Welcome to the Royal Competition of Death!

  About

  Last One Standing: Royal Massacre is a psychological horror/murder mystery visual novel that puts a dark twist on the classic no-escape storyline. Waking up in an unnervingly luxurious facility with no memory of actually arriving is only the first of the many horrors waiting to greet the fifteen unconnected victims of a strange, strange crime. The pieces only fall into place once they are introduced to a mysterious man with even worse intentions. He refuses to reveal his name or his motivation—only his supposed title, "the King of the Competition"—but is clear on his terms: the "court" he's gathered must participate in the Royal Competition of Death, a challenge in which they will be forced to murder each other until one remains. The blessed, cursed last one standing, the sole person who will be granted the right to escape.

  Synopsis

"Only one may remain..."

  Kostya Evanoff, a regular teenager, is horrified to wake up one day and find himself in a pitch-black room, completely unlike anything he's ever seen before. However, this is hardly the beginning of his nightmare. As he leaves this mysterious area, he only continues to find more and more puzzling sights, but none of it compares to the shock of realizing where, exactly, he is: a castle, perfectly decorated and maintained, in modern-day Russia.

  Of course, he quickly finds he's not alone here. With him are fourteen other strangers, all around his age—and just as lost as he is. That is, until they meet the final person: the "King of the Competition," or so he declares. With this strange title comes the revelation of what he's captured them for: the Royal Competition of Death, a murder competition where the only way to win is to be the last person left alive.

  Without knowing anything about his location, or about the King and the enigmatic organization he claims to have control over, Kostya is left with far too many questions, not a single answer, and no means of returning to his normal life. In order to escape this horrid situation, he has no choice but to work with the other victims, sorting out who he can trust and who he certainly cannot—but how can one rely on one's personal judgment when death could be the consequence of error? Remaining calm and level-headed is absolutely imperative, though even that grows difficult as tensions rise and terror mounts.

  All he can hope for is that no one else will dare to start this Royal Competition, but it seems that's far too much to ask.

  Who will be the last one standing?

Gameplay

  Though this is a visual novel, we do try to make it as interactive as we can. Through dialogue options, menu choices, and floor maps, the player is given control of the protagonist, Kostya, in many ways, and is granted freedom to choose their own responses on many occasions, as well as where they would like to go and who they engage with. The prologue largely contains just maps and exploration functions, with dialogue options scattered throughout, but several new features, such as the Intermission events, are introduced in the first chapter.

An example of the Intermission feature from chapter one

One of the many maps that allows Kostya to move through the castle

  The conference, however, is even more engaging. Serving as a debate in which the player must draw a conclusion about the events of the game leading up to that point, it is filled with different dialogue choices, memory tests, typing prompts, and minigames of all sorts. The types vary between situations and chapters, but the entire part functions on a point-based system, through which the player can also get a game over, forcing them to begin again from their most recent save.

  That being said, despite this, the game follows a completely linear story. As in, though the player has freedom to make decisions and impact minor events, the overall results will be, in most senses, the same. There are many opportunities to take control, to choose where to go and what to do, so though they may not be too significant in the grand scheme of things, they create a more open and interactive environment for the player.

Language Options/Варианты языка

-English (default)

-Russian/русский 

  To switch the language, go to the main menu, select Preferences, then go to the Language menu and click your preferred language.

Warnings

This game contains:

•   Flashing/flickering/shaking images
•   Depictions/descriptions of death and murder
•   Graphic displays of violence
•   Excessive strong language
•   Frequent references to murder, suicide, etc 
•   Significant focus on sensitive subjects such as loss, grief, trauma, etc
•   Sexual references & humor

Play at your own risk.

Additional Note

  Last One Standing: Royal Massacre is not a short read. In its entirety, we predict that this game will reach over 60 hours in length when it is complete, with each of its six chapters being around 10 hours (though this measurement depends on the player's reading speed). To those who are looking for a fast-paced, suspense-driven murder mystery, this is not the game for you, as, while it begins more quickly, it eases into a slower and more thorough pace as it progresses on to allow for the development of a solid, multi-layered plot and complex characters (both major and secondary), rather than focusing only on the main events and exciting moments.

  Credits

Crimson Sugar Studio Team Members

Mist - coding, music, writing, plot, character design & creation

Dani - character art, background art, writing, plot, character design & creation

Voice Actors

Sean Madson - voice of Kostya

Mintskos (Ava) - voice of Olesya

K.AraVA - voice of Arina

Joshua Gallagher - voice of Iona

Astra Orion - voice of Lanassa

Jerron Bacat - voice of Lavrenty

Jet_VA - voice of Mikhail

LynnVA - voice of Sasha

Mikey Luna - voice of Fadei

GaAFfe - voice of Valeri

Kristen Erridge - voice of Sabina

Anthony Rodriguez - voice of Kuzma

Falon Echo - voice of Antonina

Bianca Shaw - voice of Yana

Zel Tracey - voice of K

Norm L - voice of the King

Other Associates

BlindedByJustice - Russian language translator

  Contact Us

Studio Twitter - @crimsonsugarstd

Mist's Twitter - @queenmistcss

Dani's Twitter - @queendanicss

Email - crimsonsugarstudio@gmail.com

(If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to reach out to us through any of the methods listed.)

  Please Note

  If you are playing this game for the first time, we STRONGLY suggest that you refrain from looking through the game files, specifically the image files. They may contain MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS, which we advise you to avoid until you have completed all that is available of the game.

  Finally, a minor disclaimer. While we own all of the characters and story elements, we do not claim ownership to the works and subjects referred to within this material. None of the real-world companies, products, and establishments mentioned throughout the project belong to us, and we have no association with the production or management of them.