[WIP] i-doll | Kpop Survival Sim (Update: +61k words! Total: 76k)

[Mfein]

I-DOLL : The K-Pop Survival Sim

MAJOR UPDATE IS LIVE! +61k words added. Note: This update focuses on the Solo Path. The Jun-ah branches are still in the training room and will be added in the next stage! Due to minor 15/03 update old save files will be lost

In the neon heart of Seoul, perfection isn’t just a goal… it is a social requirement.

Welcome to Titan Entertainment, where the hierarchy is absolute, and a single disrespectful glance toward a senior can end your career. You are fighting for a spot in the nation’s next top group, but in a society where your “Face” is your life, the cameras capture more than just your talent.

They capture your ability to survive the suffocating weight of expectation.

The Premise

You are a trainee in the ruthless K-pop machine. Project: Supernova tests more than just your vocals; it tests your Nunchi (the art of reading the room) and your survival within a rigid social order.

But the debut is not the happy ending, nope it is merely the start of the contract.

The planned roadmap spans the entirety of a 7-year Idol contract. If you survive the competition, you will have to navigate the perilous life of a star: from the euphoric highs of a “Rookie of the Year” award to the crushing lows of dating scandals and sasaeng fans.

You won’t just fight to debut, you will fight to keep your humanity in an industry designed to strip it away. Will you retire as a legend, a sell-out, or a tragedy and will you be alone at the end?

🌟 Is it worth your time?

1. The Cultural Minefield : Navigate strict Korean hierarchy. Respect your Sunbaes, manage your speech levels, and ensure you never lose “Face” on camera.
2. Forge Your Idol Persona : Customize your visual “Face Card,” your origin (Local or Gyopo), and your position (Vocal, Dance, Visual).
3. Trauma & Mental States : I[/I] Your choices leave scars. High stress and traumatic events trigger hidden “Trauma Points,” leading to unique mental states like Mania, Dissociation, or Depression.
4. The Price of Fame : Experience the grim reality of extreme dieting and physical burnout. Developing an Eating Disorder will lock certain narrative paths, forcing you to choose between your health and your debut.
   (Note: More customization options for appearance and traits will be added in future updates!)

🎤 Click to meet The Bias

Coco [G-S] : The Rival Ace
Sharp, rebellious, and dangerously talented. Coco treats rules as suggestions (and they will always be the same gender as your MC). Standing next to them might get you burned in a culture of conformity.

Haneul [G-S] : The Royal Teddy-bot
The “Nation’s First Love.” Flawless, precise, and eerily polite. Haneul operates like a regal enigma, but the pressure to maintain that porcelain image is starting to show the cracks in their programming.

Noa [F] : The Enigmatic Host
A former idol who survived the system. She hides a scandalous past behind a perfect smile and sees her own soul reflecting in yours.

Minjae [M] : The Jaded Actor
A superstar Sunbae who found the pinnacle of fame to be empty. He challenges you to ask if the dream is actually a nightmare.

Jun [Non-RO] : The Anchor
Your roommate and oldest friend. Jun represents the Jeong (deep connection) that keeps you human in a ruthless competition.

Demo link
Follow the DevLog on Tumblr
Current Version : Prologue + Chapters 1 & 2, chapter 3 part 1 (solo path)
Current Wordcount: ~76,000 words (excluding code) | ~93,000 total

⚠️ Content Warnings (Please Read)

This game explores the dark side of the industry and contains mature themes including:

• Eating Disorders & Body Dysmorphia: Depictions of Extreme calorie restriction/Disordered eating and unhealthy coping mechanisms.
• Mental Health: Depictions of mania, dissociation, and panic attacks.
• Institutional Abuse: Verbal abuse and rigid control by authority figures.
• Physical Violence: Brief but intense depictions of physical altercations and injuries .

🆕 Update Log

the “it’s not a cheat code” edition 15/03/26

• new “saitama training” route added: for those who’ve done 50+ runs and just want to be a god (or for those who are lazy, i don’t judge). you can now select this at the start of chapter 1.
  *the price of power you’ll start with 99 in every professional skill, but you’re already cracking. permanent trauma points are added from the jump. you keep your hair, but lose your mind. fair trade, right?
  *logistics: fixed some fairmath wonkiness in chapter 2 and cleaned up some transition bugs between titan and the villa. stay messy

Mar 11, 2026 (The Glare of the Lens)

Massive Content Update:
Chapter 3 part 1 (solo path) Added: +66,000 new words. Total word count is now 90,000. The Villa is officially open.
Multiple POVs: Step outside your own head. New scenes allowing you to play from the perspective of your rivals and industry insiders.
The Live Feed: Your actions on camera now directly impact your NAVER Reputation. The fans (and haters) are watching 24/7.
RO Expansion: New, deeper interactions with the Divas (Noa, Minjae, Coco) and our Royal Teddy-bot, Haneul.
The Darker Side: Implementation of the ED Flag and new story branches covering the violence and mental toll of the industry.
Hardcore Rebalance: Skill checks have been tightened. If you want that center position, you’re going to have to bleed for it.

Previous Version: Jan 26, 2026 (The Balance Patch)

Fixes & Changes:
Stat Rebalance: Early game gains (Prologue & Childhood) have been adjusted to ensure smoother progression. No more OP toddlers!
Mechanics: Adjusted “The Mask” stat gain to be more responsive to dissociative choices.
Difficulty: Stress & Injury penalties are now percentage-based. The higher you climb, the harder you fall.

Note: Due to math changes, old saves might act strangely. A fresh start is recommended!

📝 Feedback Desired (Click to expand)

• Cultural Immersion : Do the references to hierarchy, etiquette, and social pressure feel grounded?
• Stat & Trauma Balance : Did the Trauma Points and Stress checks feel fair or too punishing?
• The “Face Card” System : Did the customization options feel meaningful?
• Character Impressions : Which character stood out to you the most?
• Bugs/Errors : Any pronoun slips, loop errors, or typos?

Author’s Note & AI Disclosure

English is not my first language, and this is my first attempt at a CoG demo. Please be kind and respectful towards me and each other in the discussion

(Transparency : I utilize AI tools to assist with coding and refining the flow. The story and creative direction are entirely my own.)
Thank you for playing i-doll

P.S. I’ve set up a ko-fi for the project. I’m not linking it here to keep the focus on the story and the feedback, but it’s out there if you feel like supporting. No pressure, just happy to have you along for the ride.

[fablesoffortune]

The project sounds interesting and I’ll be keeping my eye on it! However, I would recommend being careful/maybe double checking with staff about their AI policy if you want this game to be published at some point through CoG. Brainstorming and so on with AI shouldn’t be an issue, but as I understand it, they do not accept code that has been generated by AI.

[Mfein]

thats a bummer , I’ll look into it .. thanks for the heads up

[venitas]

i love the idea so far cant wait for more :3

Edit: just played it i really enjoyed the demo cant wait for chapter 3 and 4

[Mfein]

thank you so much , the drama is defintley about to ramp up in chapter 3

[JokeWhy]

Unironically was hoping for a K-Pop idol IF after seeing the Korean CEO IF. I will say though, there is one IF i’ve read thus far that reads almost exactly as A.I. (besides character dialogue) and it’s still up so I don’t think the code being co worked on with A.I. should be an issue. As long as you are actively attempting to learn code CoG shouldn’t care (since CoG was made to introduce coding I believe, not entirely sure).

[HarleyQueen]

Oh man the Idol system is fucked up. Im gonna read all of this!

[Mfein]

I hope so trying to code and survived so far but coding makes me angry lol …

[Mfein]

Bon appetit

[fablesoffortune]

@JokeWhy

I will say though, there is one IF i’ve read thus far that reads almost exactly as A.I. (besides character dialogue) and it’s still up so I don’t think the code being co worked on with A.I. should be an issue. As long as you are actively attempting to learn code CoG shouldn’t care (since CoG was made to introduce coding I believe, not entirely sure).

I do not think this is accurate; the policy at least states that CoG prohibits AI generated content. WIPs are different since they are not professionally published. But if a game is submitted, to be accepted, it cannot have AI created art, writing or code.

This is from the section of their website that explains their standards, to clarify. Past that, if there are any questions then staff would be most helpful, but they do specifically mention code as a restriction. If you were referring to an already completed IF in the catalogue, then I’d recommend directing any evidence of AI usage to staff as well; a game has actually needed to be removed in the past because the author included AI written portions so they’d definitely look into it. As we all know though, determining what is or is not AI is far from foolproof. AI was trained off of actual writers, after all. It is no surprise humans can sound like AI.

And @Mfein, I apologize for derailing from your game! I just don’t want you to possibly put a lot of energy into this project, and then have to do massive rewrites or something down the line. So I hope it makes sense why I spoke up in the interest of everything being cleared up early. As I said, I’ll be rooting for you.

[Mfein]

Hi , its totally fine and shows you care xp , I checked the subject with cog stuff and it is frowned upon and risky, this is a creative outlet for me so I dont expect to be an all time great like zombie exudos or infamous , just having a vision come to life is enough for me BTW thank you for the support and follow on tumbler for more content !

[_kotarou]

I must admit I’m not a big fan of Korean culture, but your book caught my attention.

I’d say it looks great so far, but I still feel it lacks deeper interactions. At the moment, the interactions with other characters seem somewhat vague and superficial, with a lot left blank.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing what chapter three brings to us

[AdmiralLynx89]

Aside from several formatting, and punctuation errors, it looks like you have a solid grasp on what your story is. Also where it is going. This will be key for your WIP’s future development if you decide you want to lean on the community more to get a better understanding of coding; it is an open door, if you want it. Zero pressure if you don’t.

Despite the errors I mentioned, I was never lost about what was happening, or who was talking. Although it needs a large amount of refining in those specific areas, your written English is very good.

The specific errors in formatting was the text bunching up more than one speaking character in dialogue passages. That’s not the common practice with English speaking crowds. Separating each character’s spoken lines from the next character to talk will allow for easier fixing of the second error.

Not all spoken text is properly enclosed in “quotation” markers. Several have none, beginning or ending, though it is clear in a way when the spoken portions happen. I would say that this, more than anything, is why your written English has turned out to be pretty competent. But you’ll need to add the quotes around spoken text to show when a character is saying something for the punctuation to be correct.

Lastly: though some loosely similar WIPs are out there, I am intrigued by the setting, and plot of this one. I can’t say I’ve seen very many that aim to be like this, with the approach to the genre-specific themes you want to take.

[Mfein]

thanks for checking it out! i’ll work on polishing the formatting bugs and speeches for sure really happy to hear the story direction feels solid despite that and I know its niche a little I just like the possibilities that this setting ( k-pop and south korea ) offers

[idonotlikeusernames]

@Mfein

Depictions of starvation

While I don’t know all that much about the K-pop industry specifically I do know a little bit about male (fashion) modelling. Usually with the boys it is not so much starvation rather than a very specific diet, lots of exercise and I mean lots and a very rigorous eating and sleeping schedule. Although weight does play some part it tends to be more about muscle and definition thereof. Closer to some top athletes than anorexia. Although body dysmorphia can happen to both genders with some guys I met (usually already in great shape) it was more things like “are my abs defined enough yet“ or “how does my jawline compare?“. Rather than the complete focus on weight alone that it does with girls and women due to different aesthetics being valued for men and boys. So I would say with men it leans more into those sorts of insecurities and the possible abuse of some substances you might also see with pro-athletes, steroids, hormones, etc.

@Mfein

good point I will look for ways to incorporate that into the game and mechanics .

I did read that more heavy use of cosmetics than here in most of the west and plastic surgery is more common for both genders in Korea and Japan today among the more affluent youth.

Like I said don’t know all that much about the K-pop idol industry but from the bits I do know about modelling and acting here in the western world it seems there would likely be some significant differences between the boy track and the girl track.

And here is K-pop idol Wonho kinda proving my point. For all the K-pop industry may be different form modelling or acting here in the West it seems the ideals for the male physique have still changed remarkably little since the time of the ancient Greeks (for which, as a gay guy I am grateful). You don’t get (abdominal) muscle definition like that through starvation, unless the mc starts off on the fatter side, although some of those protein-rich diets can be miserable and leave you feeling hungry all the time. Point is it can probably get miserable for both boys and girls but the exact kind of misery still differs.

[Mfein]

good point I will look for ways to incorporate that into the game and mechanics .

[DiGreatDestroyer]

Interesting concept and tone.

I however feel it’s not worth commenting on the deeper content until you do a spelling pass, the “next page” buttons specially almost all suffer from lower-case (non-)capitalization. There are also some logic errors/contradictions, for example you reading about Alex getting cut in two different events, or if you don’t make the cut, you are told Rio is amongst the list at the start, then the “one last one to qualify” also is named as Rio. Check those too, make sure everything works as intended.

[Lotus]

I really enjoy this WIP. I’ve always wanted an IF where I could be an idol since I love stories/content that incorporates the idol industry.

[Sel_Lee]

This looks intriguing but Korean society has traumatised me enough in reality for me to actually play this

[loomy]

@idonotlikeusernames

And here is K-pop idol Wonho kinda proving my point.

wonho is definitely an outlier LOL, he’s not what your average male idol looks like he is no longer in an group (which he looked very different in) and has a lot more freedom as a soloist. i wish healthy builds like his were more common

to the author: this premise is super interesting to me and i LOVEEE the title you’ve gone with, it’s simple but gives a little hint towards the idol industry not being all the sunshine and rainbows it portrays itself to be. i’m looking forward to more!!