Both types of games are popular in Japan (though they haven't caught on as widely elsewhere), and this one uses their typical innocence as a Trojan horse to tease, probe, and finally introduce a variety of heavy themes. Doki Doki Literature Club! is meant to seem like just another dating simulator packaged as a visual novel. While it seems light and friendly at first, the dark twists to this game's story make for a disturbing bait and switch, with mature themes that will frustrate and upset many gamers.