PRESS KIT
Three kemonomimi love interests. One campus with secrets just beneath the surface.
FACT SHEET
Developer & Publisher: SpicyTea LLC
Founder | Lead Developer: Lida Xu (xlllida)
Based In: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Founding Date: October 2023
Project Started: Summer 2025
Engine: Ren’Py
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Release Date: 2027 (target)
Genres: Otome Visual Novel, Kemonomimi Romance, Interactive Fiction
Languages: English, Simplified Chinese (with select Chinese voice acting)
Pricing: TBA
Demo: Free, available on Steam and itch.io
Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3970480/
Press Contact: spicytea2023@gmail.com
Social:
Twitter/X: https://x.com/xu_lida
DESCRIPTIONS
Short
Petting Lover is an otome visual novel where three kemonomimi love interests, a dog, a rabbit, and a cat, share a university campus with secrets hidden just beneath the surface.
Medium
Petting Lover is an otome visual novel set at a university famous for its animal science and veterinary programs, and known to insiders for something stranger underneath. You play a freshman drawn into the lives of three kemonomimi classmates and faculty: a dog senior, a rabbit professor, and a cat office worker. Each route reveals a new angle on the campus’s hidden truth, layered with a signature touch-based petting interaction system that brings tactile intimacy to the visual novel format.
Long
Petting Lover is a kemonomimi otome visual novel in development by Atlanta-based solo indie studio SpicyTea LLC, built in Ren’Py. The player takes the role of a freshman at a university famous for its animal science and veterinary programs, but as she settles into campus life, she begins to sense that institution’s reputation only scratches the surface of what’s actually happening there.
Three love interests form the heart of the story: a dog senior, a rabbit professor, and a cat office worker, each with their own personality, route, and ending. Every romance reveals a different vantage point on the larger mystery, and player choices shape both how each relationship unfolds and how much of the world's hidden truth comes into view.
A signature mechanic sets Petting Lover apart from traditional visual novels: a touch-based petting interaction system that lets players directly engage with characters during pivotal emotional beats, a tactile layer rarely found in the genre. Combined with original art, music, and a fully bilingual presentation in English and Simplified Chinese (with select Chinese voice acting), the game brings a cross-cultural sensibility and physical intimacy to the otome format.
KEY FEATURES
Three full kemonomimi romance routes — a dog senior, a rabbit professor, and a cat office worker, each with a distinct personality, branching route, and ending
Signature touch-based petting interaction system — a tactile interaction layer designed specifically for the visual novel format, used during pivotal emotional moments
Hand-crafted original art and music — character designs, CGs, backgrounds, and soundtrack produced in-house by SpicyTea LLC
Fully bilingual: English & Simplified Chinese — with select Chinese voice acting for love interests
Branching narrative woven into campus mystery — every romance route reveals a new piece of the world; choices shape both relationships and how much of the hidden truth surfaces
Built with Ren'Py for Windows and macOS
No generative AI used in development (itch.io verified tag)
Demo available now — free, playable on Steam and itch.io
About the developer
SpicyTea LLC is a solo indie studio founded in October 2023 by Lida Xu (xlllida), an Atlanta-based artist and developer originally from Shantou, Guangdong, China. With a background in animation and visual arts (MFA, SCAD), she taught herself programming to bring narrative game projects to life. Petting Lover is her debut commercial title, drawing on her bilingual upbringing and a lifelong love of character-driven storytelling.
