STEINS;GATE: Linear Bounded Phenogram Ten lab members, ten timelines
Ten short stories from the rest of the Future Gadget Lab, instead of Okabe. If you finished STEINS;GATE and miss the cast, this is more time with them: their inner thoughts, alternate worldlines, quiet moments and what-ifs.
Is STEINS;GATE: Linear Bounded Phenogram worth it?
STEINS;GATE: Linear Bounded Phenogram is worth it if…
- you finished STEINS;GATE and want more time with the lab members
- you like visual novels that are mostly reading, with short self-contained stories
- you enjoy seeing familiar events retold from another character's head
Screenshots
Ten stories, ten lab members
The main game stayed with Okabe Rintaro. This one hands the narration to everyone else, with 10 stories that follow a different lab member each time. You read their version of familiar events and glimpse what they were thinking while it happened.
Each chapter sits on its own worldline, shown on a small divergence readout when you pick it. Some stay close to the original story, others spin off into what-if paths that never happened there. You spend most of your time reading dialogue and narration over illustrated scenes, with the odd text reply to send.
Quieter Steins;Gate, same science
Expect less lab chaos and time-travel tension than the main story, and more reflection. One chapter fills in why a character acted the way they did, another replays a sad Alpha Attractor Field stretch from the other side of the table, another is light and everyday.
The tone shifts a lot between chapters, from serious to soft to strange, and the science, anime art and music stay in the same register as before. It reads best as an epilogue shelf: short 2-3 hour pieces you pick up when you want one more evening in Akihabara with people you already know.
Good to know?
Do you need to know STEINS;GATE first?
Yes. The stories assume you know the cast, their relationships and what happened in the main plot, including terms like worldlines and attractor fields. Without that, the emotional payoffs and alternate outcomes will not land. Play the main STEINS;GATE first, then treat this as extra chapters.
How is it structured to read?
As a set of independent chapters, each centered on one character and set at a different point relative to the original. You unlock them in a fixed order rather than picking freely, and each opens with its worldline number. Chapters closer to 0 divergence sit nearest the main story; the stranger numbers wander further out.
Does it play like the main visual novel?
Mostly reading, with illustrated scenes, character sprites, voice acting and music. There are far fewer decisions than a branching route-based novel, and some chapters are almost linear. There is an auto-play mode and fast-forward for skipping text you have already seen, which suits short-story reading.
