Life as a first-year college student is meant to be about lectures, exams, and questionable late-night food.
In Reframe, it’s also about fistfights with street thugs, impromptu snowboarding sessions, and the occasional wizard trying to drown the world. It’s the sort of game where routine and absurdity happily share the same timetable.
Built entirely by solo developer JVR, Reframe wears its inspirations on its sleeve, Omori, Undertale, Lisa, and South Park: The Stick of Truth among them, but its heart is very much its own.
You play as Ilya, a directionless student whose life comes undone after one strange night. From there, you’re free to drift between classes, dates, gym workouts, petty crimes, and chats with dozens of oddball characters, before returning to battles that fold consequences back into the story. Losing isn’t the end; it just rewrites what happens next.
The demo, now up on Steam, sets out the tone clearly: dark humor collides with heavy themes, while the city itself invites curiosity at every corner.
Maybe you’ll attend a theater show with your teacher, maybe you’ll waste money on soda and chips to patch up your sanity, maybe you’ll just hang out with Barsik the cat. Either way, every choice matters, even the silly ones.
There’s no release date for the full game yet, but the demo already feels like a peek into a world that’s both bleak and oddly comforting.
About This Game
Uncover a horrifying mystery in this non-linear RPG. Explore the city, complete quests, improve your stats, discover secrets, build relationships or just pet cats. Discover your purpose and meaning and make choices that will impact your life and the lives of the people you call friends.
No “Game Over” screen.
If you fail in a battle, you’ll have to deal with the consequences. Ranging from getting items/money/pants stolen to entire quests failing as a result! On the other hand, winning may give you special rewards that can unlock secret areas!
You are not here to save the world.
You are a tiny little nobody named Ilya, a first-year college student with no future, no past and no present. One fateful night, the world you thought you knew well, began to shatter. Now you’ll have no choice but to press forward and find out what the hell is going on.
Day and night.
Go to classes in the morning, hit the gym in the afternoon, go to a party in the evening and fight incomprehensible horrors during the night.
The world is open.
Do whatever you want whenever you want. Fight the bad guys, work at the shop, hit the gym, or attend classes like a total nerd.
Commit crimes!
No, seriously.
Additionally:
- Chat with 50+ unique characters!
- Fight the bad guys! Gopniks, Hipsters, Alcoholics and even Robots!
- Go to theater with your teacher. Awkward.
- Improve your strength by going to the gym!
- Improve your perception by going biking, snowboarding, attending classes or shooting some bottles in the forest!
- Destroy your health by drinking soda and eating chips! But it helps with Energy and Sanity, so maybe it’s worth it?
- Pet a cat named Barsik! There are at least 3… No, wait, 4 cats in this game! Hold on, does this one even count?.. I’m not sure. You can only pet one, but it’s just a demo, you know? I can promise that in the full release, you’ll be able to pet at least 2 different cats!
- Date weird girls!
- Join W.I.M.P.!
- Made almost entirely by one person.
- Or do none of the above! It’s (sort of) open world! So do whatever you want whenever you want.
And don’t worry. She will always be watching you.
