. You play as Marlowe who becomes infected by a brain-eating amoeba after taking a swim in a lake and has 10 days to rid herself of the parasite before it kills her. The catch? The parasite has taken the form of a handsome guy in her hallucinations and won't let her call for help.The game can be played here.
Parasite in Love contains examples of:
- Affably Evil: While he's not quite "evil", Niall is quite "nice" when Marlowe allows him to get his way. He also claims to genuinely love Marlowe and their children.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Marlowe's strong desire to start a family is part of the reason Niall attached himself to her in the first place, as he projected his own need to multiply onto her.
- Bittersweet Ending: The "Good Ending" can be interpreted as one. Marlowe rids herself of Niall but she's no doubt traumatized by the experience. It's also likely that the infection will have lasting effects on her physical health, as her body is described as being "infection-ravaged" and "on the verge of collapse".
- Body Horror:
- Niall and Marlowe's "baby".
- Niall also gains multiple extra eyes in the ending where he accidentally kills Marlowe in a fit of rage.
- Content Warning: The main page warns for tokophobia (fear of pregnancy) and Body Horror, as well as flashing lights, animated effects, and vivid colors which may hurt players' eyes. The developer set up an option to reduce the animation and transition effects.
- Dating Sim: It's a "dating sim" about being held hostage by a brain-eating parasite that's in love with you. Yeah.
- Deconstruction: Specifically of the romances starring Moe Anthropomorphism of viruses, which became popular after the 2019 pandemic. Rather than being something cute and harmless, Niall is a deadly brain-eating amoeba whose effect on the player character mirrors the real-life symptoms of the infection. His controlling nature also is played completely seriously, and Marlowe doesn't fall for him no matter how "kind" he is to her, being completely aware of the gravity of her situation from the beginning and wanting to escape before he kills her.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: While it's debatable how "evil" Niall actually is, he does seem to genuinely care about Marlowe and their children in his own deluded way. Marlowe even points the former out after he attempts to cheer her up.
- Flat "What": Niall does this whenever Marlowe says something he doesn't like.
- Hypocritical Humor: If the player continues to make Marlowe behave coldly toward him, Niall will eventually tell her that he "needs some space". The brain-eating amoeba needs space from his victim.
- It's All About Me: Niall claims that he wants to give Marlowe the life and family she wants, but it becomes clear that he's mainly acting out of self-preservation without fully considering how it affects her and their "children." To get the "Good Ending," the player needs to have Marlowe point his selfishness out to him, which will make him insecure enough to be manipulated into reconsidering his decision.
- Lack of Empathy: Downplayed. Niall is aware of the effect his presence has on Marlowe and tries to "help" by lessening her symptoms from time to time, but he won't let her call for help because it'll kill him in the process and he will worsen her symptoms to keep her under his control. It's also implied in the final two days that he feels guilty about what he's doing to her but he doesn't relent and will only free Marlowe if she successfully uses reverse psychology on him.
- Mind Reading: Niall can "read" Marlowe's mind and see her memories. Marlowe can use this against him, and depending on how it's used it can lead to a good or bad ending.
- Minimalist Cast: Niall, Marlowe, and their "baby" are the only characters that show up onscreen.
- Multiple Endings: There are four which depend on the dialogue choices you make throughout the game:
- If the player chooses to have Marlowe play along with Niall until day 10, Marlowe will succumb to the parasite and die in Niall's arms as he hums the wedding march.
- Behaving coldly to Niall from the first interaction onward will lead to him giving Marlowe an angered "The Reason You Suck" Speech, unintentionally killing her in the process.
- To get the "Good Ending," the player needs to have Marlowe behave kindly to Niall up to their conversation about his capabilities as a parent, and then have her call him out on not being a good father for what he's willing to allow to happen to their "children." She'll convince him that in order for their children to survive and for them to have more time together, he'll need to let her recover. Once convinced, Niall will allow Marlowe to go back to the lake where they first "met" and release him and their children only on the promise that she'll return to them someday. After they part, Marlowe escapes and makes it clear that she has no intention of coming back to the cabin or that lake ever again.
- If the player fails the QTE event during the lake sequence, Marlowe will instead drown, leading to another bad ending.
- No Name Given: The amoeba has no actual name, only mentioning that humans call him "Naegleria Fowleri," which is the scientific term for its species. He allows Marlowe to call him "Niall," which was the name of her old unrequited university crush.
- Parasitic Horror: The premise of the game is a woman who is infected by a brain-eating parasite and only has 10 days to rid herself of it before it kills her. The twist is that the parasite takes the form of an attractive guy that holds her hostage and forces her to have a family of parasites with him, adding another layer to the horror.
- Say My Name: In the Good Ending, Marlowe screams Niall's name in anguish and rage after successfully getting rid of him.
- Shown Their Work: Naegleria Fowleri? Yeah, it does exist in real life, and while the Moe Anthropomorphism is a case of artistic license, the method in which Marlowe was infected, her subsequent symptoms of infection, and the timeframe of progression do match up with real life infections. Though ten days is the optimistic timeline.
- Too Dumb to Live: Marlowe, who decides to have a dip in the lake after watching a news report about the brain-eating parasites at the beginning of the game. While it's rare to be infected by them, one would think she would be too paranoid to risk it. The player can also make Marlowe this by making her behave coldly to Niall, knowing he has the ability to harm her just by getting upset. If the player keeps choosing "mean" options, Niall will snap and accidentally kill her in a fit of rage.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The player never learns what became of the mother and child who were also swimming in the lake at the beginning of the game.
Maybe they got infected by a brain-eating amoeba too... - Would Hit a Girl: Niall is perfectly fine with using his amoeba "abilities" to cause Marlowe pain if she tries to defy him, making it difficult for her to just leave the cabin and get help.
- Yandere: Niall latches onto Marlowe because of how "warm" she felt during her swim in the lake and essentially holds her hostage, not allowing her to call for help to get rid of him. He can also kill her if he gets too upset, though he only does so unintentionally.
