Veins Like Tapeworms

Veins Like Tapeworms is a slow-burn psychological horror visual novel about disgust, lost dreams and the desire to be loved. You follow Demian Zhao, a 22-year-old living in Kingsfield Beach, Nevada, whose life has narrowed to surviving paycheck to paycheck while working as a cleaner at the Restful Night Motel. After becoming host to an ancient flower god, Demian faces a chance to start over, but gaining freedom may mean losing their humanity.

Demian’s story

The story follows Demian’s dreams, fears, desires and hatred. Your choices reflect the thoughts running through their mind and shape how they perceive the words and actions of people around them: a heartwarming conversation in one path can become a monologue of bloodlust in another. You can steer Demian away from violence or indulge their violent fantasies as they descend toward a possible tragedy.

Set in the fictional city of Kingsfield Beach, Nevada, the story places Demian in a concrete city of gaudy casinos and neon signs, where dreams die and they struggle to escape its underbelly. The narrative spans 8 chapters and over 100,000 words.

Endings and bonus scenes

There are 6 endings: 2 early endings and 4 full endings. Five of the six endings have an optional bonus scene, told from another character’s perspective on the aftermath. You can access these scenes from the title screen after the credits, and they are not required to understand the story.

Illustrations and ambience

The game includes over 250 full-screen hand-drawn illustrations. Its title-screen gallery lets you revisit illustrations you have seen and view which ones you have yet to unlock. The ambience combines music and sound effects that respond to events in the game.