The Smoke Room: Summer Special is a free visual novel by The Echo Project. This role-playing game is a modern alternate universe episode of the developer’s VN entitled The Smoke Room. It’s one of the two alternate universe episodes of the VN, the other being The Smoke Room: Christmas Special.

In The Smoke Room: Summer Special, the characters of The Smoke Room are reimagined in the modern world. This alternate universe portrays the main cast as participants in a polyamorous relationship. In this particular episode, the group goes to the beach and figures out what beach outfit to wear.

A beach story

The Echo Project is the creator of multiple visual novels, with the title Echo at its center. Echo is a psychological horror VN that strays away from the common tropes of dating simulators. The Smoke Room is one of the three related VNs to Echo, the other two being Route 65 and Arches. The Smoke Room is a prequel to Echo, set in the year 1915.

The Smoke Room: Summer Special can be considered a The Smoke Room spin-off. It features the following characters: Samuel Ayers, an albino mountain lion prostitute; William Adler, a coyote detective; Murdoch Byrnes, a salesman fox; Clifford Tibbits, a stoat research student; Nikolai Krol, a badger miner and a regular client of Samuel’s; and Todd Bronson, an otter serving as deputy to William.

In this alternate universe episode, the main characters, along with Todd Bronson, gather together to go to the beach. Samuel Ayers assists everyone in choosing the perfect beach outfit. The primary highlight of this episode is seeing the characters in various summer outfits. It’s not a standalone project and can be skipped by people only interested in the main VN titles.

Should you play it?

Ultimately, The Smoke Room: Summer Special is only for avid fans of The Smoke Room VN. People who didn’t play the main universe VN wouldn’t be able to appreciate this one. It offers the same writing and art quality as the main title, but plot-wise, it doesn’t carry as much significance. That being said, fans who would love to see their favorite characters in summer fashion should play this one.