Penlight is a Ren'Py visual novel by Angela DeMille, presented with 2D CG artwork. It is set in a high school, and you play as Kyou Koyama, a friendless senior who is troubled but determined to improve his relationships before graduation. Using a penlight he modified himself, he tries to influence classmates through suggestion and mental conditioning. The story follows his attempts to change his social world one class rep after another, with all characters stated to be over eighteen. It blends school setting, mind control, and romance themes.
The current build, v0.1647.1, was released on April 11, 2026. Development is ongoing, but the release can be completed from beginning to end and offers more than a dozen endings. It runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android, with English and Spanish language options, and is uncensored. The latest update expanded the Nozomi Switch story path through the start of day seven, added one new CG for that storyline, brought the word count to about 488,500, corrected Spanish localization, and fixed typos and grammar.
Developer's description
Penlight
is a visual novel set in a high-school with a heavy emphasis on mental conditioning. While still in development, the current release is fully playable from start to finish with over a dozen possible endings. It should be noted that all characters featured in the game are in their senior year of high school and are over 18 years of age.
Spoiler:
Story
With the end of his high school career approaching, Kyou Koyama is a friendless and troubled young man. However, having recently taken on a new interest, he supposes he can salvage his relationships with his classmates using the power of suggestion. With the help of a modified penlight of his own design, he sets out the change his world, one class rep at a time...
v0.1647.1
WRITING: The new Nozomi "Switch" story path script has now been written up to the start of day 7
CG: One new CG added, taking place during the Nozomi Switch storyline
Word count is now around 488,500
LOCALIZATION: Various edits and corrections to the existing Spanish script
Some typo and grammar corrections
v0.1642.1
WRITING: Wrote the "Make sure she keeps her promise" choice that occurs during Hiroko's Gullible storyline to be a variant of a previously-written story path
WRITING: New ending written for the Redemption storyline: "Leave her alone"
WRITING: New scene written for the Villainous Devotion storyline, where Kyou is about to make Nozomi his minion but changes his mind at the last moment
ART: New CG added for the latest sub-path of Nozomi's Trance storyline ( "Become mindless for me")
ART: NEW CG added for the "Bring [Sayori's Alter] back" ending on Sayori's Alter storyline
Word count is now around 476,000
LOCALIZATION: Various edits and corrections to the existing Spanish script
Some typo and grammar corrections
v0.1639.1
WRITING: The new path of Hiroko's Gullible storyline has been written to a conclusion
CG: Added one new CG set to the Gullible storyline
Word count is now around 471,000
LOCALIZATION: Various edits and corrections to the existing Spanish script
Some typo and grammar corrections
v0.1614.1
What's New
WRITING: New script added to the Delusion storyline for when Kyou agrees with the girls during the climactic scene
WRITING/CODE: Numerous little tweaks and adjustments to the script and sprites during the Delusion storyline
ART: New CG has been made that appears in the latest ending of the Hiroko Ticklish storyline
Word count is now around 421,000
LOCALIZATION: Various edits and corrections to the existing Spanish script
Some typo and grammar corrections
What's New (v0.1613.1: Hiroko Ticklish Storyline Expansion)
WRITING: New sub-path written for Hiroko's Ticklish storyline, giving Kyou the option to influence Hiroko on the sixth day
ART: New CG has been made that appears during the Hiroko Ticklish storyline
ART: New CG has been made that appears during the Villainous Sleeper Agent storyline
Word count is now around 420,000
LOCALIZATION: Various edits and corrections to the existing Spanish script
Some typo and grammar corrections
What's New (v0.1612.0: Hiroko Ticklish Storyline Expansion)
WRITING: New sub-path written (half outlined) for Hiroko's Ticklish storyline, giving Kyou the option to use the penlight on Hiroko on the sixth day
ART: New CG has been made that appears during the Villainous Sleeper Agent storyline
Word count is now around 419,000
LOCALIZATION: Various edits and corrections to the existing Spanish script
Some typo and grammar corrections
What's New (v0.1611.1: Sayori Alter Storyline Expansion)
WRITING: The sub-path for Sayori's Alter storyline, mentioned in last month's update, has been written to a conclusion
ART: New CG that appears during the Redemption storyline
Word count is now around 418,000
LOCALIZATION: Various edits and corrections to the existing Spanish script
Numerous typo and grammar corrections
v0.1602.1
What's New
WRITING: New path added for the Nozomi Reversal storyline, including a roughly-scripted ending
ART: New CG added for the Sayori Alter story path ending
ART: New CG assets added for the Nozomi Reversal storyline
Word count is now over 402,500
LOCALIZATION: Spanish script is up to date, with various small edits made to the earlier script
Minor typo and grammar corrections
v0.1578.2
What's New
WRITING: Fully scripted Nozomi's Reversal storyline up to a tentative conclusion
ART: One new CG for Sayori's Doll storyline
ART: Three new CGs for Nozomi's Reversal storyline
GUI: Slightly reduced the black outline on the in-game text
Word count is now around 356,000
LOCALIZATION: Various edits and corrections to the existing Spanish script
Minor typo corrections
v0.1574.2
What's New
WRITING: Sayori's Doll storyline alternate path ("Prove to her that she wants this") now written to a conclusion
WRITING: Minor tweaks made to the existing Reversal storyline script
ART: Two new CGs for Sayori's Doll storyline, on the new path
ART: New CG for Nozomi's Zombie storyline
Word count is now around 348,000
OTHER: Cheat function to unlock all CGs in the gallery has been added
LOCALIZATION: Various edits and corrections to the existing Spanish script
Minor typo corrections
0.1560.2
What's new?
WRITING: Sa added new dialogue to the story of Hiroko Gullible (formerly called "Trickster"), in the decision in which Kyou thinks about stopping what he is doing, plus some rough sketch for an ending in this route
WRITING: A few tweaks and additions to the text of the existing Crédula route (previously called “Trickster”)
WRITING: Minor edits to the Robot story in the scene where the new CG appears
WRITING: The writing of an alternative ending for the Devotion line began, as a result of the choice "I still want you to be my girlfriend."
ART: Added a new CG for the story of Hiroko Gullible
ART: A new CG was added for the Robot story, on the fifth day
ART: Added a new CG for Sayori Doll story
LOCATION: Various editions and corrections to the existing text in Spanish
Credits updated with the latest backers
Minor spelling corrections
v0.1542.2
What's New
Two new CGs for Nozomi's Trance storyline
New CG for the Doll storyline
New CG for the Robot storyline
Word count is now around 267,000
Hiroko's Trickster branch of her Ticklish Hands storyline is now scripted with dialogue up to the end of day 5 and outlined up to day 7
Slightly edited the scene in Nozomi's Trance storyline where the new CG appears
Edited the Robot storyline scene in which the new CG appears, which occurs during the second day
The music track "Rain", which plays during some dramatic parts of the story, has been cut down to make it loop more naturally
Spanish localisation: Various edits and corrections to the existing script
Updated the end credits with the latest backers
Minor typo corrections
Known Issues
Changing the language on a line where an animation occurs (like screen shake) will throw up an error.
v0.1529.2
New CG for Sayori's route, on the new and in-progress Doll storyline
Added a new CG scene on the Villainous Devotion storyline, towards the end
New CG for Hiroko's route, at the end of the "Ticklish Hands" storyline
New CG for Nozomi's route, during her "Trance" storyline
Sayori's Doll storyline has been scripted up to day 7
Word count is now around 223,000
Spanish localisation: Various edits and corrections to the existing script
Updated the end credits with the latest backers
Lots of typo corrections (did a sweep of the whole script to find them)
Known Issues
Changing the language on a line where an animation occurs (like screen shake) will throw up an error.
v0.15271
What's New
New CG for Nozomi's route, near the beginning
TWO New CGs for Hiroko's route, on the "Ticklish Hands" storyline
New CG for the third of Sayori's Alter storyline endings
New CG for the Villainous Robot storyline
Spanish localisation: The entire game is now playable in Spanish!
Expanded the Robot path by making some script edits and adding a whole new scene
Edited a number of scenes on Nozomi's Trance storyline
Completed a version of the alternate ending on the Villainous Sleeper Agent storyline where Kyou chooses to fight
Began writing the Doll storyline on Sayori's route
Added music and ambient sound to Hiroko's "ticklish hands" storyline ending scene
Added one new piece of music. It plays during the first scene of Sayori's Doll storyline
Added a language select screen when people start the game for the first time
Inserted a disclaimer message that appears at the start of the game
Fixed several bugs in the CG gallery that prevented certain CG variants from unlocking
Fixed a display bug that occurred during Nozomi's Reversal storyline
Word count is now around 217,500
The usual miscellaneous spelling and grammatical corrections
Known Issues
Changing the language on a line where an animation occurs (like screen shake) will throw up an error
v0.1524.2
v0.1522.2
First release
Player reviews
Player rating4.0 / 5 · 13 ratings
Written reviews13 · avg 3.4★
Positive (4–5★)62%
Latest review2026-03-31
What players say
Mixed reviews: praised for hypnosis focus and writing, but criticized for lack of explicit scenes and moralizing.
5★4
4★4
3★0
2★3
1★2
Players like
Hypnosis and mind control are explored deeply
Good writing and interesting branching routes
Eroticism comes from story and power dynamics
Routes are regularly updated and expanded
Common complaints
Lack of explicit sex scenes disappoints some players
Moralizing and shaming feel preachy to some
The protagonist can feel immature or boring
Best for players who enjoy hypnosis-focused stories over explicit scenes.
Summarised from 13 written player reviews.
iZeroTwoi2026-03-31★★★★★
* It's not a PORN game. There is no porn. The developer should make this clear from the beginning. Even as a visual novel i hated this. There is high sexual tension in the game and sexual routs that end…
Luro127512752024-07-28★★★★★
The best summary of the game is the one the author herself wrote: "A visual novel where you hypnotize cute girls and feel bad about it " This is not your usual game about hypnosis, this is THE game about…
genfetish2023-09-29★★★★★
Tons of routes with interesting situations, and great writing. Characters are interesting, and lots of exciting scenarios to explore. This is not eroge but art. The author continues to update regularly and further flesh out the different routes available.