
Welcome to Red Hives, a lovely Midwestern town infested with demons. You're a little spirit stuck in a time loop, your only way to interact with the world is by possessing people and whispering into their ears. Explore timelines, solve mysteries, and please, try to keep your hosts alive...
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About
On the quiet, cold morning of October 26, 2016, exactly at 5:00 A.M., many things happened all at once.
A bloody ritual was concluded.
A young man lost his memory.
A small creature, named Dark Wisp, was born in the vastness of the Void.
The rooftops of Red Hives welcomed the light of a new day.
The last day of the world.
The Demons Told Me to Make This Game is a Time Loop game and a cosmic horror narrative adventure about demons, monsters, evil cults, bloody rituals, and Elder Gods.
You play as Dark Wisp, a disembodied spirit who is unable to interact with the physical world directly, but instead can possess people and speak into their ears, influencing their behavior.
Your hosts have agency and will keep trying to act on their own accord, but you mustn't let them do that. They're dumbasses, and without your help they will imminently perish. Fortunately, you have control over the flow of time, so you can undo their stupidity whenever you want.
Make choices. Experiment. Explore different timelines. Learn what you need and help your hosts survive. After all, they're the ones destined to save the world.

To complete TDTMTMTG, you will have to solve a series of Time Loops.
Loops are broken down into Time Slots to help you experiment with their interconnected events. In each Time Slot, you will possess one host, leaving the rest to their own devices, free to make their impressively bad decisions.
Keeping your hosts alive won't be easy. To weave a timeline of their survival, you will need to see the events from different perspectives and rely on numerous, often cruel experiments. You will make your hosts do despicable things, and you will watch them die, over and over again, gaining knowledge and wisdom with each instance.
Once you have crafted the perfect sequence of events, the loop is completed, and the story moves forward.

Flawed as they are, your hosts are thinking people. You don't have direct control over what they do or say.
Each host has a unique, strong personality. Making them do what needs to be done will require finesse and patience, as well as complete disregard for their well-being.
Be their best friend. Be their worst bully. Cheer for them. Mock them. Take advantage of their deepest fears and anxieties. The hosts may not always listen, but they will always hear you. And even if reasoning with them fails, you can always play a mini-game to hijack their brains.
To solve the time loop, you will have to make your hosts do terrible things that go against their very nature.

Red Hives may look like a small, dying town where nothing ever happens, but don't let the looks deceive you. The history of this place is riddled with terrible tragedies and things way worse than demons lurk in its shadows.
The only ones standing against the darkness are a ragged crew of exorcists. Brave but hopelessly unprepared for what they face. Fortunately, they have you. As you guide them, bending wills and shaping fates, one question lingers: whose side are you really on?

Genres
Stats
All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English
Engagement
Hours played at review time, across 41 reviews with recorded playtime.
Reviews
Themes across 41 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
Reviews
this game has everything: penguins. bees. end-of-days demonic cults. a truly cyberpunk 2077-inspired weapon choice. bodega coffee. the best buffy hellmouth energy. I cannot believe what h.p. lovecraft named his cat, and I cannot wait to see how the story keeps growing.
I really enjoy the humor and dumb fun of this game. Lotta fun!
Pretty cool and fun! I can't wait for more of the game to come out.
Developed and published by Haunted Dude, The Demons Told Me to Make This Game is an inventive narrative RPG that combines psychological horror, supernatural mystery, dark humor, and investigative adventure into a memorable experience. Instead of placing players in the role of a traditional hero, the game casts them as Dark Wisp, an ethereal being with no physical form who can only shape events by possessing human hosts and subtly influencing their decisions. This unusual premise immediately separates the game from more conventional horror titles, emphasizing observation, manipulation, and problem-solving over combat. Set in the seemingly quiet town of Red Hives, the story gradually peels back layers of unsettling secrets involving demonic entities, mysterious cults, forgotten histories, and an impending catastrophe that threatens far more than a single community. One of the game's defining mechanics is its time-loop structure, which encourages players to learn through repetition rather than fear failure. Every cycle provides another opportunity to uncover hidden details, alter crucial choices, and observe events from entirely different perspectives. Since Dark Wisp relies on possessing various residents instead of acting directly, each host offers unique opportunities to reveal information that would otherwise remain hidden. The people under your influence are not passive puppets either, as they possess their own personalities, desires, and reactions that can either support or complicate your plans. This creates a fascinating balance between player control and character autonomy, making every decision feel significant while rewarding experimentation across multiple timelines. The branching narrative continuously motivates exploration, ensuring that replaying familiar sections often uncovers surprising dialogue, new relationships, and previously concealed pieces of the overarching mystery. The writing is easily among the game's greatest strengths. While its foundation is built upon cosmic horror and supernatural suspense, the script frequently balances its darker moments with dry wit and self-aware humor that keeps the experience engaging without undermining the tension. The town of Red Hives evolves into a compelling setting where nearly every resident, location, and conversation contributes something meaningful to the larger narrative. As players uncover increasingly disturbing truths, the story successfully maintains a sense of intrigue by revealing its mysteries gradually rather than overwhelming the player with exposition. Mature themes, including stylized violence, disturbing imagery, strong language, references to sexuality, and occult subject matter, reinforce the unsettling atmosphere while remaining integrated into the narrative instead of existing purely for shock value. The visual presentation embraces a distinctive hand-crafted style that perfectly complements the game's supernatural themes. Character portraits are expressive, environments are filled with subtle environmental storytelling, and the contrast between ordinary locations and bizarre supernatural manifestations creates an effective sense of unease. Rather than pursuing realistic graphics, the artistic direction focuses on personality and mood, allowing both human characters and eldritch creatures to leave lasting impressions. Audio also plays a significant role in shaping the experience, with atmospheric music and carefully designed sound effects heightening both moments of quiet investigation and scenes of mounting horror. Together, the visuals and soundtrack establish an immersive world that constantly reminds players something deeply unnatural lies beneath the town's ordinary appearance. As an Early Access release, the game currently represents only part of the complete vision. The available content includes the introductory portion of the story along with its first major chapter, providing a solid foundation while hinting at considerably larger plans for future updates. The developer has outlined ambitions to expand the adventure with additional time loops, new playable hosts, expanded mechanics, visual enhancements, localization support, and numerous quality-of-life improvements. Although the project remains unfinished, the current build already offers a substantial amount of narrative content and demonstrates a clear creative direction. Players expecting a complete experience may wish to wait for future development, but those who enjoy story-rich indie games with evolving narratives will already find plenty to appreciate. The Demons Told Me to Make This Game stands out because it confidently embraces originality instead of relying on familiar horror formulas. Its possession-based gameplay, layered time-loop mechanics, engaging mystery, memorable cast, and effective blend of suspense and humor create a refreshing experience that rewards curiosity from beginning to end. Even in its unfinished state, it delivers enough compelling storytelling and inventive design to leave a lasting impression, making it an easy recommendation for players who enjoy narrative adventures filled with supernatural intrigue, meaningful choices, and psychological tension. Rating: 8/10
Wow this game was truly incredible, and I loved it so much! Completely heartbroken over its uncertain future however. I recc buying the game with the expectation that what you see is what you get. The only "chapter" available is Act 1, which has several parts and several hours worth of gameplay within. Truly hope that the devs might one day make a patreon or kickstarter to support this project, its truly incredible
The voice acting is good the story is great and the art is pretty
Sooooo good. Really funny and in depth even though it's only a fraction of the way done atp. :)
This game is really weird and has a dystopian feel. Im enjoying, I dont usually buy many early access games but I had to try this one. I can't wait for the next part to release
I don't even remember how I came to find this game – by pure chance, most likely. I didn't expect much from it, and it took me a bit of time before I started playing it, and how wrong I was ! The narrative is awesome, and there are so many options that it's addictive to try them all. Plus, the game won't even penalize you for it because its entire mechanics are based on the idea of going back in time – not only to follow the path you want, but also to uncover information you wouldn't have found otherwise. Let's also not forget that something learned by one character can be used by the other ! No, really, I underestimated this game, and I'm ashamed of it, because right now, the only thing I have against it is that there's not enough of it. The game is totally unhinged, in the good way, morbid to the core and truly hilarious. I'm a little sad to see that the game isn't getting much more attention right now, because it really deserves it — can't wait to see what's coming next, in the hope the devs find a way to make it to the end ♥
I love this. The dialog feels far more natural than many other text heavy games I've played, and the jokes are legit funny. Exploration and problem solving are interesting and really motivated me to go back and look for other items, paths, and outcomes. Highly recommend.
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Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.
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