Endings Explained

Spoiler warning: this page discusses both endings in terms of structure and meaning. It avoids describing the final reveal line by line, but it assumes you’ve played at least once.

The game’s own Steam news once asked a simple question: there is more than one ending, so which one is the better one? The answer is less obvious than the achievement names suggest.

The Endings at a Glance

Infinite Loop Detected

This is the ending you get by doing everything “right.” You hold her hand, choose the perfect dress and sync the heartbeats. The game rewards you with a conclusion that looks like the romance it advertised. Reviewers noted the irony: the bad ending is actually the happier of the two.

Why it’s the “bad” one

In programming, an infinite loop is code that repeats forever and never reaches an exit. The name tells you what this ending really is: a cycle with no resolution. By passing every test, you’ve helped the creator repeat his own story to himself, the version where everything works out. Nothing is learned and nothing changes. The store description’s warning that not every ending feels like an ending fits this one well.

The final screen

This ending also hides something. Stay on the final screen and a modem-like noise plays. It is the starting point of the Oxytocin puzzle, which reveals a secret message. See the Oxytocin guide.

Return true

This is the ending you reach by deliberately failing every love test. The cute presentation breaks down: pastel colors give way to black and blood-red, charming details become distorted, and the soundtrack turns heavy. Critics described it as the moment the game stops being a love letter and becomes horror.

Why it’s the “good” one

In code, returning true means a check has passed and a function has finished. This ending actually reaches an exit. It’s “good” not because it’s happy (it isn’t) but because it’s honest. By refusing to play along, you let the story show what the creator’s version was hiding. The quotation marks around “good” in the achievement description are the game admitting the word doesn’t quite fit.

What it reframes

Once you’ve seen it, the first run reads differently. The diary notes, the tests and even the publisher’s framing take on a new weight. Several reviewers described being caught by an assumption they didn’t realize they were making. That’s the design working as intended.

The Refusal: A Third “Ending”

At the very start, the game asks whether you are Alice Print. Answer no, and you get a short, funny response and the game won’t let you continue. One reviewer called it “ending one, technically.” Refusing once unlocks Honesty; refusing three times unlocks Too much honesty. Both are covered in the 100% Achievement Guide.

It’s played for laughs, but it matters. The game only accepts one answer. It can’t continue unless you agree to be the person it was made for. That’s a small preview of the theme the true ending brings into focus.

So Which Ending Is Better?

It depends on what you mean by better:

• If “better” means happier: Infinite Loop Detected. It’s the romance the creator wanted.
• If “better” means truer: Return true. It’s the only ending that breaks the loop and tells you what really happened.
• If “better” means the intended experience: both, in order. The first ending exists to be reinterpreted by the second.

Our take: the true ending is the one that gives the game its purpose, but it only lands because you saw the first ending first. Our overall verdict on the game, from story to soundtrack, is in the detailed review on our home page.

Order Matters

The game is designed for this sequence:

1. First run: pass the tests, reach Infinite Loop Detected (see the Full Walkthrough).
2. The publisher returns and points you toward another way to play.
3. Second run: fail the tests, reach Return true.
4. Optional: read the trash bin notes and solve the secret message for the final layer.

What to Compare Between the Two Runs

The endings are most rewarding when you look at them side by side. If you replay, focus on these differences:

Seeing the same story told twice, once as the creator wanted and once as it was, is the core of the experience. That’s why the game only works if you play it more than once.

1. Are there only two endings? There are two main endings plus the refusal outcome, and hidden content in the trash bin that extends the story.
2. Does the refusal change which ending I get? No. It’s a separate branch at the start, tied to its own achievements.
3. Where can I read the full story interpretation? See Story Explained and Themes Explained.