Shadows of Ambition is a Ren'Py adult visual novel by AbyssGames. You play a protagonist who travels to Nyctora City with his girlfriend, chasing love and ambition in a neon metropolis shaped by wealth, danger, and hidden power. The story uses choices to test relationships and reveal secrets around OogleCorp, with 2D AI CG art and animated scenes. The adult themes include corruption and female domination.
The current build is Chapter 3 Rework, released September 19, 2026. Development continues, and the changelog notes that an extra OogleFans scene was not completed for this build. The reworked chapter brings fresh scenes, revised dialogue, added choices, extra animation work, and new renders. It also includes 516 still images, 56 animated pieces, roughly 8,000 script lines, 16 collectible items, 2 achievements, new music, and smoother main UI animations. The game runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android, in English, uncensored.
Developer's description
Join the protagonist as he follows love and ambition to Nyctora City, a sprawling metropolis filled with temptation, danger, and corruption. Together with his girlfriend, he will face difficult choices while uncovering the unsettling truth behind OogleCorp, one of the world’s most powerful tech corporations. As secrets begin to unravel, the fate of their relationship—and the city itself—hangs in the balance.
Spoiler
Nyctora City is a sprawling metropolis overflowing with ambition, wealth, and temptation. Beneath its dazzling neon lights lies a darker side filled with corruption, dangerous desires, and secrets hidden within the city’s most powerful circles.
From luxurious clubs and towering corporate headquarters to the shadows lurking deep within its nightlife, every corner of Nyctora offers new opportunities — and new risks. The deeper you descend into the city, the more difficult it becomes to separate ambition from obsession.
Ambition can open every door — but every choice comes with consequences. As relationships are tested and hidden desires begin to surface, the line between love, obsession, and corruption becomes increasingly difficult to escape.
The future of the city, and the people closest to you, will ultimately depend on the decisions you make.
Chapter 3 Rework
I’m genuinely incredibly excited about this one. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited to release an update before.
So much has changed compared to the original Chapter III that, at this point, it’s basically an entirely new chapter. New scenes, rewritten dialogue, new choices, more animations, new renders, and a lot more polish across the board.
Now that everything is finally finished on the rendering side, I can also share the final numbers:
516 renders
56 animations
~8,000 lines of script
16 collectibles
2 achievements
New music
Further improvements to the main UI, including new animations and a smoother overall look
I actually wanted to squeeze in one additional OogleFans scene as well, but unfortunately I just didn’t have enough time to finish it properly.
The good news is that it will still be included in the Steam demo, which is coming later this month.
What’s probably craziest to me is that development on the Chapter III Rework only started on July 22nd.
Putting together an update of this size in under two months has been... intense. And yes, once again, my sleep schedule and health has paid the price. xD
But seeing everything come together has made it worth it, and I’m extremely happy with how this chapter turned out.
Once this update is released, there’s only one major rework left: Chapter IV.
After that, I’ll finally be moving back to new content and working on the finale of Chapter VII.
Chapter 2 Rework Public
The animator got back to me a few days ago, and I was able to implement
15 new animations
into the final scene with Alice. I also made several improvements to the flow of that scene based on your feedback, so even returning players should notice a much smoother experience.
Chapter 2 Rework
N/A
Chapter 1 Rework
- 260+ new images
- Choices add in Chapter 1.
- 9 Collectibles
- Relationship system added
- Better story/pacing
Chapter 7 Part 2
- MORE CHOICES!
- UPDATED OOGLEFANS UI
- NEW TRANSITIONS
- MORE VOICE ACTING
- 500+ NEW RENDERS
- ANIMATIONS
- NEW MUSIC
- NEW SFX
- 16 collectibles to gather
- new OogleFANS scene
- and more...
Chapter 7.1
- 30+ Choices
- New OogleFans UI (Top right)
- New transitions
- Higher Quality Models
- Voice Acting
- 490+ New Renders
- 30+ Animations
- New Music
- New SFX
Chapter 6.1
Rework of Chapter 1 (Alice Dream Scene + Olivia Encounter).
- More renders + animations.
Rework of Chapter 2 (Almost full rework).
- Kate dildo scene has more renders + animations + Maid to Please scene updated.
Rework of Chapter 3 (Gym rework, Maid to Please scene rework, Olivia Oogle Corp scene rework).
Small rework of Chapter 4 (Jasper interrogation scene).
Reworked script to be more to the point with less bloat.
More images added to certain scenes in certain chapters.
Chapter 6
- 465+ IMAGES
- 58 ANIMATIONS
- NEW MUSIC & SFX
- VOICE ACTING
- NEW PHONE MESSAGING ICONS & EMOJI'S
- 5800 LINES OF CODE
Chapter 5
674 IMAGES
36 ANIMATIONS
NEW MUSIC & SFX
TEXT OUTLINES (PLAY WITHOUT THE TEXT BOX)
7000 LINES OF CODE
110000 WORDS
Chapter 4.5
- New + Improved UI
- Chapter 1 Rework
- Additional Flashback story
- Fixed Older Images
- Added animations in Chapter 2 + 3
- Replay Mode
- New Transitions
Chapter 4
480+ new renders
New Music & SFX
8500 lines of code
65000 words
Bug fixes
Chapter 3.1
- Additional renders to last two scenes of Ch3.
- Bug fixes of Ch3
-Spruced up some renders in Chapter 1. (Full rework happening later)
Chapter 3
- 210+ new renders
- A ton of new music & SFX
- Bug fixes and improvements of chapter 2
- 3800 lines of code
- 24000 words
Chapter 2
- 128 new renders
- 2400 lines of code
- Implemented Phone Messaging System
- Minor Adjustments to Chapter 1
- New Music & SFX
- Images are rendered in JPEG. Reducing overall file size by 75%.
DISCLAIMER: Some things were changed in the backend to add compatibility for future chapters, meaning current save files will not work. This won't be a problem for the future. (You can enable skipping unseen text in the preferences tab, if you want to skip to chapter 2 or you can play from chapter 1 again to see some of the changes.)
Chapter 1
Initial Release
Player reviews
Player rating5.0 / 5 · 20 ratings
Written reviews20 · avg 4.5★
Positive (4–5★)80%
Latest review2026-03-04
What players say
Most players rate it highly, praising polished AI art and engaging characters, though some criticize rushed relationship setup and limited choices.
5★16
4★0
3★2
2★1
1★1
Players like
Consistent high-quality AI art and animations are praised.
Engaging story with interesting characters and varied personalities.
Pacing and content updates generally satisfy players.
Developer effort and ongoing improvements are noticed.
Common complaints
Rushed timeline makes relationship feel unearned.
Limited player choices and consequences reduce agency.
Some players dislike the NTS/swinging focus.
Best for players who enjoy polished AI art and NTS/swinging stories with engaging characters.
Summarised from 20 written player reviews.
MrCharismo2026-03-04★★★★★
This game just didn't hit the spot for me. There's not really any player agency (not until later in the VN) or even much talk about opening up their relationship. It's just so fast. The girlfriend kinda just starts talking…
hunter80132026-02-28★★★★★
Story: 8/10 Renders: 8/10 Animation: 6/10 Sound: 8/10 Characters: 7/10 This game has changed the preconceived notion that I had about games that use AI, that all of them are just AI slop. This one in particular is actually pretty…
Acerius2026-02-16★★★★★
While this title is easily better than the majority of what is currently available on the Western market, it isn't without its flaws. The "Netorase" premise feels weak due to the rushed timeline; the transition from online dating to the…
★★★★★(20)
