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, The Smoke Room, 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
- CW: Adult themes, drug and alcohol use, strong language, sexual references, violence
If you enjoy this and would like to support us on Patreon, you can do that HERE!
And finally, for more Echo Project games media, discussion, and fan works, the unofficial Echo Project community discord can be found HERE!
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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.
brother u have like one thousands games out there already don't piss us off
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.
Honestly everything you guys make is awesome and just heard of this, super excited about the concept.
still wait for new update this vn game is awasome
Same i loved the story and i want more of it!
The premise is very interesting. I like the slice of life + DND with some potential LGBT themes
Loved this so much! Could really relate to the MC. The characters are all amazing too. Really hope that it's not actually abandoned, but oh well
Doubt it's abandoned! Echo Project are super good with their projects. I think the lack of updates may be due to the fact that it's just a co-writer working on this VN's story as opposed to the full Echo Project team. One of their popular VNs, Adasta, started similarly to this - slow-updating side project that eventually turned into it's own amazing title backed with popularity. The team's currently working on Glory Hounds and the Smoke Room especially, with 2 projects - Arches and Khemia a little on the backburner. Once one of these projects finish, A Role to Play will likely gain some traction.
That's great to hear! The biggest reason why I thought it's abandoned is because of "monthly updates" still being a part of description, while, well, it's been over a year and only the first build :(. Sure hope that you're right! Going to patiently wait and hope!
finally got to playing this, and i really enjoyed it!! looking forward to future updates!
This project released on my birthday. Been hyped for it since release, but it seems like it's not gonna get updated.
Will this ever be updated?
Sooooo.....is this project still alive or..
fun game
I can't play this it won't let me
What do u mean it won't let you play .
Any updates soon? Cuts off right before session two but all media shows it farther into the story
But where is the A Role to Play update?, I need it now!!!
I'm curious if this is going to be updated? I can't find much information on release updates.
This has to be one of the most compelling visual novels I've played, and it isn't even finished. <3
Well, as far as I know everyone's human in this story, except when they're doing the tabletop game.
For a first look, this is pretty nice.
Would definitely play on if updates come out.
The android version always crashes for me i have ni idea why