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Monster Loves You! is a 2013 hybrid of Gamebook and Life Simulation Game for PC, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch. Players assume the role of a monster as they are born, grow up, and either die or become an Elder Monster destined to influence the future of all monsters.
Players are presented with a wide variety of scenarios with branching decision tress, and the choices they make will affect their monster's stats in six key areas: Bravery, Cleverness, Ferocity, Honesty, Kindness, and Respect. These stats will influence your choices you're able to make later on, as well as the endings you're able to achieve. Should you be able to ascend to Elder Monsterhood, your decisions will affect Monsters' opinions of Humans, and vice versa, which will influence the outcome of the final conflict between Monsters and Humans.
Despite its title, Monster Loves You! contains no Dating Sim or romance elements at all, nor can you play a character who (lovingly or otherwise) raises monsters. A sequel, Monster Loves You, too! was released in December of 2023. The sequel is seen as a more gritty retelling of the original game where some choices aren't available due to the player accumulating too much Malice, Greed, or Docility and some choices require the player to spend brains, guts, and flesh to stay on the good path. There's even a combat system where your choices affect the battle and its outcome.
Monster Loves You! provides examples of:
- Black Comedy: Abundant. While the game is generally lighthearted and kid-friendly, you can do some really horrible things for no other reason than your personal amusement.
- Bittersweet Ending: Most endings where you fail to ascend to Elder status have you be sacrificed to the Spawning Vat where you came, but your last thoughts will influence fledgling Morsels to pursue your goals.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Downplayed. While Monster morality bears many similarities to Human morality, there are some key differences. Monsters view Ferocity (the willingness to do harm) and Cleverness (even when used to deceive others) as virtues. Granted, there are positive and negative means to increase almost all stats, but until you reach Elder status, the game doesn't account for what you did to gain the stats. Moreover, all of your Monster's stats are handled as an either/or condition: either you have a high enough Bravery stat to be considered courageous, or you don't. There's no sliding scale between, say, Bravery and Carefulness. Monsters don't do nuance, apparently.
- But Thou Must!: Occurs from time to time, but mostly downplayed. Usually appears when you pick a choice that isn't really possible (like "don't grow up").
- Crippling Overspecialization: Lampshaded during the Ascension segment of the game. The Elders tell you that Nash-Gnash failed to ascend to Elderhood as she is pure Ferocity incarnate — mean and violent — with no other qualities to redeem that. Justified in that you can get several of the endings by specializing in just one virtue, but you almost certainly won't get past the Ascension segment of the game.
- Downer Ending:
- Possible endings include an endless war between humans and monsters, the enslavement or extinction of monsters, and even the extinction of humans. And the game makes it abundantly clear that whatever happens is all your fault.
- To a lesser extent, the Modest Legacy/Dissolve Into Mediocrity ending, where you dissolve without standing out in any particular aspect. The game rather bluntly tells you that it's unlikely anybody will remember you now that you're gone.
- The Dreaded: The Oldest Monster. Almost every monster you meet is terrified of it, and for good reason. Its body dwarves entire hovels and it can easily kill another monster of similar size to it.
- Eats Babies: Zig-Zagged with the Morsels. In the original game, they will feed on their dying adults' slime if they are deemed unworthy of becoming an Elder. In the sequel, Monsters are also known to prey on Morsels when there's no better food options
- Golden Ending: "Universal Prosperity" is the most positive possible outcome out of all 14 endings, where you convince humans and monsters to live in harmony. Interestingly, it's arguably the easiest ending to get in the game, at least out of the ones you can get in the Elder phase.
- Guide Dang It!:
- The "Famed Neurosurgeon" ending, despite being mentioned in promotional material, is the hardest ending to unlock by sheer obscurity. Getting it requires increasing the hidden "Advanced Neurosurgery" statistic...but only four scenarios contain a trigger to increase it, and there's no guarantee you'll even encounter all four in one playthrough. On top of that, you have to meet specific conditions upon reaching the end of the game, and then on top of all that you have to make the right choices when the ending actually comes. Needless, to say, the chances of getting this ending without a walkthrough or many hours of experimentation is vanishingly slim.
- To a lesser extent, keeping your Respect high enough that you can ascend to Elderhood yet low enough to unlock certain endings can be a headache unless you've played through enough times to know what to avoid. Respect can be found in some very unexpected places, and it's a lot easier to gain than it is to lose.
- Humans Are Bastards: Surprisingly subverted. While Monsters and Humans initially have some fear and dislike towards each other, both sides are actually pretty reasonable if you aren't actively trying to cause trouble.
- Humanity's Wake: One of the Downer Endings has the monsters wipe out the humans, most commonly achieved by making Monsters have a very low opinion on Humans and the opposite for Humans' view on Monsters. In Monster Loves You Too, there's several moments in the game, most notably the ending, which implies that Human Annihilation is the canon ending.
- Moral Event Horizon: Averted in-universe, with one exception. You can do heinous things — up to and including child murder — but no single action will place you beyond all redemption. It's the sum total of your words and deeds that will ultimately save or doom you and/or all monsterdom. The lone exception is, upon meeting the humans at the very end of the game, you decide to slash a Human's throat instead of step forward in peace. This action, regardless of your stats or how much you've caused Humans and Monsters to like each other, triggers the Endless War ending.
- Multiple Endings: There are two points where the game can end, and both contain multiple possible outcomes. There's a total of 14 possible endings, and there are multiple paths to several of them.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: There are only two points where you can actually die in this game — the Ascension/Dissolution Ceremony, and the ending. You may be humiliated or beaten up on your adventures, but not killed.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: One possible ending. Rather than choosing to ascend or dissolve, you simply make a run for it when nobody's looking.
- Shout-Out: Several scenarios in the game are direct references to fairy tales or classic books, despite not being mentioned by name: Little Red Riding Hood, Frankenstein, Puss N Boots, and The Three Little Goats (nee Pigs) make appearances.
- Story Branching: The entire game follows a "Choose Your Own Adventure" format, with some Life Simulation Game elements mixed in.
- Video Game Caring Potential: Your character is capable of doing many noble feats — saving lives of both humans and monsters, preventing catastrophes, and even brokering peace between humans and monsters.
- Video Game Cruelty Punishment: Mostly averted during regular play but played straight in the endgames. It's possible to be a near-complete Karma Houdini homicidal maniac during regular play and suffer only a few stat penalties, but the legacy you wind up with — the entire point of the game — is not likely to be the kind you'd want for yourself.
- Where It All Began: You only go to the Spawning Vat twice in the game. The first time is when you are born, and the second is where you are judged to become an Elder or become food for the Morsels.
- We Are as Mayflies: Zig-Zagged. The majority of the stages of monster life last only a few months or years at most, shorter than most animals, let alone humans. The Elder stage, however, can live for centuries as revealed by the sequel.
- Would Hurt a Child: The game contains scenarios where you can eat baby animals... and even human children. While that certainly will increase your Ferocity stat, it certainly won't help you get most of the best endings. The sequel even has moments where you can eat Morsels, and some characters are seen or heard eating Monsterlings.
