Lurkers

Lurkers

Ertal Games · 2020 · Visual Novel, LGBTQ+, Thriller, Historical, First-Person

PC
9 user reviews100% · 9
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$5.99
lowest tracked $2.39
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Standard Edition · Steam
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About Lurkers

September, 1888. The shadow of the Whitechapel Murderer looms over London.



Eddy Nichols, the eldest son of the first acknowledged victim, arrives at Whitechapel in search of answers. What he finds, though, is a panic-stricken city and a number of people eager to make the most of the horrible crimes: an American private eye, thirsty for fame and glory; the owner of an awful tabloid; a psychiatrist who advocates for suspicious, questionable methods, and an elusive, mentally unstable journalist.

Experience the investigation surrounding the Jack the Ripper crimes putting yourself on the shoes of one of the protagonists in this thrilling mystery Visual Novel!:


  • Around 35k words of mystery and romance.
  • Two (optional) LGBT love interests.
  • Three suspects.
  • Three endings, depending on your choices.
  • A gripping original soundtrack.
  • Rating 15+

DISCLAIMERS: This story is based on well-known true facts, and most of the characters are inspired by real people. However, their personality and actions during the Whitechapel crimes are mostly just fiction.

The deprecating statements about England were a common opinion among the working class of Victorian Britain, and by no means represent the opinion of the writer.


The team:


  • Project leader and script: Ertal
  • Characters design: Cube
  • Backgrounds: Fuyunokawa
  • CG illustrations: Pumpkin-spike
  • Music: Fricochet
  • GUI: Re. Alice

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

✦ AI summary

Lurkers is a short boys' love visual novel set during the Jack the Ripper era that appeals to fans of the BL and historical fiction genres, with players appreciating its thematic focus and quick completion time. However, reviewers consistently note that the story lacks character depth, the mystery resolution feels underdeveloped, and the overall experience is relatively linear with minimal branching despite some minor technical issues and dated graphics that don't significantly detract from the experience.

Recommended Oct 16, 2022
[code]Curator page here-->[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37670120/] DaRevieweD #198 [/url]<-- [i]New review every Weekend[/i][/code] [h1]"WITH A CHRIS-TAL CLEAR CONSCIENCE, I DO DECLARE-!?"[/h1] [u] Here's The Thing:[/u] In this rather historically accurate retelling of the Whitechapel Murderer, you step into the life of Eddy Nichols. Your mother, Polly, has landed herself in hot water not just for her debauched profession but also in making the headlines as the first victim of a gruesome murder. Even with tensions flared and fears swirled, it didn’t stop fame-hogging, money-grubbing opportunists and others from capitalizing on the disorder~ [h1][+] PROS;[/h1] [b]:) ANY AYE-DEAS~[/b] A pseudo semi-linear VN that harkens back to the acutely involving [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/DeadeGuard98/recommended/1156990/]Return to Shironagasu Island,[/url] every bit as absorbing in writing. In fact, it also goes quite well with[url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/DeadeGuard98/recommended/1918550/] London Ripper[/url], in spite of palpable genre leaps and subjected horror, as both are chilling reinterpretations of the string of killings unsolved to this day. A great de…
13 found this helpful
Recommended Mar 25, 2022
[h1][i][b]A boys' love murder mystery set in late ’80s London referencing Jack the Ripper’s cases and real life people involved at the time.[/b][/i][/h1] [h1]The Frying Pan:[/h1] [i][b]It’s another foggy day in Whitechapel, a truly chilling location in many senses – as it is the core of recently occurred murders. Eddy Nichols is currently performing solo investigations regarding the first victim of the ongoing femicide, none less than his mother, Polly Nichols, who was recently murdered. The latest location she is confirmed to have been spotted at is a local pub called The Frying Pan. Eddy is there to get some useful information regarding the case and decides to approach a prostitute ring who were strict acquaintances of his mother, a former prostitute. One of the women recounts of having met Eddy’s mother during wee hours of morning, mentioning she was seeking for one more client in order to pay her overnight stay at someplace. After a while the prostitutes begin to mock our main character by using flirty tones, and it is exactly there that a tall man approaches you in order to take off from the scene at hand. He presents himself as William J. Burns, an American investigator w…
12 found this helpful
Recommended Jul 13, 2022
[I] Lurkers [/i] is a historical detective BL visual novel. The story has all the tags I absolutely adore buut...I'm afraid it's gonna be a neutral review. I'm a bit hesitant if I should recommend this game, so let me leave it to your own decision. Again :D Why I choose the thumb up for my neutral opinion: +BL VN. This reason is enough XD More. Please, create more similar content! \o/ So much appreciated. You can't even imagine how grateful I am. (☆_☆) +I was always fond of history. At first as school subject, then reading historical novels. My history teacher was kind to invite me to her house and share her books with me. Historical films, novels... Anything related to factual events is immensely captivating, immediately changing the story to smth so much more impressive. You realize it's not just author's imagination. It actually HAPPENED. Or at least partially. It doesn't matter. It still makes the whole experience so much more immersive. In this case it's British criminal history. (♥ω♥*) I guess everyone heard about Jack the Ripper, infamous for his gory deeds, never caught and as a result so alluring. I was enthusiastic to read a BL about THAT! https://steamcommunity.com/sh…
10 found this helpful
Recommended Sep 5, 2025
Sweet, short, cute, mostly linear with some gory details. In the book... Majority of the time it's "catching the bad guy", lil fluff romance and not much information about the characters at all. (Like one or two things...) The best part in all of this was: I asked the bad guy one question, something akin to "did you do it?" -> And he goes "duh!" (I edited his words). Such a proud criminal. Lol. So, overall, it ain't bad. I just wish we had more details to put the depth into characters and such, but oh well. If you are in the mood for some quick BL read? A mystery might await you.
2 found this helpful
Recommended Sep 1, 2025
Short VN. Easy Achievements, 100% / ~10min.
Recommended Aug 11, 2024
My first impression of the game was it was bugged... And I was very dissapointed, because Spanish texts were missing. But after playing it in English I think the minor errors (like an achievement not popping) do not affect the quality of the game so much. The graphics are not that pretty compared to other games (even from Ertal Games), but it does not need it, I think this is a short visual novel where you can experience a good piece of Victorian Age London, so I think this is a 6 out of 10.

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