Black Tabby Games Comes Back Home with Scarlet Hollow’s “Roads Untraveled” Update

Slay the Princess’s creators return to their original game with all they’ve learned.

Visual novels are cool, ok? You might feel that the absence of gameplay other than reading and choices detract from them as “games”, but I disagree completely. It’s a game in its purest form: you’re roleplaying with the developer.

If I needed to convince someone to give visual novels a chance, I wouldn’t doubt recommending Scarlet Hollow. It’s got everything it needs to be incredible: gorgeous hand-drawn art, very sharp writing, and systems that put many other “narrative games” that might seem more complex on the surface to shame.

As you travel to your mother’s hometown for your aunt’s funeral, you will discover a wonderfully interwoven story with great characters and a thrilling mystery. Soon, supernatural events start making clear that something is happening, and the blood in your veins might inevitably link you to it.

The premise is effective and fun, but the delivery method elevates the game greatly. The game is full to the brim with references to previous dialogues, callbacks to other choices, full conversations and concepts you might not even get to know in a single playthrough, and so much more.

The characters are also impressively reactive, keen to follow up on things you did or didn’t do, and the backend even tracks your relationship with them using 10 stats that might weigh positively or negatively on any given situation.

The fact that Scarlet Hollow is as complex as it is despite being Black Tabby’s first game is nothing short of impressive, and I think the evolution of their talents was evident with the runaway hit that Slay the Princess became.

As a matter of fact, Slay the Princess started as a way to keep working while Scarlet Hollow’s production moved forward. As you might imagine, having only two people can lead to bottlenecks. Writing something new while drawings are made is just a good use of your time.

From the seven total episodes that Scarlet Hollow is planned to have, only four are currently out. Since there’s such a deep variety of choices and possible states the world might be in at the start of each chapter, the work quickly grows exponentially, making the process longer each time.

As Slay the Princess became a full project and a hit, Black Tabby can keep working on Scarlet Hollow without worrying about deadlines (at least, too much). And that’s what they’re doing.

I was floored as I started up one of my favorite games just to find out that such a sprawling and complex story had been expanded even more. There are new chances to meet different characters and a whole new angle on certain relationships.

While I admire the work Black Tabby does, I can’t deny it. Adding even more complexity and state to the game’s early chapters is an incredible way of coming back. As if saying: “Not only have we got this, we are raising the stakes even further.”

You might want to visit the Holler and give their wonderfully crafted world a shot. If that’s the case, there’s a demo on Steam that allows you to play the first chapter. After that, one single purchase will unlock the full game and all future updates.

Have fun! And take care. There’s something lurking in the woods.

You can find Scarlet Hollow on Steam.

More of our video game coverage can be found here.

Author: Walker M

Aspiring game developer and hobbyist writer. Perpetually doing too much. Chronically burnt out.

Argentinian. Passionate. Unbearable?

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