The concept is based entirely on a single-page ◊ omake by doujinshi artist RAITA (aka the character designer for Valkyria Chronicles). If you are curious about the title, 'Katawa' is actually a Japanese word meaning 'imperfect' or literally, 'one wheel' (not a polite word to use, it has about the same connotations as 'crippled.' See Intentionally Awkward Title below). Sounds like your average Dating Sim full of cliches, right? Well, you may indeed see a lot of cliches in this game, but you will not be seeing them the way you usually do. Despite his initial feelings of alienation and difficulty fitting in, Hisao comes to befriend his new classmates while pursuing a romantic relationship with one of the five girls he has class with. Hisao Nakai, an ordinary teenager living an ordinary life, has it turned upside down when a congenital heart defect forces him to attend a new school after a long stay in the hospital. It's also an eroge, though the explicit content is a small part of the overall game and can be disabled if the player so chooses.

Katawa Shoujo ( かたわ少女, translated as 'Cripple Girls') is an English-language Bishoujo Game Visual Novel developed by 4 Leaf Studios using the Ren'Py engine.