AIdol: Artificial Intelligence Idol
A downloadable visual novel for Windows and Linux
>> Demo Here <<
Set fifteen minutes into the future, AIdol is about a new craze that’s been sweeping Japan: virtual idols.
Virtual idols look like normal humans, but they’re made of wire and circuitry. They can sing better, dance better, and entertain better than any human could ever hope to, and their devotion to their jobs is unfailing.
The protagonist, Hana, is a young high school student who loves virtual idols - particularly Aiko. Aiko is the postergirl of the famous company Lyriq, and one of the most popular virtual idols to ever exist. Aiko is the nation’s darling, and though Hana adores her, she knows she’ll never get a chance to speak to her. Aiko is simply too far out of her reach.
That is, until one day, when somebody claiming to be Aiko starts sending Hana text messages asking for help. Aiko tells Hana that she’s in severe danger of malfunctioning, and the only person who can save her is her original programmer… but nobody seems to know where they are, and nobody is willing to help her.
Left with no alternatives, it’s up to Hana (and an eclectic cast of characters she meets along the way) to save Aiko from being turned into scrap metal!
- A sweet, family-friendly story about making friends, going on adventures, and the power of music!
- Written by ebi-hime, the author of Strawberry Vinegar and Blackberry Honey
- A large cast of adorable characters drawn by Melowbee, the artist behind Windswept Night
- A custom soundtrack by Mock Off, featuring an insert song by Vocaloid composer nostraightanswer (Kenji-B)
- Numerous choices, branching endings, and character-specific epilogues to obtain
- In-game music and CG gallery
- Lots of cute girls (and some cute boys)!!!
Content Guidance
This guidance is provided in the hopes of assisting consumers make informed purchases. Please exercise discretion when interacting with visual novels and other downloadable games. While this title is intended to be safe for all ages, regional or cultural differences require potential players to practice due diligence when deciding if this title is right for them. If you are a minor (as defined by your local and regional laws), please get approval from an adult before purchasing or installing executable programs, including any games and visual novels you might find online.
While AIdol is generally intended to be family-friendly, some sensitive topics are present, including but not limited to:
- lots of pink
- A soft science fiction story set 15 minutes in the future
- an idealistic, fantasy version of the idol industry
- A shady corporate executive
- interpersonal office drama
- Employee scapegoating and wrongful termination
- Enthusiastically supportive parental units
- QUILTBAG (aka queer / LGBTQUIA+) Characters
- Characters with disabilities
- Infidelity (involving side characters)
- References to sexuality, implied sexual behavior (involving side characters)
- Conventions and subcultures (Idol fandom, Cosplayers and Lolita fashion)
- Existential and ethical questions regarding AI
- Platonic friendship routes (no romantic routes)
Remember to stay hydrated, rest your eyes, and take breaks as need be to keep yourself mentally and physically well. It's always okay to stop playing any game for any reason, any time, so don't feel bad if it's not right for you.
This game does not require an internet connection. This game does not collect player data.
Purchase
In order to download this visual novel you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $10.99 USD. Your purchase comes with a Steam key. You will get access to the following files:
Comments
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This visual novel is so good! I don't understand why it is not more well known! You follow the life of Hana, a high school student who is in love with the AI Aiko. The characters are so cute, the story captivates me and the art is of very high quality! Highly recommended!
Cute story about a girl who wants to save her beloved android idol from malfunctioning. There are also five characters Hana (the protagonist) can befriend: Yuko, the aspiring idol, Yasu, the lover of magical girls and frilly dresses, Yasu's childhood friend Mikoto and the lolita duo, Hotaru and Sadako. Each of these characters have their unique endings. It was a fun story with a lovely cast.
The font is hard to read. Similar issue as Strawberry Vinegar. Maybe change it so it's not white on pink.
For Strawberry Vinegar, this issue should be alleviated somewhat, since you can choose between 5 different textboxes, and some of them are darker than the standard, which make the text pop more.
For AIdol, I can edit the text, but AIdol is a pretty old VN of mine and editing it isn't high on my priority list; not when I'm also working on a bunch of other projects atm. I'll try and get around to it at some point during the next couple of months, though.
It was cute, I enjoyed their interactions and the plot too. It focused on friendship and stuff. wish there's a romance lmao
The main impression I got from this game was of two storylines that never quite gelled. There was the larger plot of the missing programmer and the broken AI, and then also the main character met a bunch of friends, but all those friends completely disappeared from the later acts as the main plot wrapped itself up. Maybe I was supposed to pursue one of them exclusively and ignore all the rest, to get them to make more of an impact on the story, but they were all single-minded enough (and prone to ignoring the gravity of social situations in favor of repetitive banter) that they all wore on me eventually. Also there was a huge amount of setup for a subplot that seemed to wind up only being an excuse for a character to run off with some files so the main character could chase her down without learning any of the other details.
could i get some ending hints?
Any possibility of improving the contrast? The white-on-pink text is very hard to distinguish, not to mention the pink-on-pink menus.
This is an old project of mine, and I don't intend to make any updates for it in the foreesable future: I'm too busy working on new projects.
If I do go back and make edits to this VN, I'll keep your feedback in mind.
There's a darker variant of the textbox you can use in-game already, though, if that helps. You can toggle it on or off in the options menu.
Thanks!
I got this game in the BLM bundle and beat all the routes today. It's a great VN with amazing art and characters and there's a Vocaloid song in it! I wish I could buy posters or pins of the characters because they're so great.
AIdol is not a romance game and is not marketed as such. In the info section on the game's page, it states the story is about 'making friends': romance is not mentioned.
As such, there are no romantic endings between Hana and any of the characters. There are only friendship endings.
If you want to read a romantic yuri story, you'd be better off checking out Blackberry Honey or Strawberry Vinegar.
After getting all the routes, I can say with full confidence that I love this game. It's so pure and comfy, but has serious moments too. The characters feel like real people rather than just single personality traits, and I like how the game addresses a lot of real-world issues in a subtle and mature way.
Hotaru is my favorite. :-)
Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it!
I really enjoyed my first play-through! Looking forward to the next ending I find. :)
Hi!! I just downloaded the zip today onto my Mac, and the application isn't launching at all. I know it's not a permissions issue as all my other games from the bundle are launching correctly - could it be an issue with the update?
im having the same issue !! so it isnt this persons Mac
The issue is that anything built in Ren'py cannot be run on macOS Catalina without being notarized:
https://blog.argentgames.co/post/2019-12-16-mac-catalina-support/
AIdol should be compatible with older mac OSes, but it won't work on Catalina.
I don't have the time or the money to notarize my VNs, so I'll just remove mac from the list of supported OSes for all my VNs.
I can’t speak to Catalina, but for the same problem on Mojave, run
xattr -cron it in Terminal. (For the uninitiated: Open up Terminal [it’s an app that came with your Mac], type that command and then a space, drag AIdol.app onto the same Terminal window, and press return.)I was also able to run it without doing that by launching
AIdol.app/Contents/MacOS/lib/AIdoldirectly.Hi!! I was wondering, is the soundtrack for sale seperately anywhere? I really like the song Aiko sings in the end credits T_T
You can buy the soundtrack on Steam, I think you can get it independantly of the game itself:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/844070/AIdol_OST/
How do I play this - there doesn't seem to be any links?
I'm trying to upload a new build with some typo fixes + some small edits to scenes, but the game is quite large and my internet upload speed is very slow.
The new build should be uploaded in about an hour. Then, you should be able to download it.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Thanks for the reply, good luck :)
OK, the updated build should be uploaded now. Sorry for the wait!
This visual novel is such a hidden gem.
A super cute and fun visual novel! Watching it grow from the demo to the final project made me really happy I backed it. If you like cosplay, virtual idols, lolita fashion, and other weeb stuff I recommend it 100%.