Bad Heroes

Search "Bad Heroes" on Kickstarter!

Bad Heroes is the world's FIRST dating sim and beat-em-up!*

*probably

Save the world and romance misfit heroes in the first-ever dating sim and beat-em-up hybrid! When a crime wave grips Gloom City, you and your ragtag gang of heroes-for-hire uncover shocking truths about the A-list supers at the top. Will they turn out to be less A-list and more A-hole? To find out, dial Capes on Call at 698-0085 and join this ignoble band to fight crime, punch mimes, and kiss six superheroes with supernatural abs!

How do you play?

Bad Heroes is a story-driven hybrid game with two main elements of gameplay.

Players will start with a visual novel-style dating sim, with choice-based conversations and branching paths and a love meter. These visual novel segments will consist of office drama and dates with the heroes, and an overarching story that will unfold as the game continues.

Choose among these dateable characters!

Your boss, Whacktivist, weapons expert and punster
Mermangler, hot mess creature of the deep with no brains and all brawn
Blurricane, type-A speedster whose big ambitions get the best of her
Zombi, the mysterious monster coming to terms with their sudden influx of agency
Draculad, suave heir to a vampire fortune
Tweetie Tights, the ninja gymnast working on his solo hero debut

The visual novel segments interplay with the beat em up when you send the heroes on missions to solve the crime spree. Through these beat-em-up segments, you'll earn romance meter points with the heroes AND start to uncover the mystery of how and why the crimes are happening--a mystery that includes the presence of the major league superhero team.

What else do I want to know?

Bad Heroes was made for people who believe that superheroes deserve love, too! It has EVERYTHING* like...

(*some things)

Dating sim tomfoolery

Pick a hero for a playthrough and romance them to your heart's content... then start right over and choose another hero and date THEM. Call it polyamory or just a good old-fashioned fun time... but none of these heroes will bat an eye at your wandering eye! Each hero comes with their own multiple date options that will win you love points and result in either the good or bad ending. And as with all good dating sims, you're encouraged to collect the endings for each and every hero!

Beat-Em-Up levels with multiplayer mode

We know that beat-em-ups are best with friends, so enjoy bringing in a second hero for the fighting levels in couch co-op mode! (Not available for demo)

LGBTQ+ friendly

Our team is diverse in many ways and run by members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community. Because the visual novel narration is in 2nd-person, we defaulted to they/them pronouns for the rare times we needed them, and each hero has his/her/their own gender identity, while each character is into all genders equally! Players also have a choice between a more feminine or masculine presenting player character.

Bad Heroes is an anti-generative AI team, because we believe that humans love stories from other humans!

We're a two-person main team, with support from our circle of friends and collaborators!

Funny writing and meta references

With writing from fantasy/sci-fi novelist Nicky Drayden, games and humor essayist Megan Quinn, and story design by sci-fi/fantasy/horror fictionalist Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, Bad Heroes is a ROMP. We love superheroes, and we love making fun of superheroes, and we love writing narratives that combine humor and heart.

Gorgeous art

All of our art is hand-drawn, 2d-style with vibrant colors, courtesy of William Bastian and Dan Lance.

Ear-worm-y original music

Jazz sax player Jake Dester's fully original soundtrack, inspired by the best retro beat-em-ups, will get stuck in your head for days.