8/10 (for the current build, with high hopes for the full release)

Each action—talking to a villager, moving between zones, sleeping—advances time. You have three days. After that, a horrific "Void Event" occurs, and you wake up back at Day 1, keeping only your memories and your accumulated "Corruption Points" (CP).

Just be patient through Loop 1. The corruption doesn't happen overnight. It takes cycles.

Version 0.4.5 adds three new "Fate Nodes"—specific time/location events that dramatically alter the mid-game. Without spoilers, the new route involving the is hauntingly written. The "Corruption" Question Let’s address the title. This is an adult game, and the "corruption" is both mechanical and narrative. As your CP rises, dialogue options change. You can coerce, manipulate, or succumb. The game is explicit about its themes, but what surprised me is the lack of judgment. Unlike many games in the genre, Cycle of Corruption doesn't frame the "pure" path as the good path and the corrupt path as the evil path. Sometimes, being "corrupt" is the only way to get the information needed to save a different character.

The genius is that failing is part of the progression. On Loop 1, you’re helpless. On Loop 5, you know where the hidden key is. On Loop 10, you realize you can sacrifice the blacksmith to save the apothecary. The cycle is the character progression, not just XP bars.