Every game has its limitations, there is only so many actions you can take, narrative threads to unspool, buttons to press. What about a game that you can only play one round of every day? A game where you “take up the sword against an NPC or another girl-esque thing irl and fight until one of you is holding the lifeless, bloodstained hand of the other.” This is the description of a tiny, visceral Yuri Game Jam game called Everyday Sororicide.
Developed by Blood Machine and Snek Remilia Ketter, Everyday Sororicide is self-described as a “tragic attempt at conveying the feeling of interacting with another girl on any level beyond superficiality.” It is also a game of duels, as mentioned above, to the death. A 1v1 me on Final Destination, not items kind of game, each character bequeathed a sword with which you have a handful of actions. Stab, feint, dodge, jump, slam down, it is simple, yet particular; you have to watch for an opening, the girl-esque thing in front of you won’t go down easily, all while drone music blares increasingly aggressively at you.
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In its solo mode, you can only play it a single time a day. That’s all. It is defiant in its structure, unwilling to bend to your wants of discovering more, of learning why these women feel such desperation to fight each other, of discovering a secret you didn’t know you sought after. There’s a mystery here made more tantalising by its refusal to be uncovered quickly.
That isn’t to say this is a game you can only play once a day, as it actually has a multiplayer mode in which you can do battle with a mate, or, maybe someone you have a toxic situationship with. Seems like the right kind of game for such an activity.
If you too would like to figure out how to interact with another girl, you can pick up Everyday Sororicide on itch.io for free.