Monster Prom

Monster Prom is a simulation role-playing visual novel game developed by Beautiful Glitch, a studio based in Barcelona and founded by Julián Quijano, and published by Those Awesome Guys.[1] The game was released for Windows, macOS and Linux on 27 April 2018 and was distributed on Steam.[2] A Nintendo Switch release was launched on 21 May 2020.[3] Monster Prom was written by Julián Quijano, Cory O’Brien and Maggie Herskowitz, illustrated by Arthur Tien, and programmed by Elías Pereiras. Players assume the role of a student at Spooky High, a high school populated by monsters, as they attempt to find a date to prom.

Monster Prom
Developer(s)Beautiful Glitch
Publisher(s)Those Awesome Guys
Director(s)Julián Quijano
Producer(s)Jesse Cox
Designer(s)Julián Quijano
Programmer(s)Elías Pereiras
Artist(s)Arthur Tien
Writer(s)
  • Julián Quijano
  • Cory O’Brien
  • Maggie Herskowitz
Composer(s)Messer Chups
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release
  • Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux
  • April 27, 2018
  • Nintendo Switch
  • May 21, 2020
Genre(s)Visual novel
Mode(s)

An expansion to the game, titled Monster Prom: Second Term, was released on the 14th of February, 2019.[4]

Gameplay
An example of a choice presented in Monster Prom, featuring characters Liam (left) and Miranda (right).

Monster Prom is a 2D narrative dating sim that features both a singleplayer mode as well as a multiplayer competitive mode of up to four players. The player assumes the role of one of four pre-set characters, all of whom students at Spooky High, and can choose between six different monsters they can try to date. Players can play as any gender and pronouns with the game allowing for straight, gay, and lesbian dating options.[5]

The game randomizes the story every time it is played. Each turn, players must decide how they will spend their time over the course of three weeks leading up to prom, going through various events in one of several map locations at Spooky High in order to gain stats that affect the way their love interest perceives them. Throughout the game, players will be presented with various choices which may affect their relationship with other characters, as well as which events and endings they experience. The players’ actions will decide whether their love interest agrees to take them to prom or not. It features multiple endings, mini-games, and limited voice acting. The game also includes a shop where players can purchase items that can trigger new events as well as special endings.

The Second Term expansion included additional content such as new endings and two newly-dateable characters.[4]

Plot

The players are presented as students within Spooky High, a high school in a world inhabited by monsters.[6] They are given a time limit of three weeks in order to convince their chosen love interest to take them to prom. The game's plot changes with each new playthrough, giving players a unique sequence of events, dialogue and endings, depending on their choices. The four player characters are Oz, the personification of fear; Amira Rashid, a fire djinn; Brian Yu, a zombie; and Vicky Schmidt, a Frankenstein's monster. The six monsters available to romance are Scott Howl, a werewolf; Liam de Lioncourt, a vampire; Vera Oberlin, a gorgon; Damien LaVey, a fire demon; Polly Geist, a ghost; and Miranda Vanderbilt, a mermaid.[7] Second Term introduces two new monsters to romance: Zoe, an Eldritch monster; and Calculester Hewlett-Packard, a computer robot.[4]

The majority of the game's humor is very Western-influenced, consisting of many pop culture references, banter-based dialogue, self-referential commentary on monster fiction, and light satirical themes. The game has over 1,300 possible events and 47 secret endings.

Development

On 25 November 2016 the game successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign raising funds through 1,592 backers.[8] The campaign raised just over €32,000, quadruple the intended goal of €8,000. The additional funding allowed for more content such as endings, items, and characters.[9] A roster of notable voice actors was assembled to portray the cast, including Arin Hanson, Dan Avidan, Nathan Sharp, Cristina Valenzuela, Sarah Anne Williams, Christine Marie Cabanos, Danielle McRae, Erika Ishii and others. On 14 February 2018 the developers announced the game's release via a teaser trailer, and the game was released on 27 April 2017 on Steam for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.[10] The Second Term expansion DLC, which was a stretch goal of the Kickstarter campaign, was released on 14 February 2019, adding additional voice work from Felicia Day, Casey Mongillo, Jacksepticeye, Ross O'Donovan, and Brizzy.[4] Language support for Simplified Chinese was added on 23 January 2020.

On 27 April 2020, to celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of the game's initial release, Beautiful Glitch announced Monster Prom: XXL, which consists of the original game, the Second Term DLC, as well as all seasonal content released throughout the game’s lifespan. It was released on the Nintendo Switch on 21 May 2020.[3]

Sequel

On May 8 2019, Beautiful Glitch announced a sequel titled Monster Prom 2: Holiday Season and launched another Kickstarter campaign with a playable demo. The sequel will feature the same characters from Monster Prom in three minigames: Summer Camp, a dating simulation similar to the original game; Winter Retreat, a strategy game featuring Vera and Miranda; and Roadtrip, an adventure survival game featuring Scott and Polly.[11] The campaign proved successful and raised over €535,000 from almost 9,000 backers within a month, surpassing their goal of €32,000. The sequel is currently in development and is scheduled to be released in October 2020.[12]

Thanks to the extra funding on Kickstarter, additional content was announced in the form of a future DLC titled Monster Prom: Not another isekai! and an additional sequel titled Monster Prom: REVERSE, in which the playable characters from the first game can be romanced.

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
MetacriticPC: 73/100[13]
NS: 81/100[14]
Review scores
PublicationScore
App Trigger85/100[15]
CD-Action65/100[13]
Common Sense Media[16]
Gaming Age91/100[17]
GameSpace8/10[18]
GamesMaster77/100[13]
Shacknews5/10[19]
Twinfinite8/10[20]

The PC version of the game received a score of 73 on the review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average reviews",[13] while the Nintendo Switch version received a score of 81, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[14] The game was mainly praised for its writing, humor and character art. Jeff Ramos and Allegra Frank of Polygon praised "how genuinely funny Monster Prom is. Considering almost every line in the game is a punchline, it’s an achievement that the humor never felt labored or forced."[21] Many critics also praised the game's multiplayer mode, many of whom declared it stronger than the singleplayer version. Tony Cocking of Twinfinite notes that the game "fares better as a multiplayer game than a single-player one" as it "can grow repetitive, particularly when played alone."[22] Rebekah Valentine of App Trigger had a more favorable view of both game modes, stating that the game "rests on a framework of superb character art and hilarious scenario writing, then goes several steps further to offer a challenging competitive experience and an addictive solo one."[23]

Publications also praised the amount of content the game offers, with Alyse Stanley of Rock, Paper, Shotgun stating that "its combinations of events and endings make every playthrough feel like it’s your first time."[24] Stan Yeung of Gaming Age adds that "the sheer amount of events and possible outcomes meant it would be hard for me to get bored."[25] However, some critics noted that despite the game's strengths, its mechanics often stagnated which made it difficult to find much in the way of replayability. CD-Action states that the "hilarious, brilliant dialogues are not enough to compensate for random, grind-oriented gameplay."[13] Similarly, in a mixed review, Eugene Sax of Game Critics notes that "despite the wealth of options, the scenarios become predictable and tired quickly."[26]

Regarding the Nintendo Switch version, Neal Ronaghan of Nintendo World Report had a favorable review and wrote that while "not a game for everyone... Monster Prom is a riotously good time" thanks to its humor and ability to "take a visual novel and dating sim and transforms it into a party game."[27]

Accolades

The game was nominated for the "Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award" and for "Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game" at the SXSW Gaming Awards.[28]

YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2017 Casual Connect Asia Best Narrative Won [29]
BIC Fest Narrative Award Nominated
Gameplay Award Nominated
MomoCon Best Indie Game Nominated [30]
2019 MomoCon Best Indie Game Nominated [31]
SXSW Gaming Awards Cultural Innovation Award Nominated [32]
Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game Nominated [32]
gollark: 2.0 of what? What does it have? Why do you need it?
gollark: ↓ weaponized rustc
gollark: Never mind, it's just hilariously slow.
gollark: Hmm. It appears that my dokuwiki install has undergone "beeing".
gollark: And they're always sane and able to reasonably decide on things!

References
  1. Lopez, Azario (14 February 2018). "Comedic Dating Sim 'Monster Prom' Gets Release Date and Gameplay Detail". DualShockers. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  2. Wood, Austin (15 February 2018). "Monster Prom is a competitive dating sim in which you hook up with sexy freaks". PC Gamer. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  3. "Monster Prom announces Nintendo Switch release and new update to celebrate its 2-Year Anniversary". Gamasutra. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  4. Anthony, Sean (14 February 2019). "Monster Prom's first DLC, Second Term, available today, includes two new love interests and 10 secret endings". Gaming Trend. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  5. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/10/30/monster-prom-dating-sim-spoof/
  6. Kers, David (15 February 2018). "Monster Prom is a competitive dating sim with... monsters". Gamereactor. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  7. Green, Holly (2 May 2018). "Don't Pass Up This Monster Prom-posal". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  8. Chan, Stephanie (14 February 2018). "Monster Prom's multiplayer dating sim dances to an April 27 release date". VentureBeat. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  9. LeClair, Kyle (25 November 2016). "Monster Prom Finishes Its Kickstarter Campaign With Over €32,000". HardcoreGamer. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  10. Johnson, Sarah (15 February 2018). "Compete With Your Friends and Date Monsters in Monster Prom". mxdwn Games. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  11. Compendio, Chris (8 May 2019). "Monster Prom 2: Holiday Season Kickstarter and Demo Goes Live". DualShockers. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  12. Michael, Cale (11 June 2019). "Monster Prom 2: Holiday Season is three games in one and coming in 2020 | E3 2019". Gamepur. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  13. "Monster Prom for PC on Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  14. "Monster Prom XXL for Nintendo Switch on Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  15. Valentine, Rebekah (26 April 2018). "Monster Prom review: Monster Seeking Monster". App Trigger. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  16. Chapman, David (26 April 2018). "Monster Prom: Game review by David Chapman, Common Sense Media". Common Sense Media. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  17. Yeung, Stan (21 May 2018). "Monster Prom review for PC". Gaming Age. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  18. Orr, Ed (27 April 2018). "Our Monster Prom Review". GameSpace. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  19. Vincent, Brittany (5 May 2018). "Monster Prom Review: Everybody Run, The Prom Queen's...Undead". Shacknews. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  20. Cocking, Tony (30 April 2018). "Monster Prom Review". Twinfinite. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  21. Ramos, Jeff (2 May 2018). "Monster Prom made me laugh at my own rejection". Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  22. Cocking, Tony (30 April 2018). "Monster Prom Review". Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  23. Valentine, Rebekah (27 April 2018). "Monster Prom review: Monster Seeking Monster". Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  24. Stanley, Alyse (14 May 2018). "Wot I Think: Monster Prom". Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  25. Yeung, Stan (21 May 2018). "Monster Prom review for PC". Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  26. Sax, Eugene (15 July 2018). "Monster Prom Review". Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  27. Ronaghan, Neal (26 May 2020). "Monster Prom XXL (Switch) Review". Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  28. Trent, Logan (11 February 2019). "Here Are Your 2019 SXSW Gaming Awards Finalists!". South by Southwest. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  29. K, Hawk (18 May 2017). "Indie Prize Singapore Winners Announced at Casual Connect Asia". gamedev. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  30. Graham, Day (4 May 2017). "MomoCon 2017 Indie Game Awards Finalists Announced". Scholarly Gamers. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  31. "The Gardens Between, Monster Prom Among MomoCon Indie Award Finalists". First Comics News. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  32. Singletory Jr, Charles (11 February 2019). "2019 SXSW Gaming Awards nominees announced". Shacknews. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
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