Slay the Princess review – A romantic Kafkaesque nightmare

Black Tabby Games

Slay the Princess originally launched last year and was a surprise success. It was voted as one of the top games on Metacritic by both users and reviewers in the extremely competitive landscape of 2023. Thanks to that success Black Tabby Games released a free update, and despite it being six months since it originally launched I knew I had to try it out.

When you first start playing, things seem simple. A hand-drawn black and white forest unfurls before you and a narrator chimes in to give you your mission. As the title suggests, you must go to a cabin in the woods and slay the princess shackled in the basement.

You are told that the princess has the power to end the world, and if she were to ever find a way to escape the basement, we would all be doomed. You are given zero evidence beyond what the narrator tells you, and what you ultimately decide to do is all based on the vibes. Your actions have consequences, and the more you learn about your mission and the princess, the more that knowledge influences your decision making.

A damsel in distress? We'll let you be the judge of that. / Black Tabby Games

The gameplay in Slay the Princess all comes down to this. From the first step you will be given a huge number of dialogue options that cover almost every viewpoint available. I would love to see how the dialogue tree and flags work because it is undoubtedly vast, and every small decision seems to have a different outcome later down the road. Each time you meet and interact with the princess, the way she treats you is based on how you treat her, much like our real-life relationships.

Slay the Princess is more intriguing the less you know so we don’t want to give too much away. However, we will say it is a game that is made to be replayed, and you will find yourself playing again and again to see how your choices affect the other characters. It’s a game of exploration with a heavy emphasis on the story and character development, which slowly unfurls the more you play. Unlike other choices-matter games that you find often funnel you towards the same ultimate goal, there are multiple varied outcomes here.

It's all about choices and consequences. / Black Tabby Games

Not only do the characters change depending on your choices, but the feeling and genre of the game does too. It can play out more like a drama, a horror, or a romance story, and undoubtedly many more as I didn’t see all of the available endings. It’s a game that you shape through your choices, and like a Kafka novel, reflects those choices back to you.

With the free update, there is no better time to dive into Slay the Princess. It was one of the best games of 2023, and the new update has made it even better. It’s a game that everyone needs to play for themselves as each journey is unique, even though you will likely want to dive in for another unique journey straight afterwards.

Score: 9/10

Version tested: PC (Steam Deck)