Element-174

3.7

(41 votes)

Game Information

Developer

Knotty Games

Version

v0.27

Engine

Ren'Py

Release Date

Jan 9, 2026

Last Update

Mar 23, 2026

Censorship

Uncensored

Overview

Element-174 is a choice-driven adult visual novel for players who like branching stories with real consequences over quick payoffs. The tone is mysterious and character-focused, built for readers who don't mind replaying to see what they missed.

Story

A young man arrives at Branchfield University and settles into life among its students and faculty, only to find himself pulled into a growing mystery. As events unfold, the people around him begin to reveal hidden sides, and the man himself starts to change along with them. The story asks a simple question early on: who will you choose to be?

Gameplay

Choices steer the man's relationships and standing with the people he meets, opening some paths while closing others. There are no early game-overs, so decisions accumulate rather than cut the story short. Sixteen character routes run at the same time and cross into one another, meaning different playthroughs surface different sides of the same events. The game is structured in episodes, each covering a stretch of in-game days, with the overall mystery advancing across them.

Features

Sixteen interconnected character routes that respond to player choices
A university setting mixing everyday student life with an unfolding sci-fi mystery
Branching consequences without early failure states, encouraging replay
Adult content woven into character routes rather than kept separate from the story

Installation

1. Extract and run.

Changelog

v0.27

Days 1-6 combined - Lines of code: 19009, images: 870
Day 18 (previous longest) - Lines of code: 22405, images: 790
Day 20 - Lines of code: 25534 , images: 986
So this was a big one that also needed multiple versions of a few scenes, as well. The scenes during the evening of day 20 were also only possible with the recent hardware upgrades. Previously, I couldn't render more than 3 unique figures at a time. So here's a look at all the scenes that were added:
Added new full scenes for Chloe, Emma, Holmes, Isabella, Jenna, Jules, Katy, Madison, Malia, Penny, Rachel and Zoey
Added subroute scenes for Ash & Jenna, Ash & Sarah, Caroline & Holmes, Caroline & Trish, Chloe & Jules, Chloe & Madison, Holmes & Penny, Katy & Rachel, Penny & Zoey, Penny & Rachel, Rachel & Zoey
Changed Ash's Day 19 scene to be only offered once
Fixed a bug involving looping days

v0.26d