DERE EVIL .EXE

Nominally a masocore fantasy platformer in which the player controls a knight character, Knightly, on a quest to save a princess, the game's rules are skewed, and the player is soon warned not to trust the game's developer messages or its assistant AI, AIDE (Artificial Intelligence for Dere Exe). The game received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the story, but were split on whether the gameplay was of high quality. A sequel to the game DERE Vengeance was released on September 19th, 2023.

• Developer — Darius Immanuel Guerrero • Publisher — AppSir Games • Platforms — Android, iOS, Windows • Genre — Masocore platform, horror game • Modes — Single-player • Released — May 29, 2018 • Title — DERE EVIL EXE

Developer Darius Guerrero is based in the Philippines. initially became a video game developer because his girlfriend, Daphne Ayala, enjoyed games and he wanted to surprise her with a game in which she was the main character. They began making games together, deciding to make a series of interconnected games with a deep story based on conspiracy theories, but simple gameplay, one of which was DERE EVIL EXE. The inspiration for the game came from the Polybius urban legend about a 1981 arcade game used for government experiments, as well as an obscure website, Annie's Road. The game's difficulty emerged from the desire to troll people who were playtesting. Guerrero called the biggest challenge testing the game himself due to its high difficulty. He said that he was pleased at the game's reception and expected to continue developing games for "decades".

In 2020, DERE EVIL EXE received an endless runner sequel, HopBound, set in the same universe.