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Transparent Black

Transparent Black Game Cover
91%Game Brain Score
story, graphics
gameplay, grinding
91% User Score Based on 89 reviews

Platforms

PCWindows
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Transparent Black Game Cover

About

Transparent Black is a single player role playing game with a horror theme. It was developed by LR Studio and was released on August 24, 2017. It received very positive reviews from players.

When the school is over, by sunset glow covered. Eight girls still hover, the ones without a lover. How come a girl suffers, in such a Ivory Tower? With feathers shorn and shaven, raucously quoth the raven.

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Transparent Black screenshot
Transparent Black screenshot
Transparent Black screenshot
Transparent Black screenshot
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91%
Audience ScoreBased on 89 reviews
story15 positive mentions
gameplay5 negative mentions
  • The game delivers a dark, emotionally intense narrative exploring bullying and psychological turmoil with a minimalist pixel-art style that effectively enhances the atmosphere.
  • Multiple endings and branching storylines encourage replayability, providing new insights and depth with each playthrough.
  • The soundtrack, sound design, and subtle animations complement the gloomy story well, creating a haunting and immersive experience.
  • The English translation is often rough and can be difficult to understand, detracting from the narrative impact.
  • The gameplay is repetitive and can feel tedious due to forced re-examination of locations and unskippable dialogues.
  • The lack of graphical options such as resizing or fullscreen mode and some clunky interface mechanics can hinder the player experience.
  • story
    70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story is a dark, emotionally impactful narrative centered on bullying, depression, and guilt, delivered through fragmented, non-linear storytelling that encourages exploration and multiple endings. It expands on the developer’s earlier game, "Confess My Love," adding depth and context, though some find the translation and presentation uneven. Overall, the story’s mood, themes, and atmosphere are praised for their authenticity and emotional weight, making it compelling despite its short length and simple mechanics.

    • “Players move through the classroom, interact with objects, and trigger events that gradually reveal fragments of the story.”
    • “The story is not linear, and player decisions subtly influence which ending they encounter.”
    • “The story’s refusal to neatly resolve every thread contributes to its realism and emotional authenticity.”
    • “This game didn't give you so much story.”
    • “For a game that is entirely story driven, the translation needed to be much better.”
    • “How am I supposed to take this game story even a bit seriously when I cannot stop laughing at this poor choice of sound effects?”
  • gameplay
    21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay focuses on exploration and light puzzle-solving with simple, restrained mechanics that emphasize story over difficulty, offering a short, mostly easy experience lasting 15–30 minutes. While some appreciate its unique style and pacing compared to similar games, others find the gameplay repetitive, occasionally frustrating, and lacking depth. Overall, it delivers a basic but fitting gameplay experience that supports its narrative-driven design.

    • “The gameplay is rooted in exploration and light puzzle-solving, but its mechanics are intentionally restrained.”
    • “This design choice ensures that the player’s attention remains on the unfolding story rather than on mechanical difficulty.”
    • “Gameplay consists mostly of talking, searching everywhere and solving easy puzzles, although you might have to check every spot multiple times to get useful items, so patience is suggested.”
    • “Like most RPG Maker shovelware and asset flips, the game features extremely low quality copy-pasted 2D retro pixel art, looks awful, and has even worse gameplay.”
    • “Same boring gameplay, same time-wasting mechanics and 'wait 30-60 seconds' for the prompt or achievement to appear.”
    • “Gameplay consists mostly of talking, searching everywhere, and solving easy puzzles, although you might have to check every spot multiple times to get useful items, so patience is required.”
  • graphics
    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game’s minimalist pixel-art style effectively conveys a somber, dark atmosphere that complements its narrative. While the unique black-and-white artwork is praised for setting the right mood and enhancing the story, technical limitations from the RPG Maker engine, such as poor fullscreen support and lack of HD options, detract from the overall visual experience for modern PC gamers.

    • “Visually, the game adopts a minimalist pixel-art style that reinforces its somber tone.”
    • “The art style of the game is beautiful, depressing, and creepy.”
    • “The art style is beautiful and minimalist, I really, really liked it.”
    • “As with all RPG Maker games, the poor quality engine displays badly in fullscreen and doesn't have full HD support or any graphics tweaking options, making this unacceptable for any dedicated modern PC gamer.”
  • emotional
    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game delivers a short but emotionally intense experience, using a layered narrative and branching choices to highlight the impact of small actions. It tackles mature, challenging themes with emotional authenticity and realism, creating a touching and relatable story that resonates deeply with players.

    • “Transparent black is a short yet emotionally intense indie adventure created and published by lr studio, and despite its modest scope, it delivers a surprisingly layered narrative experience.”
    • “The branching design gives weight to seemingly small choices, reinforcing the idea that even minor actions can have emotional consequences.”
    • “The story’s refusal to neatly resolve every thread contributes to its realism and emotional authenticity.”
  • atmosphere
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere is consistently described as dark, bleak, and heavy with unease, effectively enhanced by minimalist visuals and well-chosen sound effects. Its use of minimalism and transparency directs focus and encourages player projection, deepening the game's depressing and horror elements. While some find the predominant black design potentially lazy, it still fittingly complements the story's tone and keeps players engaged.

    • “The sound effects and original soundtracks were well done and enhanced the dark atmosphere significantly.”
    • “It uses minimalism well, conveying enough detail visually to make you understand exactly what's happening while giving you plenty of flat space that you're likely to project your own details onto, which further enhances the depressing atmosphere and horror of the game.”
    • “The bleak and minimalistic atmosphere is well done and fits perfectly.”
  • music
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is generally praised for enhancing the experience and fitting the aesthetic well, though some users note it can be repetitive and wish for a greater variety. Overall, it is considered a strong and well-executed aspect, often rated highly.

    • “The music and sound design is also much superior, this time really standing on their own and enhancing the experience; the only thing left to desire is that there could be more of it.”
    • “I suggest you play that game first before playing this, it has unexpected story and good music.”
    • “The aesthetic - the art style and music, while simple, really helped hold things together.”
    • “Same very short loop of so-called 'music' being played over and over and over”
  • replayability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers high replayability through multiple endings and diverse routes, each providing new perspectives on the story and the protagonist's inner journey. This encourages players to revisit and explore different outcomes.

    • “Multiple outcomes encourage replayability, with each route shedding new light on the events and the protagonist’s inner world.”
    • “Replayability - there are multiple endings.”
  • humor
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's humor is largely unintentional, with poor sound effects causing players to laugh and making it difficult to take the story seriously.

  • grinding
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is considered tedious due to excessive dialogue and numerous repetitive steps, making the process feel slow and monotonous.

    • “There aren’t as many ends here, but there’s so much dialogue to read through each time you play and so many steps to take that it ends up feeling tedious.”
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Frequently Asked Questions

Transparent Black is a role playing game with horror theme.

Transparent Black is available on PC and Windows.

Transparent Black was released on August 24, 2017.

Transparent Black was developed by LR Studio.

Transparent Black has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked Transparent Black for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

Transparent Black is a single player game.

Similar games include Confess My Love, Alicemare, BAD END THEATER, Lily's Well, Dear RED: Extended and others.