Vampire Therapist

Developer: Little Bat Games

Release Date: 18 July 2024

Guide vampires through centuries of emotional baggage, decades of delusions and the odd bout of self-loathing with real cognitive behavioral therapy concepts and become a Vampire Therapist! Even vampires need a shoulder to cry on when a neck to bite just won’t do.

Vampire Therapist caused my brain such conflicting opinions that despite the game not feeling entirely for me, I had to write up some impressions. Generally, if I don’t completely vibe with a game then I don’t do a write up as indies need all the help they can get, deserve all of the love, and if a game is not for me that is ok, it is probably for someone else. This demo, just like life, had its peaks and valleys, and once I got to the summit I just wanted to shout about it, despite the trudging I felt I had to do to get there.

The complication with writing about my valley is that it is all about the tone of the game, which of course is entirely subjective. Horniness around vampires feels like a well established trope at this point, and while I believe it is supposed to contrast with any more serious tones occurring, I just personally didn’t find it endearing at all. If anything, it was a little off-putting. However, once I reached the meat of the game, it felt worth it.

Vampire Therapist is a visual novel where we play as Sam, a vampire with a mission to help other vampires. Over his centuries ~~alive~~ he has met a few people and learned some things. He is now ready to pay it forward under the mentorship of an already established therapist. While part of me expected a meme game, it didn’t take long from this point to provide me with legitimate profound moments, suddenly making me want to take it a whole lot more seriously.

As Sam is chatting to his new mentor about himself, you are taught about certain thought patterns that can occur – generally unhelpful but sometimes involuntary habits that you may not even recognise that you are doing. The aim of the game is to recognise when your client is expressing these behaviours, identifying which it is and calling them out on it. In the demo I spoke to two clients, and since then I have also caught myself doing almost every one of these same behaviours in real life. That is what flipped my opinion of the game and made me want to play more despite not enjoying the rest of the style very much.

Anyone who has ever had therapy before knows that therapists can’t solve your problems. What they can do is give you a safe space to address things, and share tools, growing your own toolbox so that you are better equipped to deal with the challenges that face you. I feel like, so far, the game represents that really well.

Overall.. I could be bitter, deciding not to play or recommend the game as the tone is not catered to me. OR, I could take the parts that resonate, let go of my control fallacy enjoy the game for what it is, which for me is a thought provoking environment to practice healthy habits through entertaining stories.

Demo Length – 1 hour
At a glance
+ Could help teach habits of checking and identifying your own thought patterns.
+ Very forgiving, these is no failing.
+ Centuries old characters have so much opportunity to have interesting stories.
+ Fully voice acted.
+ Recurring characters.
+ Treats therapy respectfully.
+/- The tone.