more Echo Project games media, discussion, and fan works, the unofficial Echo Project community discord can be found HERE!
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only suggestion is maybe put in a heads up so people save before the game ends at the to be continued fade, its awesome tho!
Sounds like a good idea to me!
- McSkinny
I saw this a few months ago and was interested. Now I am not sure if I want to continue or not, but I probably will.
The art style and switch are really neat and the writing is good and feels natural.
For criticism about the writing, the only thing that really stood out to me was the first DnD session. It was hard to understand that the Princess (Megan) was a player and not an NPC, so I thought it was obvious you saved her instead of fighting with Antonius the Captain, or else she is probably dead. If it had been clearer she is a player I would had other opinions.
The only other criticism I had was not making it clear for people like me with a lot of DnD / RPG experience that the DM controlling the MC's character in the beginning and appearance is due to the MC's inexperience and want to help them get into the right mindset and is allowed by the MC. I was so "RED FLAG DM! RED FLAG DM! CONTROLLING PCS! RUN! THIS VISUAL NOVEL HAS NO IDEA WHAT DND IS!" until I realized much later it was because the MC had no experience and let the DM make the character start with. If it had been hinted at earlier I might not been sitting there wondering if I really should continue reading since I thought you the maker did not understand DnD. I was close to quitting the VN just because I did not feel any "DnD or RPG" in this at that point.
But that is the only thing I have valid criticism for.
This is just my personal opinion and experience of the game, and should not influence the maker:
1. Bad DM, forced Railroad to get to the other 2 PCs that had to wait all session to get briefly introduced! *Shake head* - But this is realistic. So I respect it!
2. Tucker's 10-year character has so far been revealed to have (So far) extremely boring lore (Being an Elder Flayer without committing to it) or a lack of otherworldliness that seems to just be made so he can metagame. Red flag player. It is fun to see a metagamer and powerbuilder roll really badly. But gosh the three things I would immediately tell him are:
- 1. Your character is not from this world do you really even know what a miller is? A lizardman? Our customs? No, you probably do not. So please consider how that affects your character's behaviors instead of keeping to metagaming.
- 2. Please stop sexualizing your character each time it is your turn to roleplay. We get it he is your hentai-fursona. He is hot we think so too, but you do not need to describe his glistening bulging muscles each time.
- 3. Please stop metagaming. Just because you hear something over the table does not mean your character is aware of it.
- I hope Tucker does get not necessary scolding or so, but some talk from the DM about how to improve his time and other players' time with him as a player.
3. I find it silly how the DM needs real maps/artwork for the characters but it works for a visual novel. X3
4. The game so far made it seem like Wuzzy is the stereotypical closet LQGBTQ+ teenager who thinks anyone above age 30 is elderly (And can't be friends with anyone younger than themselves) and easily offended (But he does seem a bit comedic around that). But that is not what I have an opinion about really. Even if that is someone I personally see as a red flag due to having to grow up a bit more. My concern is should he really be in a DnD game where we have Sex God Tucker and DM who thinks hearing about how often the PCs have had Sex is relevant??? If they want to explore sex it feels like Wuzzy should be an adult first if it really is that important to the roleplay (Which so far it has not been).
5. Finally, what kind of magical anti-connection elevator do they have!? No phone service? The elevator emergency button functioning despite the lights being on? The anti-wifi box? I know it was a way to show the damage of the MC but it was quite unbelievable.
Anyway, as you can see you clearly made me have opinions and that is a good thing. This means you got something promising even if I am still unsure if I want to continue (Mostly just to see where the DnD story goes, to be honest as the only characters I am interested in are Megan or the DM so far due to my red flags with Tucker and Wuzzy. XD)
I hope you get to continue this! :3
I love this game so much🥲
wazzy im sorry you are cute and pretty funny but i wanna shag your dad
wake up babe, a role to play its getting updates
I love this VN so much i was worried it was dead in the water since it had not updated in a while. This is an amazing project and I hope it gets all the support it deserves.
The game crashes when i tap 'start' or the other choices. Im using the android version :<
This was really good! The characters and the dialoge felt so real and fleshed out using pencil drawn portraits for NCP's is a great touch I really hope to see this game become something big.
This game looks so cool! But i just wish MC would be a girl... but yhea the game looks great!
*Downloads a gay visual novel*
*Complains about it being gay*
oh uh i didn't pdownloaded lol, i'm just fr blind and didn't see the description-
Is this another game focused on trauma? I'd just like to know due to previous bad experiences with Echo.
The MC's in a wheelchair but I think the theme so far is making the most out of it.
this game sounds freaking amazing and now I'm sad I cant get it TvT
Is there any specific schedule that you plan on following now, or will it just go as it goes? Asking because I still remember that it was planned to be updated monthly before! In any case, thrilled to see where this project goes!
'Ey! For Echo, I was doing 7-10k word updates (30-45 minutes of content) per build each month. I may stick to that, or do a bigger update every two months.
I'll probably just end up alternating between the two, in the end.
- McSkinny
That's honestly an impressive pace to work at! Really looking forward to it either way!
IT'S ALIVE! So happy!
Finally got time to play the update, DEAR GOD IT WAS GREAT. Love every character we got introduced to: in the campaign my favourite so far is unquestionably Skine, outside of it unsurprisingly Wazzy. We'll see how it goes!
And getting to know more of MCs backstory was really great too! I'm honestly so excited for more :) It's definitely one my most favourite VNs so far.
HOLY SHIT THIS GAME ISN”T DEAD. I cannot express the sheer amount of joy and excitement that washed over me when I saw this in my updates tray. There are very few VNs or, hell, video games in general that have got me as invested as quickly as this one has. Can’t wait for more!
The latest update is amazing! I already can't wait for the next one!!
MEGAN WAS FUJOSHING OUTTTTTTTT
It's quite possible... (by Stickly)
- McSkinny
I love it, and I already want more, though I should probably calm down.
Let's go, we're so back.
Honestly everything you guys make is awesome and just heard of this, super excited about the concept.
still wait for new update this vn game is awasome
Same i loved the story and i want more of it!
The premise is very interesting. I like the slice of life + DND with some potential LGBT themes
Loved this so much! Could really relate to the MC. The characters are all amazing too. Really hope that it's not actually abandoned, but oh well
Doubt it's abandoned! Echo Project are super good with their projects. I think the lack of updates may be due to the fact that it's just a co-writer working on this VN's story as opposed to the full Echo Project team. One of their popular VNs, Adasta, started similarly to this - slow-updating side project that eventually turned into it's own amazing title backed with popularity. The team's currently working on Glory Hounds and the Smoke Room especially, with 2 projects - Arches and Khemia a little on the backburner. Once one of these projects finish, A Role to Play will likely gain some traction.
That's great to hear! The biggest reason why I thought it's abandoned is because of "monthly updates" still being a part of description, while, well, it's been over a year and only the first build :(. Sure hope that you're right! Going to patiently wait and hope!
finally got to playing this, and i really enjoyed it!! looking forward to future updates!
This project released on my birthday. Been hyped for it since release, but it seems like it's not gonna get updated.
Will this ever be updated?
Sooooo.....is this project still alive or..
fun game
I can't play this it won't let me
What do u mean it won't let you play .
Any updates soon? Cuts off right before session two but all media shows it farther into the story
But where is the A Role to Play update?, I need it now!!!
I'm curious if this is going to be updated? I can't find much information on release updates.
This has to be one of the most compelling visual novels I've played, and it isn't even finished. <3
Well, as far as I know everyone's human in this story, except when they're doing the tabletop game.
For a first look, this is pretty nice.
Would definitely play on if updates come out.
The android version always crashes for me i have ni idea why
Damn, now I understand why everyone's so pumped up for this. It's really that good. This has such a great potential and probably would be one of the most memorable VN's I would ever read, especially if it continues.
Y'ALL NEED TO UPDATE THIS PPPLEEASSEE IM BEGGING YOU
MY BRAIN IS ROTTING
oh my god i need to hug wazzy so badI feel you dude. I feel you.
This is an amazing game, but it seems to be deserted even in their patreon. Would love to see it growth and be updated, both the story and charachter design are amazing, pls keep developing this astonishing game.
I don't comment on Itch games very frequently, since it's so easy to run through them one after another, giving into that endless well of unhealthy content consumption we all love to indulge in. I played A Role to Play just about 3 days ago, and it still hasn't left my mind. I keep thinking about absolutely everything about it. Firstly, i'm a gay TTRPG nerd, and this is a vn about gay TTRPG nerds. That was already enough to drag me in. Then, I met the main character and the rest of the cast, and it was enough to completely blow me away. I'm disabled. I am not disabled to the extent that the main character is, but I still am, and it just means so much to me to see this and an experience similar to mine and the way people treat you and the way you treat yourself as you struggle and try to heal inside even when you cant heal outside. I don't know how to structure my thoughts beyond this ramble but i love Tucker and I love Wazzy and I love Megan and I just love everything. To conclude, Wazzy is my darling son and I will protect him with my life.
LKMFNAFAOAOAO HELEEPPEP
the mc is canonically gay so IM PRETTY SURE
im giggling like an idiot because of this comment ehjelpethis was absolutely lovely but my main takeaway is that i have a debilitating need to date tucker and wazzy is literally me. but wazzy and tucker shouldnt date probably. only the LITERAL literal me should date him. his autism swag has captivated me
omg I NEED more of this one. I really loved how it started and really wanna go through it all
same, the DnD aspect and potential
baraand stuff is really interesting.so! man, I really wanna badly get to know the characters better and even see where the DnD will end