Stakes is a wrestling themed adult visual novel set in world where wrestling is both the biggest sport and the most popular form of entertainment. But there's not just regular wrestling, there's also stake wrestling. A mixture between a wrestling match followed by a live sex show, stake wrestling is a match type where the winner has sex with the loser's 'stake' - a stake most of the time being a sexual performer or other wrestler.

You take control of the main character as he works his way up in this world of wrestling. He's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder and feels like he has something to prove, so he's more than eager to get started. How about you?

The protagonist has aspirations to become one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, but right now he has to start from the bottom. To put food on his plate, he works day shifts at Hot Coffee - a café by day and an adult service lounge by night. Now he is eager and prepared to take his first opportunity in the world of wrestling: Litmus - a permanent venue that hosts wrestling matches by open application. It is a promotion that has proven to be a springboard for many an undiscovered talent since its establishment in the Eighties.

Someone with ambition needs a support network. When the main character arrived alone in the country a year ago, his first companion was a cat. Not long after he befriended his coworkers and reconnected with an old gym buddy acquaintance and his wife. But a gym buddy alone won't cut it where he's going and the protagonist will have to work with new teachers and mentors if he wants to succeed.

On the climb to the top there will always be obstacles. Things become complicated when those obstacles are people. The main character will have to deal with them, one way or another, and hopefully for him things won't become too messy along the way.

Luckily people aren't always obstacles. Sometimes people are new friends, partners or allies. Sometimes they are one night stands, hook-ups or friends with benefits. And sometimes - sometimes they are something more.

On your way to the top, the main character is but one of many. There are many hungry newcomers who are driven to make a name for themselves, and many established veterans and legends who could make or break the carreer of any young lion.

I'm aiming to make this visual novel a fairly linear narrative with optional side paths. This means that overall I'm expecting a maximum of two- maybe three endings and a lot of different sub-ending depending on which love interests you decided to pursue. Besides that, your choices will also taylor the protagonists personality, making him behave more like a face or heel outside of his wrestling persona. 

After the initial stages of getting his carreer started, I am considering having two or three alternate routes whether your character wants to pursue a face, heel or tweener character. How much this routes will differ story-wise I cannot currently say, it might offer completely alternate matches and scenes or it might just be some slight dialogue and costume changes. It'll all depend on your demand and how feasible I find things to make within certain time frames. I will say that right now the plan is that the characters personality stats will not exclude you from selecting a certain route - meaning a face personality protagonist could pursue a heel run as a wrestler, making I'm sure some interesting interactions. All of these plans are subject to change.

When it comes to gameplay during wrestling matches I am currently leaning towards it purely consisting of narrative choices, where you'll have to pay attention during match preparation and have to try and read the main character's opponent during the match itself. Depending on how development goes I also have the idea of having implementing some form of tcg-based minigame but right now that is something out of my scope as a creator and should I ever implement this it will be optional.

All sexual content with the exception of nudity is avoidable or skipable. One of the big aspects of the game will be the sexual interactions with stakes in front of an audience, so naturally there will be a lot of possible exhibitionist content. Otherwise I am aiming to include a variety of different kinks with a few exceptions:

There will be NO true NTR, non-consent, incest, loli, guro or bestiality content. I say no true NTR because there will be optional sharing content that is kayfabe NTR - kayfabe referring to the in-game made up storylines and narratives revolving around wrestling. An example might be when a face wrestler is being cuckolded by a heel, but in reality it is all scripted behind the scenes and everyone involved is okay with the storyline. If that doesn't sound like something you'd want in your game, don't worry! As I said: all sexual content involving the main character (watching or participating) will be avoidable or skipable. I guess technically it will be possible to come out at the end of the game without performing or witnessing any sexual interactions but I do expect that will feel a bit odd at the end.

Last but not least I'll anticipate the harem question. Short answer: yes, kind of. Long answer: it will be possible to be in a polyamorous relationship with multiple love interests. Some of them might be open to it immediately while others might be hesitant or have to define what polyamory means to them (e.g. interactions with other partners in the relationship or not). There will however most definitely be the possibility to form a kayfabe harem - a harem within the wrestling narrative.

I'm a solo developer and this is very much my first project like this. It has taken me while to pull the trigger and start working on it properly and I'm under no delusion that I still have - and that there will always be - a lot to learn about working with ren'py and improving the quality of my images, animations and writing. I look forward to improving myself while working on this project and do hope you'll enjoy the results.

This first build is the result of about two years of the idea roaming in my head plus some initial writings, renders and worldbuilding in my spare time, and the last three months of actual proper working on it. I am honestly very excited by the prospect of finally releasing this first build and share what I've worked on with you guys.

 The main releases of this game will always become available for free! If you wish to support me however you are welcome to subscribe to for previews, behind the scenes content, access to preview builds, input on polls regarding future content and early access to main releases. If you don't have the ability or simply don't wish to support me financially but do want to help me continue this project I absolutely appreciate any comments, feedback or reviews (though it might be a bit early for the last one?) here on public posts, or on itch.io.