Choose Doki Doki Literature Club!
Choose Doki Doki Literature Club! if you want a Free To Play experience. On Steam, it's free to play, so the barrier to trying it is zero. 126,568 Steam reviews back the pick.
Doki Doki Literature Club! vs Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
Doki Doki Literature Club! and Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! both land in Indie, Casual on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Indie, Casual on Steam. Doki Doki Literature Club! (2017) is 4 years older than Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! (2021). Both sit near 97% positive on Steam (Doki Doki Literature Club!: 126,568 reviews, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!: 10,428). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
Choose Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! if it's the newer release (2021) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 10,428 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Doki Doki Literature Club! and Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! sit in Indie and Casual on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (96.6% vs 97.3% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Doki Doki Literature Club! |  Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2017 | 2021 |
| Genres | Indie, Free To Play, Casual | Indie, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Deck Verified |
| Price | Free to play | 14.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 96.6% positive (126,568 reviews) | 97.3% positive (10,428 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Team Salvato | Team Salvato |
Side by side
- Both share Indie, Casual on Steam.
- Doki Doki Literature Club! (2017) is 4 years older than Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! (2021).
- Both sit near 97% positive on Steam (Doki Doki Literature Club!: 126,568 reviews, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!: 10,428).
- Doki Doki Literature Club! is free; Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is paid (14.99 USD).
- Steam Deck: Doki Doki Literature Club! is Deck Playable, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is Deck Verified.
Doki Doki Literature Club! vs Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! — FAQ
- Which is better, Doki Doki Literature Club! or Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!?
- On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: Doki Doki Literature Club! sits at 96.6% positive (126,568 reviews), Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! at 97.3% (10,428). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
- Should I play Doki Doki Literature Club! or Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! first?
- If you want chronology, Doki Doki Literature Club! (2017) came out before Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! (2021). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Doki Doki Literature Club! and Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! similar?
- They overlap on Indie, Casual on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
- Is Doki Doki Literature Club! free?
- Yes — Doki Doki Literature Club! is a free-to-play Steam title. Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is paid (14.99 USD).