You've nearly died a miserable death. Again. First you were a royal Summoner, destined for greatness with the expectation of glory. However, it was a career short lived that ended with your passing. This was the beginning, not the end. You've found yourself in the clutches of Mastravisch Azvael Ories, the ruler of the Overshadow realm, a place where ghosts, demons, and the supernatural run amuck. You are bound by an eternal contract, meaning eternal servitude for an undead like yourself. Just as you begin to come into your own, gaining a sense of normalcy, someone attempts to cut your unlife short. Once again it's almost over before it truly began. You've been betrayed.
Although injured, you're determined to get your revenge against the one who tried to destroy you and the tyrant you were beholden to.
Fool Me Once is a combination Dark Fantasy and romance text based game created by PDRRook. It was released on itch.io for PC, Mac, and Android on May 14th, 2025. DLC following a different main character is currently in the works.
Fool Me Once contains examples of the following tropes:
- Affair? Blame the Bastard: Mal's stepmother would frequently take her anger and resentment having to do with her husband's infidelity out on them, a product of one of his many affairs.
- Animate Inanimate Object: Constructs are objects that were either loved or hated so much that they gained a soul. Especially powerful constructs are able to gain a body in exchange for their old form, some are able to retain both and shift at will.
- Big Fancy Castle: Nefas is a beautiful sprawling palace packed with treasure, guards, and secrets.
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Character Alignment: Each love interest has a canonical alignment mentioned in their profile.- Lotár is Neutral Evil.
- Ren is True Neutral.
- Rez is Chaotic Neutral.
- Saltire is Lawful Good.
- Mal is Chaotic Evil.
- Character Customization: You can choose your gender, skin tone, eye color, hair length, hair type, and hair color.
- Everyone Is Bi: You can pursue any of the love interests regardless of your gender.
- Evil Step Mother: The woman Mal's father was married to would frequently beat them, lock them in a small dark room, and it's heavily alluded that she abused them in other ways.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: You can choose to have had something bloom between you and Ren as they nursed you back to health.
- Good Luck Charm: The Summoner is given a damaged gold coin by Rez for a lucky charm. It stopped a poisoned arrow.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: The Summoner's name is Sarto Demvir by default but you can change it to whatever you wish.
- In-Series Nickname:
- Ren's full name is Mirren.
- Mal's full name is Malitiōse.
- Interspecies Romance: You, an undead human, can pursue a snake demon, shapeshifter, or two weapons that have gained souls and bodies.
- Lore Codex: There's a codex that contains information having to do with lore and various locations.
- Love Triangle: Potentially. Rez versus Ren and Mal versus Lotár can occur.
- Multiple-Choice Past: You can make a variety of choices that determine the sort of life you lived prior to your death and after it before the story began. Some of these choices include dynamics with other characters, your family life, and more.
- Objectshifting: Some constructs are capable of switching between their old and new form.
- Polar Opposite Twins: Ren is quiet, cold, and hard to read. Rez is boisterous, wild, and passionate.
- Poisoned Weapons: The method used to do away with the Summoner both times.
- The Power of Hate: Love isn't the only thing that creates a construct, it can also happen if an item is hated enough.
- Relationship Values: Love interests have a relationship meter that can increase or decrease depending on your actions.
- Sibling Triangle: Twins Rez and Ren may end up vying for the Summoner's affection.