The Inn Between Review: A Catboy Inn You’re Buying on Credit

By Central Nguyen

The Inn Between is a boys’ love fantasy visual novel by Cats on a Lilypad Studios, published with Two and a Half Studios, per the Steam page. It entered Early Access on Steam on September 1, 2026, and on itch.io on September 2, according to the developer’s devlog, after years of fans asking if it was dead. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux only, with no Android or iOS build. Itch.io lists it at $14.99; Steam runs a 10% launch discount to $13.49 through September 7.

My verdict after the free demo and the launch notes: $15 buys a long, handsome common route plus a dated IOU for the romance, which arrives in chapters over the next year or more. That’s a fair trade if you like backing projects mid-build and can wait for the payoff. If you want a finished dating sim on your phone tonight, this isn’t it, and no APK changes that.

What is The Inn Between game about?

The Inn Between game follows Myka Riley, a university student who lost his memory, and any trace of his family, in a childhood accident. One phone call pulls him into the Magnus Inn, where gods and ghosts are the regulars. Early Access covers the whole common route: nine chapters, three endings, and 100,000-plus words, per the devlog and store page (which disagree slightly, 120k versus 100k).

The romance pitch didn’t hook me; Myka’s sketchbook did. It’s full of creatures he’s shown no one, and I read those drawings as the real mystery. I kept a notebook like that as a kid, minus the monsters, so the setup hit harder than expected.

Who are the routes, and how adult is it?

Myka can pursue Leon, a childhood friend and current roommate who’s badly allergic to cats; Emrys, a flirtatious cat god who cooks and avoids clothes; and Solas, a fallen god unusually fixated on Myka. None are in the build yet. The finished game will be 18+, per the dev’s replies on itch.io.

Emrys stole the demo. Leon grew on me over the in-game texts, though his replies once crawled in on a timer I couldn’t skip; the devlog says the phone is now player-controlled. Solas I trust least; brooding fallen gods live or die on payoff, which Early Access can’t sell yet. Order is Emrys, Leon, Solas; Emrys Part One is targeted for November 1 (Steam) and November 2 (itch.io), per the devlog.

Is there a The Inn Between APK for Android or iOS?

No. There’s no official The Inn Between APK, Android build, or iOS build; both stores list Windows, macOS, and Linux only. An Android demo once existed, but a January 2022 devlog marked it temporarily unavailable; it never returned. Anything sold as The Inn Between Android or The Inn Between iOS is that old demo repackaged at best, malware at worst.

I get it; text-heavy visual novels belong on a phone in bed. Still, don’t sideload anything. A Steam Deck (Steam lists SteamOS and Linux specs) is the nearest thing to The Inn Between mobile today. Run this checklist:

1. Buy from itch.io or Steam only, the two stores the dev links.
2. Treat any free APK as fake: the game costs $14.99, and no Android build exists.
3. Check the size: real builds run about 2 GB each on itch.io; a 60 MB file is bait.
4. Never grant an unknown app SMS, accessibility, or install permissions.

Is The Inn Between worth $15 in Early Access?

Yes, if you’re buying a common route and a roadmap, not a finished romance. For $14.99 you get 100,000-plus words and three endings; the romance chapters are a year-plus away by Steam’s own 1 to 1.5 year estimate.

Don’t buy The Inn Between yet if you’re here for one specific boy (Solas fans hold the longest IOU) or if camera drift bothers you; the demo’s first room had me staring at a wall until my stomach settled.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Accessibility most tiny Ren’Py teams skip: Open Dyslexic font and a panning toggle, per the devlog (zoom cinematics still play).
• Art by XianJin, a no-generative-AI tag on itch.io, and a 4.4/5 rating there from 99 votes.
• More words than many finished BL novels for lunch money.

Cons:

• No routes yet; you’re pre-ordering the part people want.
• English only, per Steam, with a Portuguese request unanswered in comments.
• The dev once targeted late 2023 in itch.io replies; treat the roadmap as hope, not contract.

FAQ

Is The Inn Between free?

Only the demo, which runs five chapters at roughly 50,000 words per the devlog. The Early Access build costs $14.99 on itch.io and Steam, and the dev quoted $24.99 for the finished game in older itch.io replies. I’d play the demo first.

Does it run on Android or iOS?

Not officially, and I wouldn’t hold my breath. Both store pages list Windows, macOS, and Linux, and the only Android build was a demo pulled in January 2022 per the devlog. Any The Inn Between mobile download elsewhere is a security risk.

How long is the Early Access build?

Itch.io lists the average session as a few hours, but that’s per sitting; the build is nine chapters and 100,000-plus words, per the devlog. I’d budget a full weekend rather than one evening, especially if you want all three endings, not just one.

Is The Inn Between 18+?

The demo is rated 17+, and the dev says the finished game will be 18+ after a Kickstarter stretch goal added explicit scenes, per their itch.io replies. Steam’s content notes mention swearing, fantasy violence and injury, and implied nudity. Adults only, then.

Can I rename the protagonist?

No. The dev confirmed in the itch.io comments that Myka stays Myka, and there’s no plan to add a name field. I like the choice; The Inn Between is easier to write well with a fixed name than with a blank self-insert.

DOWNLOAD LINK

Choose the appropriate version for your device.