A Role to Play
A downloadable visual novel for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
Yet Another Gay Visual Novel from Echo Project
In A Role to Play, an armored fellow of varying potential names must escort a princess through a besieged kingdom to safety, accompanied by several colorful, non-human companions.
Of course, that's only half the story.
Our real protagonist, Danny, has spent the past year recovering from a life-threatening incident that left him severely injured. Nearing his 21st birthday, and with some pressuring from his father, he leaves the solitude of his home to meet up with a local group of tabletop gamers at his town's library. A newcomer to tabletop, Danny finds that his new friends are about as unusual as the characters they play in-game.
Ultimately, ARtP is a gay, branching visual novel about roleplay, identity, and escapism. There are three main "routes" for this story, with each route being associated with a certain character. Those familiar with other Echo Project titles (Echo, Adastra, Arches) will be right at home with this framework.
- A narrative that explores escapism, roleplaying, and all the weird gay stuff that goes with it
- Two distinct art styles separating roleplay from reality
- Three routes with varying choices for replayability
- Original soundtrack by Abyuse, Anthemics, and Hop-skip and the Chewtoys
- Updates via itch.io
Though this project is not supported by Patreon funds, you can still support other Echo Project content on Patreon HERE!
And finally, for more Echo Project games media, discussion, and fan works, the Echo Project community discord can be found HERE!
Download
Development log
- A Role to Play Build 0.05 – Luchadores, Velociraptors, and Juggalos (Redux!)86 days ago
- A Role to Play Build 0.05 – Luchadores, Velociraptors, and Juggalos87 days ago
- A Role to Play Build 0.04 - Text-message Roleplay and MurderApr 30, 2024
- A Role to Play - New Visual Novel from Echo Project ReleaseNov 07, 2022
Comments
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I'm having trouble playing; Every time I enter the game, it freezes and ejects me from the app, causing me to lose all my progress. Is this happening only to me?
Which platform are you using? - McSkinny
Android
When I met Wazzy's father, wedding bells rang...
I hope they add Spanish at some point; it's my native language, so it would be easier and more Latin American people could discover this wonderful visual novel.
aaaa i'm surprised you preferred the teenager's dad to the teenager, given what i know about your people
So what you know is wrong, lol. Regardless of your nationality or lenguage, seeing a (minor) character or person as romantic is WRONG. It's a visual novel, and visual novels don't necessarily have to be romantic.
I haven't played it yet, but I feel like it will be good.
it's a shame wazzy has to be aged up, if he was 15-17 he'd be more accurate to the gay/bi experience. ig that's just one of the losses with itch's new(ish) TOS.
Could someone please explain how to get past the trial part?
Ni modo tocará ser madrastra a los 21 xd
and on a side note when mr muerte says ¨no te vayas a chismear¨ is wrong is ´no vayas a chismear¨ in any case it would be "no vayas tu a chismear" also because he´s talking to an older lady he might use "usted" is a more formal/respectful way to adress someone so it would be "no vaya (usted, is implied) a chismear" only taking out the "s"
Funnily enough, that one elevator section has been re-translated multiple times at this point from three different Spanish-speakers — one from Colombia, one from Argentina, and the other from the USA. Even after all that, you're not alone in thinking that it still sounds weird (others on the Discord mentioned it, too!). I showed a few of them your comment and there was continued disagreement, unfortunately.
I'm probably just gonna have Danny describe Doble and the librarian "animatedly speaking Spanish" in the next build. That way, even Spanish-speakers can better put themselves in Danny's position of not knowing the hell the two other characters are talking about, heh.
- McSkinny
I get it yet i´ll miss seeing a muscle wall of a man get sassed around by an older lady, dare i say, very latino coded experience
As much as I adored to find the update, and also truly enjoyed playing it, I find myself disappointed by it.
Yeah, Doble Muerte is cool but... okay, could we not spare some time to have longer dialogue with Megan? Could we not get another text chain with Tucker? A quick dialogue with Danny's dad?
I understand that Doble Muerte is hot and really cool but I would have really liked if the established characters got the same care as the hot daddy siniestro (which I am into, not gonna lie).
This update was fantastic, I'm so glad to have waited fervently for it and I'll gladly wait for the next one as long as it takes.
Show post...
Great job! I can tell there’s a lot of care and creativity behind this.
On my soul, I'm smashing Doble Muerte. Seriously though, this might actually be my favourite visual novel. I can't wait for the next update.
If I had a nickel for every gay visual novel inspired by ttrpgs, I would have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s still weird that it happened twice.
(<3)
Lol which is the other one?
currently playing this on Android and the 'Message' button is gone, unsure if this is a bug or intentional for this version
its a good update tho, i love it so much. just hope they'll fix the message thing cause im really curious abt the texts
Fixed and reuploaded! Thanks for the notice!
- McSkinny
It's weird that itch didn't notify me of an update being published, I found out about it through the Discord FVN Bot.
Either way, loved the update! I didn't expect to like Doble Muerte as much as I did! Can't wait to see more :)
I went ahead and used the updated Android build as an excuse to redo my devlog and label it as a "Major Update". In the past, I've just used the "General Update" option Itch.io has, but it seems that results in limited reach for notices of new content. Thanks for the heads-up!
- McSkinny
This demo hit me incredibly hard, I really wasn't expecting that. I can't get this game off my mind, can't wait to see more of the story
I've had a terrible need for this game's update. I'm beginning to worry that this may have been abandoned or something because it's such a unique VN and we haven't seen an update in a year.
I wish the game well and hope nothing untoward occurs...
I am horribly, horribly waiting for an update; This has been an amazing Visual novel, and I want to see how this goes as time goes on. Fingers crossed things will continue; I had just got into DnD and then found this literally just by chance shortly after, so I was super excited.
This the Year
Hey, does anybody know about the next update? McSkinny responded to another person on the 0.04 update page that they were shooting for May-June. Can't find anything about it on the discord or here. Thanks! <3
it had to be gay with no option for the rest of us
the ratio of straight to gay vn's published is like 3:1, find another its so easy to do so
Lol, don't even start. There are so many straight games out there, more than gay ones.
*pats head* I hope that made you feel better.
were on itch, go jank it somewhere else that isnt gay if you really need to, theres alot of those on here
just tune in to literally anything else. there's a whole wide world out there that loves to ignore gays.
boohoo. straight men are the BIGGEST demographic for games with sexual themes like this.
congrats! now you know how gay people feel when playing straight romance games with no gay option! (you'll probably find that the answer is just shrugging and finding games that appeal to you. maybe even be happy that they told you before you even downloaded it. that's courteous.)
As if straight people don't have a bigger representation literally everywhere else in the world. Grow up and go somewhere else. Stay mad.
damn u gay guys are salty as Fk, no wonder everybody clowns u. not bout sexuAlity why people treat u like shyt, much more to do with your attitude, perso, behavior and most importantly making the fact that you're Gay the only thing that makes you a human and only thing you have to offer for yourselves. "Grow up and gO somewhere else. stay mad" ahh sTfu idc what u tell me xd, u kiss your wife with that mouth?? oh right. my bad. S.
damn u straight guys are salty as Fk, no wonder everybody clowns u. not bout sexuAlity why people treat u like shyt, much more to do with your attitude, perso, behavior and most importantly making the fact that you're Straight the only thing that makes you a human and only thing you have to offer for yourselves. "Grow up and gO somewhere else. stay mad" ahh sTfu idc what u tell me xd, u kiss your wife with that mouth?? oh right. my bad. Stay single.
damn u straight guys are salty as Fk, no wonder everybody clowns u. not bout sexuAlity why people treat u like shyt, much more to do with your attitude, perso, behavior and most importantly making the fact that you're Straight the only thing that makes you a human and only thing you have to offer for yourselves. "Grow up and gO somewhere else. stay mad" ahh sTfu idc what u tell me xd, u kiss your wife with that mouth?? oh right. my bad. Stay single.
brother u have like one thousands games out there already don't piss us off
what u gon do bout it, turn me gay
oh you flirt
cmon kiss me then
come back when you’re 25
Just wanted to say I love the replies yall! This douche got destroyed. lol
Bro got absolutely ratio'd, turned to dust and the ashes scattered to the four corners. The straights really aren't okay.
Tbf, as a gay men, i kind of share the pain of finding a game that seemed really good but that you can't fully identify to the character because of orientation. As much as I'm glad this game is "for me", I can still relate to the pain of being forced in a role that i'm not relating to!
Finna be a top 10 all timer with updates
I love DND, visual novels, escapism, gay romance, so naturally, I have fallen in love with this game. Cannot wait for more.
Do y'all have any idea what the three "routes" are going to be? Because there looks to be quite a few characters in the cast beyond the main four we've met so far (Wazzy, Tucker, Princess and DM).
It hasn’t been directly stated what Danny’s sexual orientation is, but considering the itch page is subtitled “Yet Another Gay Visual Novel from Echo Project” I’m assuming the routes are Wazzy, Tucker, and the DM.
Pretty sure the third route is Wazzy's dad.
I've suddenly never wanted anything more. 😻
Danny Directly states he is gay after session 2
Tucker and Wazzy say they are Bi
LOVE IT! can't wait for more :) I can tell that the story has so much love put into it, and the art is STUNNING! <3
only suggestion is maybe put in a heads up so people save before the game ends at the to be continued fade, its awesome tho!
Sounds like a good idea to me!
- McSkinny
everyone's entitled to their opinion but this comment comes across like you just absolutely hated the game for personal petty reasons and is just.. really unnecessarily worded and weird.
I won't comment on the entirety of your critic, but I will say regarding #5--I think the fact that the MC's phone was not working in an elevator made perfect sense, considering that is my norm 90% of the time when I step into one. Honestly, I would've been more surprised if it did work in the VN.
I love this game so much🥲
wazzy im sorry you are cute and pretty funny but i wanna shag your dad
wake up babe, a role to play its getting updates
I love this VN so much i was worried it was dead in the water since it had not updated in a while. This is an amazing project and I hope it gets all the support it deserves.
The game crashes when i tap 'start' or the other choices. Im using the android version :<
This was really good! The characters and the dialoge felt so real and fleshed out using pencil drawn portraits for NCP's is a great touch I really hope to see this game become something big.
This game looks so cool! But i just wish MC would be a girl... but yhea the game looks great!
*Downloads a gay visual novel*
*Complains about it being gay*
oh uh i didn't pdownloaded lol, i'm just fr blind and didn't see the description-
Is this another game focused on trauma? I'd just like to know due to previous bad experiences with Echo.
The MC's in a wheelchair but I think the theme so far is making the most out of it.
this game sounds freaking amazing and now I'm sad I cant get it TvT
Is there any specific schedule that you plan on following now, or will it just go as it goes? Asking because I still remember that it was planned to be updated monthly before! In any case, thrilled to see where this project goes!
'Ey! For Echo, I was doing 7-10k word updates (30-45 minutes of content) per build each month. I may stick to that, or do a bigger update every two months.
I'll probably just end up alternating between the two, in the end.
- McSkinny
That's honestly an impressive pace to work at! Really looking forward to it either way!
IT'S ALIVE! So happy!
Finally got time to play the update, DEAR GOD IT WAS GREAT. Love every character we got introduced to: in the campaign my favourite so far is unquestionably Skine, outside of it unsurprisingly Wazzy. We'll see how it goes!
And getting to know more of MCs backstory was really great too! I'm honestly so excited for more :) It's definitely one my most favourite VNs so far.
HOLY SHIT THIS GAME ISN”T DEAD. I cannot express the sheer amount of joy and excitement that washed over me when I saw this in my updates tray. There are very few VNs or, hell, video games in general that have got me as invested as quickly as this one has. Can’t wait for more!
The latest update is amazing! I already can't wait for the next one!!
MEGAN WAS FUJOSHING OUTTTTTTTT
It's quite possible... (by Stickly)
- McSkinny
I love it, and I already want more, though I should probably calm down.
Let's go, we're so back.