Date Everythingmay seem like just another dating sim on the surface - but it’s so much more. Across its one hundred dateable characters, the game explores deep themes including unhealthy relationships, identity issues, hoarding, stalking, and more. In particular, one ofDate Everything’s characters briefly transforms the entire experience into a chillingly written and highly effective horror game.
Date Everything’s"Cut Character" Brings The Nightmare Fuel
In the player’s bedroom inDate Everythinglives a dateable character named Deenah the Dresser, who even the steadfast Dorian the Door (Ben Starr) will warn the player against interacting with. Speaking to “Deenah” will result in strings of bizarre broken text until, after a few conversations, “she” reveals herself to actually be Daemon, a living glitch who replaced the dresser when she was cut for being too similar to pre-existing characters.
Interacting with Daemon, portrayed by John Patneude, briefly turnsDate Everythinginto a classicanalog horror game. They transport the player to a sparse, washed-out courtyard lit by glaring light and bombard you with eerie philosophical musings such as “You break the broken things” or “When doyourun out of content?” Daemon is also capable of hijacking other characters, such as Ray Chase’s Lyric Literature, and speaking to you “through” them for a truly unsettling effect.
Even Daemon’s character profile in the in-game Date-a-Dex app keeps up the horror theming. Both their likes and dislikes are “YOU,” in capital letters, and the character description is riddled with question marks. Daemon’s true appearance is hidden, and replaced with a fuzzy, eyeless picture of “Deenah” that would not be out of place in aBackroomstitle.
Daemon’s Story Plays WithDate Everything’sFormat While Staying Scary
Date Everything’sformat is fairly straightforward -locate a Dateable using “Dateviator” glasses, get to know them, and earn either a “Love,” “Friendship,” or “Hate” ending. Daemon plays with this format in a way that is both humorous and terrifying at times. Instead of needing to make the right choices and earn Daemon’s approval, the player can simply select which ending they want by choosing from the three.
Daemon then treats the player accordingly - as their lover, friend, or enemy - behaving exactly as the player wants them to without any input of their own. The player can also choose to change their relationship status with Daemon at any time with zero consequences. This may be useful for getting to know Reggie, the Rejection Dateable locked behind achieving “Hate” endings, but it’s also chilling - Daemon’s feelings, behavior, and entire personality can be changed on a whim, and they don’t even seem to care when it happens.
Everything about Daemon is frightening, from their pixelated appearance to their low, flat voice to them “trapping” you in aStanley Parable-esque loopof never-ending dialogue during one conversation - which, chillingly, occurs after they have supposedly declared their love to you. Several players will likely fall for Daemon’s trick, force-quitting the game or restarting their system because they believe it has actually glitched out. When Daemon finally does let the player out of the dialogue loop, they ask “Did I scare you?” with as much
But perhaps the scariest thing about Daemon is the fact that they are based in the developers' real experience.Developer Ray Chase of Sassy Chap Gamesconfirmed Daemon’s existence as a Dateable on the day thatDate Everythingwas delayed from its initial February 14 release. It is highly possible that Daemon’s behavior - creating endless dialogue loops, replacing their sprite with that of other characters, and transporting the player to a glitch-filled outdoor location - is fully inspired by real bugs the developers encountered prior toDate Everything’ssuccessful launch in mid-June.
