Slay the Princess (game)

## Slay the Princess

***Slay the Princess*** is a horror visual novel from Black Tabby Games. For Slay the Princess, Black Tabby Games is joined by voice actors Jonathan Sims and Nichole Goodnight, as well as Scarlet Hollow’s composer Brandon Boone and its sound designer Phil Michalski.

A demo was initially released on itch.io and Steam for free on August 1st 2022 , with a second demo "Director's Cut" being released on March 21, 2023. The full game was released on October 23, 2023.

## Steam Description

You're on a path in the woods, and at the end of that path is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a Princess.

You're here to slay her. If you don't, it will be the end of the world.

She will do everything in her power to stop you. She'll charm, and she'll lie, and she'll promise you the world, and if you let her, she'll kill you a dozen times over. You can't let that happen. Don't forget, the fate of the world rests on your shoulders.

*You're not going to listen to him, are you? We're supposed to save princesses, not slay them...*

#### Features

* **Fully voice-acted** by the impeccable Jonathan Sims and Nichole Goodnight.
* **Hand-penciled art** - every background and sprite is drawn traditionally with pencil and paper by Ignatz-winning graphic novelist Abby Howard.
* **A princess.** She's very bad and you have to get rid of her for all our sakes.
* **No, the Princess isn't a cosmic horror.** She's just an ordinary human Princess, and you can definitely slay her as long as you put your mind to it.
* **Don't even think about trying to romance her.** It won't end well for you.
* **Hopefully you won't die.** But if you do, you'll die a lot. Be careful and stay focused on the task at hand!
* Time loops **No time loops.** Don't be ridiculous. Time is a strictly linear concept and it certainly doesn't "loop," whatever that's supposed to mean.
* **A branching narrative** where what you say and what you believe determines both who you are and how the story unfolds.
* **A new roleplaying experience from the creators of Scarlet Hollow.**

## Development

*Slay the Princess* was developed by Black Tabby Games, a studio made by the duo of Tony Howard-Arias and Abby Howard. Black Tabby Games had previously developed *Scarlet Hollow*.

The idea of *Slay the Princess* first came from Tony Howard-Arias wanting to do a "visual novel game jam type of project." From there, they thought what would make a compelling set up for one location and one character. Tony and Abby also liked morally-ambiguous horror as well, making it the theme of the game.

*Slay the Princess* was designed a few months after *Scarlet Hollow* Chapter 3's development. Its development was designed to slip seamlessly into Scarlet Hollow’s workflow. Pushing themselves to get the *Slay the Princess* demo out also had the unintended effect of significantly speeding up the development on *Scarlet Hollow* from the skills and practice they gained through this exercise.

## Release

*Slay the Princess* announced its Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that ran from October 1st, 2020 until October 26th, 2020, successfully raising $81,814 AUD and 2,726 backers.

On August 1, 2022, a demo of *Slay the Princess*, the *Original Cut*, was released. On March 21, 2023, an extended *Director's Cut* demo, featuring four new Princesses, new music, and expansions to Chapter I & II, released.

The full game of *Slay the Princess* was released on Steam and on October 27, 2023  By November 30, the game sold over 100,000 copies on Steam.

On December 16, 2023, a free expansion to the game, *The Pristine Cut*, was announced. The expansion, expected to release in 2024, will add additional chapters, expansions to existing chapters, and more.

## Promotions & Contests

* Speedrun Giveaway and Achievements Giveaway
* Black Tabby Games November Fan Art Competiton: Predictions
* Slay the Princess Fan Art Competition 2023

## Reference

1. ↑ The Demo is Here!
2. ↑ Demo Director's Cut is HERE!
3. ↑ Slay the Princess is Out Now!
4. ↑ Youtube: Scarlet Hollow + Slay the Princess Q&A Stream with the Devs (w/ phas)
5. ↑ Tony's Blog
6. ↑ https://abbyhoward.itch.io/slay-the-princess/devlog/508694/original-cut-archive
7. ↑ Slay the Princess Supporter's Pack Now Available!
8. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/slaytheprincess/comments/187mvq8/slay\_the\_princess\_has\_sold\_100000\_copies\_enjoy\_a/
9. ↑ Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut is coming next year.