Hand-Drawn Visual Novel Horror Game The Doll Shop Announced for PC

The Doll Shop is a hand-drawn visual novel horror game that also has a bit of romance. It’s developed by French comic book artists Cecile Brun and Olivier Pichard, under their indie banner Atelier Sentô. It’s set to release in October 2026 on Steam.

The highlight of The Doll Shop is its art

And why not? It comes from two artists who have vast experience in graphic novels and other well-known art projects. In their debut title, they have hand-drawn every single frame on an iPad in a graphic novel style. Although a horror game, it features warm, colourful visuals inspired by the nostalgic landscapes of northern Japan.

As for the story, The Doll Shop is set in the Japanese countryside. In a strange snow-covered village, you play as a young dollmaker. Now, what’s actually happening in the village is that it’s trapped in an endless winter.

The dollmaker lives a pretty lonely life, barely talking to anyone because he’d rather spend time with his dolls, especially one that’s hidden away in the back of his shop. Meanwhile, a little girl has disappeared, so suspicion starts spreading through the village, and everyone becomes increasingly paranoid.

Then his childhood friend comes back after spending years living in the city. She’s just hoping to reconnect and remember old times, but she has absolutely no idea that coming back to the village might end up sealing her fate.

Now, moving on to the gameplay, The Doll Shop mixes a lot of styles in its visual novel storytelling. You can freely explore the village, collect items, solve puzzles, enter homes and shops, and chat with the locals. And your dialogue choices have consequences.

The Doll Shop is all about the emotional states of its characters. There’s a strange comfort hidden inside the horror and a twisted charm mixed into the romance. A dark, surreal atmosphere where the violence mostly happens off-screen, but somehow still feels disturbing.

Wishlist the game now on Steam.

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Amrita Sankar

News Writer

Amrita has been playing video games since she was a toddler, so writing about games comes naturally to her. Outside of Gamezebo, she has experience in webcomics and social media copywriting.