MOGMAX

A satirical visual novel about the looksmaxxing epidemic of 2026.

Based on a true story.

Built in Ren'Py 8.5. Two chapters, ~15–20 minutes to play through, branching ending, soundtracked and shaderless. Made by Tarzerk & Cebolla.

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What is this

You're a low-tier normie at a high school. A guy named Clav sits down across from you at lunch, calls you out, and offers a choice between two pills.

• Red pill → Chapter 2: a brutal vocab quiz, a public mog, and a sunrise resolution.
• Blue pill → roll credits. Stay the way you are.

Chapter 2 is a bootcamp + flashcard study + timed vocab quiz where your score determines whether you mog the whole class or get filmed eating it. Music-synced cinematics, custom UI screens, on-the-beat reveals.

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Playing it

There are two ways in: download a prebuilt copy (easiest, no Ren'Py install) or run from source. Prebuilt copies are produced by the GitHub Actions pipeline.

Get a build

Easiest (no GitHub account needed) — grab a tagged release from the Releases page. Pick the latest version, then download the file matching your platform:

Platform	Asset
Windows	MOGMAX-<version>-pc.zip
macOS	MOGMAX-<version>-mac.dmg (or MOGMAX-<version>-mac.zip as fallback)
iOS / Android	MOGMAX-<version>-pc.zip (yes — same file as Windows; see below)

Release downloads are public — anyone with the link can grab them, no sign-in required. This is the right link to send to friends.

Latest dev build (requires GitHub login) — every push to a v* tag, plus any manual run, produces fresh builds attached to the Actions run page. Click into a run → scroll to Artifacts → download:

Platform	Artifact
Windows	MOGMAX-windows-and-pocket
macOS	MOGMAX-mac-dmg (or MOGMAX-mac-zip as fallback)
iOS / Android	MOGMAX-windows-and-pocket

GitHub gives you each artifact as a .zip wrapper. Unzip it first, then follow the platform steps below.

Windows

1. Unzip MOGMAX-windows-and-pocket.zip.
2. Inside the inner MOGMAX-<version>-pc/ folder, double-click MOGMAX.exe.

That's it — no install step. To uninstall, just delete the folder.

First-launch SmartScreen warning is normal (the .exe isn't code-signed). Click More info → Run anyway.

macOS

1. Double-click MOGMAX-mac-dmg.zip to unzip it, then double-click MOGMAX-<version>-mac.dmg to mount.
2. Drag MOGMAX.app into your Applications folder.
3. First launch only: right-click MOGMAX.app → Open → confirm. (Plain double-click will be blocked by Gatekeeper because the app isn't notarized.)

If Gatekeeper still refuses, run this once in Terminal:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/MOGMAX.app

iOS / iPadOS / Android (via Ren'Py Pocket)

Ren'Py Pocket is a mobile app that runs Ren'Py games from a zip. The same MOGMAX-windows-and-pocket.zip works as the mobile package — it contains the game/ and renpy/ folders Pocket expects.

1. Install Ren'Py Pocket (iOS App Store / Android equivalent).
2. Download MOGMAX-windows-and-pocket.zip from the Actions tab onto your phone, or keep it on your computer and use Pocket's Wi-Fi Transfer:
   • In Pocket, tap Wi-Fi Transfer to start a local server.
   • Open the address it shows in your computer's browser.
   • Drag the zip into the browser page — it uploads and installs.
3. Tap MOGMAX in Pocket's library to launch.

If iOS rejects the import, unzip in the Files app, long-press the folder, Compress, then import that new zip. (iOS occasionally chokes on zips produced on other OSes.)

Run from source (developers)

Requires the Ren'Py SDK 8.5+.

1. Clone this repo.
2. Open the Ren'Py launcher.
3. Preferences → set Projects Directory to the folder containing your clone.
4. Back at the main launcher, MOGMAX appears in the project list — click Launch Project.

Or, from the command line:

"path/to/renpy-sdk/renpy.exe" "path/to/mogmax"

Dev shortcuts

While running in dev mode (default for unbuilt projects):

• Shift + D — opens a dev "skip to scene" menu (Ch1 / Ch2 / quiz / pass / mirror / credits). Saves you replaying the quiz on every iteration.
• Shift + O — opens the Ren'Py console for arbitrary jump <label> commands.
• Ctrl — hold to fast-skip dialogue.

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Project layout

mogmax/
├── README.md             ← you are here
├── BACKGROUNDS.md        ← spec for swapping background art
├── SCRIPT.md             ← human-readable transcript of all dialogue
├── .gitignore
└── game/
    ├── script.rpy        ← Chapter 1 (cafeteria, pill choice, both endings)
    ├── chapter2.rpy      ← Chapter 2 (bootcamp, quiz, mirror finale)
    ├── screens.rpy       ← all custom UI (main menu, choice, study cards,
    │                       quiz, fail screen, chapter select, dev skip menu)
    ├── credits.rpy       ← end credits roll
    ├── options.rpy       ← project config
    ├── gui.rpy           ← GUI constants (from the_question template)
    ├── bee_movie.txt     ← bonus credits filler
    ├── audio/            ← 12 mp3 files (see below)
    ├── images/           ← 10 jpg backgrounds (see BACKGROUNDS.md)
    └── gui/              ← UI textures from Ren'Py template

Audio (game/audio/)

File	Used for
main_menu_theme.mp3	main menu loop, carries into Ch1 intro
cafeteria_ambient.mp3	Ch1 cafeteria background loop
tray_slam.mp3	one-shot — Clav's tray slams on the table (Ch1)
pill_pickup.mp3	one-shot — pill choice menu appears
swallow_sfx.mp3	one-shot — fires when you pick a pill
library_ambient.mp3	Ch2 bootcamp + flashcards background loop
quiz_tension.mp3	Ch2 quiz background loop
quiz_buzzer.mp3	one-shot — 10 seconds remaining on quiz timer
bell_school.mp3	one-shot — bell rings on Ch2 pass
mogging_sfx.mp3	one-shot — BRAINMOGGED reveal hit (5.75s mark)
mirror_theme.mp3	mirror scene background (sad piano)
gigachad_theme.mp3	skyline finale + chad-ending credits

Backgrounds (game/images/)

10 jpgs, all 16:9. See BACKGROUNDS.md for the per-scene mapping and recommended replacement specs.

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Notable design choices

• Custom flashcard study screen — Ch2's vocab "study session" is a 5×2 grid of cards you flip individually, not a 49-click dialogue slog.
• Pinned-question quiz screen — the word you're being tested on stays visible on top of the answer buttons. No more "wait, what was the question?"
• Timed quiz — 105 seconds total (matches the music track). Buzzer at 10s remaining, auto-submit at 0.
• Music-synced cinematics — the skyline finale auto-times text reveals to specific positions in the gigachad theme so the drop lands on "I will mog the world." regardless of clicking speed.
• Bullying flashback — Ch2 mirror scene flashes three real-photo bg's mid-monologue.
• Persistent progress — chapter select unlocks chapters as you complete them. Saved across sessions.
• Bee Movie credits — the full 1,363-line Bee Movie script scrolls past after the cast. Skippable, but it's there.

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Credits

• Development & writing: Tarzerk & Cebolla
• Engine: Ren'Py by Tom "PyTom" Rothamel
• GUI scaffolding: adapted from the the_question sample project bundled with the Ren'Py SDK
• Bonus credits filler: the Bee Movie (Dreamworks, 2007)

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License

All original code and writing in this project is © 2026 Tarzerk & Cebolla. The bundled Bee Movie script is included under fair-use parody / homage and is © Dreamworks. Ren'Py and the_question template assets are under their original licenses (MIT-equivalent for Ren'Py; freely distributable for the template).