#there IS a demo. but i actually recommend not playing it first. this will make things easier in the long run

[ajdrawshq]

Is there any non-spoilery way you could talk about how isat isn't just about timeloops? because like I do want to check the game out eventually for sure if only because indie fun times but I'm busy for a while before I get the time and tbh I'm just not as curious because I don't know how it's gonna break that formula (also ngl no colors makes me lose 50% interest because I like. looking at colors. lots.)

UHM OK WELL UM. hm. how DO i do this without spoiling anything. im very not good at describing things especially things i Really enjoy so how do i put this . hold on i might need to look at some reviews so i know how to words. ok

as a disclaimer i havent fully interacted with a lot of (if any??) media that has timeloops so i cant say for certain what it does differently from similar media that makes it stand out from others. at the same time ive never seen something that is so directly About Timeloops in this way even if i consider stuff ive heard about in passing but i could be wrong (madoka n utena come to mind ?). ill try to think abt the things that arent Just timeloop related plus the stuff u mentioned and hope that helps it feel more interesting and less generic?

i think one of the main things i can say is that it Really makes you feel what the protagonist is feeling. more than anything ive ever watched or played or whatever . and thats saying a LOT given how much i empathize with protags in games. and its not even just an empathy thing here. both the story progression and the gameplay work in such a way that you experience pretty much everything the same way they do, while still having their own personal stuff u can learn about of course

on that note tho. that is actually something to be careful of for a few reasons. i know ur generally pretty good with darker content so i doubt thatll be a problem for u here (its not that bad tbh but there is IS a warning when u open the game/look at the steam page and it aint lying) but. due to the nature of timeloops. it CAN get tiring and this is very much intended. and this helps a lot w the story and themes in a way that its. like. think how kh days does repetition on purpose. its a lot like that (although i had way easier of a time getting thru isat than days? i cant remember how u feel abt days' gameplay but i think it was positive ? either way getting thru isat was way more bearable than days imo). it does do a good job at balancing this with a couple mechanics that mean u dont have to repeat everything all the time (i had like. Very few actual full loops by the time i finished) and theres ALWAYS new things happening, even if ur super thorough with everything. its pretty easy to do things at whatever pace u feel like and if u wanna focus on the main story only to make it easier it wouldnt take too much away from the experience (tho i do encourage talking to the npcs at least a few times), and theres always a goal to work towards. also dialogue skipping and the banana peel are ur best friends

sort of adding onto that. it really, really helps that u are sharing the experience with the protagonist. not only does that help u relate to them (even if u dont share as many traits w them as i do akvdjsn) but theyre probably the most beloved character in the game and for good reason!! its really fun to see their interactions with the rest of the main cast and the npcs, and watch them all develop in different ways throughout the game. and my goodness all of the characters are beautifully written - at first ur kinda thinking ok its a ragtag group of sillies in an rpg whats new. but their personalities and relationships and hobbies and problems and everything about them is just so well done.. they feel so natural. human even. every conversation feels real to me. one of the main themes of the game is the concept of change, and each of them represent and approach it differently, both positively and negatively. its hard not to fall in love with them as individuals and as a group because they just have so much going on, even the ones i didnt expect to like at all!!

the worldbuilding is also a fun spin on fantasy rpg worlds. it mostly revolves around the area u play in bc well. of course it does. but its vv interesting to learn about all the different cultures within the world and how they interact with and build on the themes of the game. theres all sorts of queer stuff going on and its all handled like a love letter to people who relate, and i can feel it even with what i dont relate to at all!! the way "magic" works and the ways people use it in battle and everyday life is super cool too, makes the whole thing feel a lot more believable and realistic :3 i dont wanna talk abt any specifics bc its more fun to learn abt this stuff ingame

OH AND THE TEXT.. EFFECTS?.. idk what to call that but the way dialogue (both internal and external) is written and programmed is funky as hell (affectionate). it was weird at first bc oftentimes (mostly for humor) its like. almost the way i type actually?? which feels strange in a legit game but it Works. it works so well and adds tone and vibes and a Voice in a way u usually cant get in a game without any voice acting. deltarune is also good at that but this one does it differently enough for me to consider it unique

HAVE I MENTIONED THE ART STYLE i love the art style . its so charming and expressive especially all the talking sprites n battle portraits. simultaneously silly n adorable while fully capable of being serious. and creepy. anyway look at the sillies i love them n their designs dearly (especially Siffrin (1st on the left) and Mirabelle (2nd on the left))

also on that note, the lack of colors....... i both totally understand being put off by that (i also love looking at colors n this part made me feel weird abt it when i was thinking abt getting it at first) and personally enjoy it? without saying anything spoilery (bc its really not), its just another part of the worldbuilding and themes that i now find really fun :3 should be noted that i usually have an anti blue light filter so it mightve been easier to look at w the yellowish tint going on. maybe it even looks better that way ? kinda reminded me of old films now that i think abt it.. neat!!

as a last thing i couldnt quite insert somewhere else. it is equal parts a comedy and a tragedy, and it is so, so effective at accomplishing this. the humor is fantastic and adds to the games' and characters' personality, every tragic moment is . for lack of a better word or phrase. absolutely fucking delicious. and i adore how well it can shift from one to the other gradually or in an instant, or just be both at once!!!! yippee!!!!!!!

aaand thats all i can say. i have no idea if that cleared anything up BUT i encourage u to give it a try bc i do think youd like it in the end. u probably wouldnt finish it as fast as i did but that might be a good thing jfbskndj but yeah!!!! in stars and time!!!!!! its good and i love it!!!!!!!!

[bonefall]

This is unrelated to the blog's subject, but I'm SUPER hyped about this upcoming indie game called Critter Cove and I've got some super cool news; I got to give the devs some critter designs to show up as Townies you can invite to live in your town!

This isn't even all of them-- in total I've made well over 40 designs that they're gonna pick and choose from. These ones are just some of my favorites.

This character creator is CRAZY good. It's hard to find animals you can't make. Cow, squid, human, raptor, duck, I was even able to make a half-decent Anomalocaris up there. The ones that are difficult to make, like giraffes, horses, and insects, are actually planned to be added in soon.

Critter Cove plays like a mix between Animal Crossing and Subnautica. You sail around to collect scrap from the remains of sunken ruins, rebuild a rundown town on a polluted island, and make it appealing for both residents and visitors. There's also a plan to add a museum feature, dozens of islands, fishing mechanics, and even co-op in the future.

(but co-op will only come if the game's enough of a hit, which is why I'm shamelessly plugging it lmaoo)

It's launching into Early Access on September 10th, but it's got a VERY generous free demo which is only supposed to be "the first two hours" of the game...

...and I'm clocking 61.

(yes everyone this is part of the reason why ive been quiet lately. its a good game, man. i cant help it. im going coconuts.)

Progression stops when you re-build the cafe, but you can keep playing, sailing around, running quests, and doing some simple gardening. Your progress rolls over into Early Access too, so you don't have to worry about losing your townies, clothes, structures, etc.

For all my designs I've got a free key, but it's gonna be launching somewhere in the 20 - 30 USD price range. I can't recommend the demo enough, but even just wishlisting it on Steam boosts their metrics and gets them in front of more people!

[slitherpunk]

games i liked in 2023 (And Other)

I like games ! You know that ?! and I played a lot 2023! and I liked a lot :). They aren't in any specific order, it's just a little highlight of games that stood out to me this year. I've attempted to write a few thoughts on each so I hope take a look. I wrote playtimes for some also but that is very subjective.

-Ones that actually came out 2023-

Lunacid https://store.steampowered.com/app/1745510/Lunacid/ I think I mentioned enjoying this in 2022 but it officially released so I can say it was one of my favorite games in 2023 :3! I like to feel around this game's walls for secrets. I like the npcs that are full of hope and whimsy despite the bleakness of its world. Chill and occasionally spooky first person dungeon crawling around moody caverns and ruins varying from underground forests to vampire castles and blood lake. (Blood lake!!!! Lake of blood!!! Big creature there.) Lots of fun weapons and spells to find, I like the one that lets you turn blood into coffins.

~20 hours

Orbo's Odyssey https://feverdreamjohnny.itch.io/orbos-odyssey If you played the massively popular demo for "Peeb Adventures" by feverdreamjohnny then you know that Johnny makes some fun and funny games and this is certainly one of them. speedy and satisfying platforming! funny dracula moments! short and sweet.

~2 hours

A Walk in the Woods https://mooncaller.itch.io/a-walk-in-the-woods Quaint little GBStudio game :) Made by some friends of mine for a jam :) It's cute I like it. There's minigames where you catch bugs and birdwatch.

~30 minutes long

Undertale Yellow https://gamejolt.com/games/UndertaleYellow/136925 I've only completed the pacifist run and checked out a neutral run so far. as the title somewhat implies, this is a prequel to Undertale where you play as the fallen human who had the yellow colored soul. This Undertale fangame has a lot of charm!!! A lot of battles really feel like they could have been in the original, with quite a bit of extra flair in some circumstances.

~10 hours

vs really cool bird https://bobacupcake.itch.io/vs-really-cool-bird you know that really cool bird that rob bobacupcake made well you can fight it in undertale and it's really fun. yeah two undertale fangames. . . wat of it …

~30 minutes

Misericorde: Volume One https://xeecee.itch.io/misericorde I wont lie the main draw for me into this was cute anime nuns I sure didn't know a whole lot else about it when I dug into it. But it's (the first part of) a VN murder mystery! And I enjoyed it a whole lot. All the characters are memorable and I really enjoy how all of them have differentiating designs. The protagonist is so failgirl. She sucks so much and I love her. I'm very intrigued by the mechanics of the game's world, it clues you in near the beginning to expect something a bit supernatural/fantastical, which gives you (and later the protagonist) a curiosity about what's real and what isn't. The music is all very impressive too, with the ost reaching past 100 tracks varying through post-rock, folk, drum & bass, and others. (Remembering when the track "Scandal" played and my friends and I took a moment to be like- okay hang on this track pwns.) Big fan of its haunting locals and how the aesthetic of the game fits them well. Also the humor is a lot of fun, and I love all the moments getting to know the different characters. Very excited to see the eventual continuation of this.

~12 hours

Absolutely Perfect Specimen https://chambersoft.itch.io/absolutely-perfect-specimen It seems like a lot of people are craving toxic horror yuri lately. Here's a recommendation. It's a VN about the android maid "Pan" and the mad scientist girl who created her. Horrifying & gut wrenching & largely about having other people define you. The art and music is haunting & poignant and matches the ever increasing feeling of dread throughout. It's yuri with the chunks. Peak robotgirl horror for those who can stomach it.

~90 minutes

Wordhopper https://kokoscript.itch.io/wordhopper Very quaint word search type puzzle game for ms dos! I think its style is very slick and that's pretty impressive to see. Chill game with nice vibes and eyecandy visuals. also it was so cool to have played this and then ended up seeing the dev's booth at Vintage Computer Festival Midwest. I was like omg woah I just played this.

~bunny

Bossgame https://lilyv.itch.io/bossgame This game is yuriful as f*ck. Delightful humor and fun character dynamics! A simple-to-understand-difficult-to-master boss rush battle system that makes you satisfied to get it right, and enticing to get just a little farther if you get it wrong. There's a lot of detail and charm to this game's menus and dialogues and win screens, I remember noticing that once you beat a boss there would be some marquee text that would pass by with some prose on it. I love how it balances its silly moments with its heartfelt moments and its high octane moments. I like the character development and revelations had throughout the plot. & I like how good the protagonists are for each other :) It's very sweet. It's hype as hell. if you want some boss rush action paired well with that sweet sweet girl's love, you *will* play this game.

~5 hours

Elly's Adventure https://bikwins.itch.io/ellys-adventure Very cute and witchy!! You are the little witch girl "Elly" on an adventure to get your toys back!! Feels like a pretty authentic gameboy type experience, it takes a lot of design cues from Kirby's adventure and the like. I am a big fan of how playful it feels.

~1 hour

Nour https://store.steampowered.com/app/1141050/Nour_Play_with_Your_Food/ This was a treat for me, but I understand that not everybody is going to get it. It's a game where you play with food(and food accessories). And that's it. It knows what it was going for. I think a lot of people were expecting something else for some reason. It's a cute little toy game and I felt satisfied with my time with it.

~food

Hi-Fi Rush https://store.steampowered.com/app/1817230/HiFi_RUSH/ Do I have to say this game is super fun? It's a big one everybody probably already knows it. This game's dopey humor made me laugh a lot and I'm not afraid to admit it.

~12 hours

WHISKEY.ST2007S https://bonicle.itch.io/whiskey-st2007nes One of the last games I played in the year because it released super last minute. Does anybody else get a rush when running a shopping cart down the parking lot? This emulates that feeling. Short game where you collect whisky stones in the whisky stone dimension because you forgot to go christmas shopping until the very last minute. it rules. It's very short you can go play it right now & get a highscore.

~5 minutes

re:curse https://devpalmer.itch.io/re-curse Discovered this one near the very end of the year also. Fun little rpg maker horror/humor game about a weird scientist lady, her butch, and an evil clown computer virus that figured out how to warp reality. I got a kick out of it. and also enjoyed digging through the game's files, which was actively encouraged by the dev, which I thought was very fun.

~90 minutes

-Didn't technically get to until 2024 but released last year-

SWOLLEN TO BURSTING UNTIL I AM DISAPPEARING ON PURPOSE https://1207.itch.io/swollen-to-bursting-until-i-am-disappearing-on-purpose People love to dunk on a lot of indie rpgs for being "quirky Earthbound inspired and about depression" or whatever. Earthbound's great. If people can nail the kind of humor and absurdity it likes to pull off while also balancing difficult topics I think that deserves a high mark. SWOLLEN TO BURSTING was fun. Bizarre and charming places to explore & distressing secrets to find. I like how it blends meander-around-the-town gameplay with Yume Nikki sort of exploration and effects. Also I'm a big fan of the music. I like how it has the lofi sound which matches the early 3d look of the game.

~6 hours

HalOPE https://starbage.itch.io/halope Another for the fans of sweet little rpg maker games that have a lot of heart. HalOPE is about an incomplete little angel wondering through worlds. Each has a theme, usually to do with an emotion or feeling, and they do well at evoking that feeling as well as its antithesis. a lot of the music is very homey and charming at moments and unnerving at others, sometimes lonely, all doing well in their corresponding chapters to further the feeling of its specified theme. There are so many delightful characters and designs in this & I found myself feeling really attached to their tiny little stories. The narrative at the core of it all hit me. If I may be vulnerable, I cried a whole lot at various moments in this game. It was really cathartic. I feel very excited for people to experience this game.

~5 hours

-Favs I finally got around to that didn't come out 2023-

An Outcry https://quinnk.itch.io/an-outcry Kind of sad it took me so long to get to this one, but glad it meant I got to play the "definitive" updated version of it. Apartment wandering RPG maker horror. Bum smokes from your neighbors and use them to save the game. I wish I could unwrap a lot more of what I like about this game than I can without spoiling too much. But if I could, I'd probably go on for too long. Let me attempt to be succinct & not giving too much away. You can tell pretty early on that An Outcry is about taking action when necessary & not turning a blind eye. What it explores about player vs protagonist agency is very fascinating to me as well, and I enjoyed learning about the inspirations for why the game's narrative works the way it does. The character Anne is such a sweetie and I love her a whole lot. This game has a very tangible feeling, this apartment complex is dirty and crumby, it smells of smoke, and there's a surrounding desperation you can feel.

~5 hours

Pigments https://punkcake.itch.io/pigments Honestly I had gotten this game in a bundle and while I was playing it I hadn't looked at the name and I just kept calling it FRUIT. On call with my friends I'd be like "hey im gonna play more FRUIT". I straight up didn't read the title screen. But it's called Pigments. You play as a fruit and you try to paint the whole floor and not get sliced by buzzsaws. Fun little arcade type game.

~fruit

Bridge, October 3rd https://lowpolis.itch.io/bridge-october-3rd Very short vignette. I like it. It's what it says it is. I'm not going to overexplain.

~like a minute

-Other Games I Want To Mention-

Pseudoregalia https://store.steampowered.com/app/2365810/Pseudoregalia/ I think a lot of people might have already known this one but I felt like it was a pretty fun 3d platformer. There were a few issues I had with it (boss fight at the beginning was frustrating, and I got lost a lot [but it looks like there's been a map patch by now, so, perhaps for some that is a fix]). I enjoyed it but sure felt weird that the only accessibility option was to give the protagonist pants. What kind of joke is that?

~5 hours

Mushroom Musume https://mortallymoonstruckgames.itch.io/mushroom-musume (Disclaimer, this game is still early access, but I saw a lot of people talking about it last year. SO I will mention here?) Haven't played much of this yet, but I have enjoyed what I played so far!! As of writing I've gone through 6 playthroughs, I feel like I've hardly scratched the surface and I've been so impressed by its depth. It's very charming, you never know what sorts of fairytale shenanigans are going to happen, and it's very cool to see how your different stats will affect things. It very much plays out like a roguelike vn. Which is not the sort of thing you may expect to make much sense but it pulls this off well. Also all the mushroom girls are very cute and I love them very much. I hope the sad goopy one who had bugs in her skin rests in peace.

~mushroom

Knuckle Sandwich https://andybrophy.itch.io/knuckle-sandwich -_- Hm. Where do I start with this one. I was pretty excited for this one since the demo and kickstarter in 2018. I felt like the demo was a hell of a hook that got me curious & horrified. As time went on, it seemed to be shaping up into something really cool. turn based combat with action commands and wario-ware-type microgames?? with a banging soundtrack?? like, count me in!! Then it released and well, the gameplay, art, music all delivered. It was very fun and engaging in those aspects. But the story… oh it just devolves into disappointing nonsensical randomness. The whole hook at the beginning seemed to be completely thrown away for the wild goose chase plot that ensues, leaving you to wonder if it was ever going to be relevant again. It felt like it had no idea what it was trying to say or do. It disappointed me that a game that has so much good in so much else about it gets brought down so much for me by this plot.

~12 hours

Rhythm Doctor https://store.steampowered.com/app/774181/Rhythm_Doctor/ (Putting this one in mentions because it is early access.) I really enjoyed the act 5 release. When I first saw this game, I kind of shrugged it off, thinking "that base mechanic doesn't seem like it will last". I thought it was basically just that one ghost shooting game from Rhythm Heaven which I Hate. Well let's just say I am now seeking penitence for my previous transgressions. It's really fun. There's a lot more to it that I didn't know when I first took a look. Also, consistently amazed by people's custom levels, I had no idea that its level editor allows people to do so much in it, I look at some levels and think "This editor seems as complex as an industry standard video editor". I'm looking forward to what they're planning next, very curious how they could possibly one-up the last update.

~rhythm

El Paso Elsewhere https://strangescaffold.itch.io/el-paso-elsewhere This was really fun & funny so far but unfortunately I had been encountering an issue with a certain level where the game would crash. I reported the issue, got a response, and there has been an update since then so I think there's a possibility that it got fixed but I have not tried yet. I would like to return to this sometime but having to relearn controls midway through is always daunting to me.

~?

-Things that looked good but didn't get around to-

Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood https://store.steampowered.com/app/1340480/The_Cosmic_Wheel_Sisterhood/ Still don't know a whole lot about this. But there are witches, and I like witches.

Casette Beasts https://store.steampowered.com/app/1321440/Cassette_Beasts/ I haven't felt thrilled about Pokémon lately. I know a lot of people seemed to really enjoy this little monster-collecting-rpg. The style is appealing to me as a die-hard gen 5 fan. I started playing it but haven't set aside the dedicated time for it yet, but I'm excited to dig in more when I do.

Little Goody Two Shoes https://store.steampowered.com/app/1812370/Little_Goody_Two_Shoes/ Started watching a friend play this, and I'm certainly curious.. Some sort of horror fairytale but also there's yuri? Yum. Enjoyed the style and animation in the nightmare segments that I saw.

Venba https://store.steampowered.com/app/1491670/Venba/ I've picked this up a while ago but still haven't gotten around to it, but I'm eager to, I've heard nothing but good things.

Goodbye Volcano High https://store.steampowered.com/app/1310330/Goodbye_Volcano_High/ I think there are gay dinosaurs in a band and it's going to be the apocalypse? I have also heard nothing but good things about this.

-Things I watched friends play-

Signalis https://store.steampowered.com/app/1262350/SIGNALIS/ This was a pretty big one. You probably already know it, right? Watched a friend play this and I missed various parts but I understood a solid bit of it. hey. robotgirls are always getting put in these fucked up situations. have you noticed this? one time i got really high and cried about it. it isn't fair

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk https://store.steampowered.com/app/1353230/Bomb_Rush_Cyberfunk/ This one was also probably big enough you don't need me to sing its praises. but it looked really neat. swag.

-Various Thoughts-

Lately I've been thinking more about design and narrative. I feel like I haven't been doing as much analysis as I should be when it comes to games. I want to dissect more what games are saying and figure out meaning. Also attempt to see how the mechanics aid in that. I feel like most of my own work is pretty abstract & random. I simply make what I like. While that's fun and all, I still want to improve in a lot of ways, especially in having more of a theme or message. Figuring out how other games accomplish this is obviously a good step toward this.

If you saw games here that interest you I highly urge you to take a look, many are pretty short, and I pretty explicitly wanted to highlight some smaller titles. If you know me you know I like to uplift small games. (Save for the occasional big game, but that's rare these days) I think it's healthy for you to play and support independently developed & published works. I don't want to ramble too much this time about why that's important, but I hope that you might have found something you may enjoy here and if not then I encourage you to find small stuff that you would like. And I would like to encourage everybody to share their findings as well! Little games need our help to be seen and talked about! They don't have the budgets the big ones do for advertising, and advertising on your own is a whole ton of work. If you like something, spread the word! I'm sure the developers would very much appreciate that.

[allieebobo]

Do you have any if recommendation?

Ooh! I have really, really bad memory(!!) but these are current faves that I have played/replayed recently that I can think of. A lot of the authors are also THE BEST HUMAN BEINGS EVER. So, double recommendation.

I probably missed a bunch out, so take this as a non-exhaustive list! In no particular order:

(Edit: Added some descriptions but yeah I got a little unhinged so I'm sorry nothing makes sense or if the quality of the write-up went down over time/did not actually give you any useful info)

WIPs with demos

Citadel, @bouncyballcitadel (I think of all the IFs on this list, this one makes me sweat the most. And I've said it once and I'll say it again: the dialogue is so snappy and well-written, and characters are SO DAMNED LOVEABLE.)

Infamous, @infamous-if (I've been manifesting Band/Musician IFs for the longest time, and then this popped up! I've even played Choice of a Rockstar, that's how desperate I was... Anyway, this is legions better than that. Angsty ex routes are my kryptonite, and Seven is just. Inevitable.)

Defiled Hearts: The Barbarian, @defiledheartsblog (I went into this wanting something juicy and fun/historical—and it's all of those things, but I didn't expect it to be so damned funny, too. The ROs are all impeccable.)

Raiders of the Caravan and Apartment 3-3, @leftski-if (A'ight listen, fantasy slice-of-life is my fave genre, and these are IT. Like, everything I never knew I needed in my life, and SO cozy/wholesome, with a cast of characters that I want to befriend in real life.)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: An Affair of the Heart @doriana-gray-games (First off, the customization in this game is INSANE, and the branching too. I've replayed a couple of times and the little variations I discover each time just blows my mind. Secondly, it's so funny and written so well. Ngl I'm not a Sherlock fan but that's just testament to how amazing this IF is.)

When Life Gives You Lemons, @when-life-gives-you-lemonssss (Modern slice-of-life with an adorable kid, a bunch of hot ROs, CC. Hill's humor, what can I say?)

Golden @milaswriting (Really interesting world-building, one of the coolest fictional cities I've read in an IF, AND I'm obsessed with the ROs, in particular K de la Renta. Also Mila is such an awesome writer, I'm beyond excited for @beyondthegame.)

A Tale of Crowns @ataleofcrowns (This game is beautiful, polished, and SO exciting. Honestly, it looks like the kind of game created by a whole-ass game studio and would cost $50 to buy, it's that good. I really got swept up by this IF—probably played it all in one go.)

Rougi @rougi-if (Again, another game with scrumptious visuals/UI and also is just so well-crafted. I love the premise too, it's so original and fresh.)

Scout: An Apocalypse Story @anya-dev (Unfortunately this one might be on hiatus but I am/was really, really obsessed.)

Wayfarer @idrellegames (Love the game mechanics of this one, and the visuals. Probably controversial, but I like the D&D / random dice effect. And I also like the fact that it feels like an old-school RPG.)

Chop shop @losergames (The premise is all I needed to be sold, really—I'd always wanted to buy GTA as a kid but my parents were like NO WAY. Anyway, this IF did not disappoint, and let me live all my childhood dreams.)

Edit: AHH! How could I forget, one of my recent faves, Folksaga @folksaga-if (Lush atmospheric writing, super unique premise—norse mythology, plus I'm head over heels for Katla).

Completed IFs

Butterfly Soup 1 and 2 @brianna-lei (these are completed and I will never not promote them. Honestly the most adorable, wholesome, funny sports/coming-of-age IF I've read)

Elsinore: After Hamlet @lapinlunairegames (Insanely cool premise, insanely cool execution)

The Thick Table Tavern @manonamora-if (I love bar/tavern games, and this one actually lets you mix drinks! Instant fave.)

Other HGs/COGs I love: Slammed, Tin Star, Fallen Hero, If it pleases the court, A Player's Heart (these last two are so underrated, though I guess cause it's mainly wlw)

[himbeereule]

Орлёнок Demo Release

Finally, the demo is here! It's not exactly January anymore, but better late than never, right?

You can play it right here!

I also made a post on the CoG forums, if you want to check it out: Link

Features include:

Meeting your family! And getting bullied.

Getting executed!

Rising from the dead!

Celebrating life by slaughtering some rebels!

(Being extremely miserable!)

Feedback:

This is, quite obviously, a work in progress. It is made available so that you, the reader, can give feedback that improves the game.

So, while you can - and should - obviously tell me whatever you want, a specific list of what I need most in terms of feedback can be found here:

Language. English is not my first language (actually, not even my second one), and I mostly read non-fiction academic works when I read in English, so my writing is certainly not at the level it should be. If you have any concrete issues, please tell me, and I'll try to learn how it can be improved.

Spelling. I don't expect much in the way of outright errors, but I do know that I mix up British and American English all the time. The intended style is American English, so please point out spellings that are wrong in that regard.

Inconsistencies. There are a lot of variations between scenes, and I'd like to make the story as immersive as possible; so, if a phrasing, a character's behaviour etc. feel like they don't fit into the choices you previously made, please tell me. In detail, if possible, otherwise I won't be able to amend it.

Sensory descriptions. AuDHD makes my brain process sensations, including visual impressions, very differently, which means I often end up forgetting those exist. Please tell me about scenes that lack description in that regard. (My first grade elementary school report card called my writing 'efficient and devoid of feelings', and I'd very much like to move past that.)

Technical problems. The code should be pretty solid, but with how complicated it is, it'd be weird if there weren't at least some problems. If you find them, please try to include as much detail as possible when telling me about it. (CS Quicktest and Randomtest are not usable due to the complexity of the code, lol.)

You liking the story. I remain thoroughly convinced that I am a worthless person who isn't able to, nor deserves to create anything, and currently my only motivation to continue this project is derived from pure stubbornness. So, if you, for some reason, actually like this demo, please tell me. It won't change my mind about how bad I think it is, but it will force me to continue in order to avoid being even more of a disappointment.

Additions. If I like your idea, I'll probably add it right away; if I'm unsure, I'll do a poll. You can get me to do almost anything if you say you're sad if I don't do it.

Formatting. Although I try to playtest as much as possible, it's not that easy with how many variations there are, and in VS Code it's sometimes hard to see how well or badly readable text passages actually are.

CWs/TWs (v0.0.1):

Graphic violence and gore

Attempted sexual assault (against the player, avoidable, f!MC only; also against an NPC if massacre route is chosen (is dealt with quickly))

Suicide attempt (by the player, avoidable; f!MC only)

Loss of loved ones

Massacre of civilians and/or PoWs (avoidable)

General misery

(please let me know if you think this needs additions)

As of yet unfinished content:

Autistic variations do not exist yet for the latter part of the demo

Only one of three locations for taking a walk available for now

Tooltips are incomplete

Asexual is not available yet, as it requires a lot of additional scene variation text

Special (psychopath) routes are missing from some scenes as they were added late in development

Choices that are locked and marked as (WIP) are unfinished

Interaction routes for Semyon/Selena, Mikhail/Marina and Leon/Leah. They are top priority for the first set of updates

It is recommended that you play this with a stable state of mind. If you choose the suffering paths because it's relatable and/or as a coping strategy, please make sure you have support available and avoid triggering yourself too much.

The whole point of this game (apart from the dress-up part) is that, no matter how bad things get, you shouldn't stop fighting. It's your enemies who deserve destruction, not you.

Please keep in mind that I am both literally insane and pretty reasonable, so: if there is anything you find grossly offensive, don't assume I meant anything bad by it. Just explain to me why you think it shouldn't exist, and if I am convinced, I will amend it.

[maleyanderecafe]

Hello! I'm sorry if other people has already asked about this but I wanted to know what games would you recommend that has a fourth wall break like in the game yanchat? Because I've been craving them meta games :] thanks!

Hmm, fourth breaking walls? Kind of a fun concept, I think, though it depends on how it's executed. There are a couple considering that DDLC was a big hit and a lot of yandere creators often want to have a similar experience going in. I'm not sure all of these suggestions have Yanchat's level of fourth wall breaking, but I will do my best.

Sweet Dreams - this one is probably the closest in terms of what Yanchat is aiming for considering that when you actually reach the true ending, you can't actually get back to the start of the game unless you wipe your data. Pretty fun, albeit short. It's sister game, Missing also has some elements of this as well.

Picture Perfect Boyfriend - this one is made by @espoirduvide and is pretty fun all things considered. It plays as a match making type dating sim until the yandere can't take it anymore and starts to mess with what's going on in the game.

Love Me Dearly - has it for the real yandere, or at least what is implied. It's very different than most of the yandere games that I've played at least, but it is very fun. Don't give him the box, okay?

14 Days With You - I haven't played the recent demo update for this game, but supposedly, Ren does know that he's in the game and actually refuses to let you have a bad ending. I haven't seen too much file manipulation, but again, I need to finish the update first.

Duality - is one of those games I also need to play the update for at some point, but I do recall one of the endings being fourth wall breaking, with them speaking to the player about not being able to make up their mind.

Darling Duality - it has been a long time since I played this game, but I do believe there was a fourth wall break in this game. I have another ask relating to Melancholy's games, so I'll be replaying that one soon.

See Thru: Need A Friend? - at least the original has a couple of fourth wall breaking moments in it, with Friend talking directly to the player.

Perfect Love - Oh hey, that's my game. How did that get in there? The True/Perfect ending has elements of it, though to clarify it's more of a third wall break rather than a fourth wall break since Milo isn't aware of the player, just Eris throughout the other routes.

I feel like there are more games that have a fourth wall breaking element to it, but I can't think of any more that do. Hopefully this is something that helps with your thirst of fourth wall/ third wall breaking games. I think that while it can be a fun concept, it needs to be executed well to make it work. Hopefully these are meta enough for you.

[munsons-melody]

baby, you’ll be famous

summary: your dad works at one of the biggest record labels in america. your boyfriend eddie has never pushed for you to give your father one of corroded coffins demos, but iron maiden just so happens to be on the lookout for a new opener on their world tour, and you know this is a once in a lifetime chance for him.

pairing: eddie munson x female!reader

warnings: established relationship, implications of sex

a/n: hey y’all! this is my first fanfic/imagine/thing, it’s not proofread but just something i’ve been thinking a lot about

recommended song: paparazzi by lady gaga

masterlist

i do not consent to having any of my works republished, translated, or posted to any other site except here. if you see my works anywhere but tumblr, it has been republished without my knowledge, consent, or permission.

——

Eddie knew his big break with corroded coffin was right around the corner, he just didn’t know that it was going to be because of you.

when you first started dating, you kept mum about yours dad’s profession, scared that Eddie would only use it to his advantage and you’d be left heartbroken.

but month after month of your blossoming relationship, you knew he would never take advantage of you, your relationship, or your dad.

slowly, you opened up to him about your dad being a top executive of one of the biggest record labels in America, and the shock on his face when you told him your dad was able to potentially sign him was a sight you would never forget.

he never pushed, however, for you to give your dad a demo of his band. he didn’t want to push you away or make it seem like he was only going to use the relationship to get to your dad. even when he met your parents for the first time, he only briefly mentioned his band.

corroded coffin continued to play at the hideout, although the crowd contained only a couple people, most of which were just the ones having a few drinks to relax after work.

but he didn’t mind. he loved a crowd, the music, everything about it made him feel like a rock star.

and as much as you loved watching your boyfriend perform with his band in his hometown, you knew he deserved a bigger stage.

and it all started a couple of weeks ago...

you sat at the dinner table, furious. for the past few weeks, your dad had come to a couple of the shows, hoping that he would organically ask them to sign a contract, yet nothing happened.

you sat at the dinner table, while your parents were conversing about the lawn care in the neighborhood, while you were picking at the green beans on your plate, holding your tongue.

"you okay?" your mom asked with concern, and you sucked in a sharp breath.

"dad, why haven't you signed corroded coffin to your label yet?" you asked, but your tone came out snappier than you intended. he looked taken aback, and he sighed.

"sweetheart, i didn't realize they were serious about being signed... i only thought it was some hobby for them" he said. he gave a small smile.

"if they are genuinely serious about being signed and becoming a touring band, i'd be happy to pass along their demo to my colleague, who can actually give them a recording contract" he said, before continuing on with his meal.

your parents continued talking to each other, as you stopped to realize how real this was all becoming. eddie getting signed means you lose your boyfriend, best friend, and love of your life for months.

you quickly finished eating before getting up and putting your plate in the sink, then rushing off to your room. once you arrived at the door, you opened it and closed it quickly behind you, taking in a shaky breath.

the thought of eddie leaving breaks your heart, but the thought of him not getting the big break he deserves would break your heart even more.

you wiped the few tears that fell and opened your bed side drawer. you pulled out one of the cassettes that eddie gave you that served as one of their demos

the whole band had saved up in order to visit the nearest recording studio and record a couple songs, and the one you held in your hand was one eddie gave to you on your birthday, knowing he could trust you with one of the few copies as he considered you the bands number one fan.

you took in a deep breath, gave the cassette a light kiss, and walked out of your room to give it to your dad.

——

a few weeks had passed since you gave your dad corroded coffin's demo, and to be honest, you forgot you did.

things had become so busy at both school and home with being assigned end of the year projects, planning your mom's birthday party, needing to get your car to the mechanic, babysitting the neighbor's kids, and the list went on

you finally got home from a long day of school, back aching from carrying your backpack the two miles it took to walk home since your car was in the shop, but you didn't mind too much since it was a nice day

you walked into your house to see your dad on the phone, he gave you a wave when he noticed you, and kept on talking, saying things like "yeah" and "okay" every few seconds.

you went into the kitchen, grabbing a snack and beginning to eat, when your dad said his goodbyes and hung up the phone, and turned to you with a giant smile on his face

"does that boyfriend of yours like Iron Maiden?" he asked slyly, and you looked up at him

"like them? he loves them!" you said with a confused laugh, and your dad laughed.

"good, because the band is looking for a new opener for their world tour, and the guys at the label love the corroded coffin demo, so they're offering a three album contract along with being the opening band for the tour," he said, and you felt your breath hitch in your throat.

tears pricked your eyes, and you started to laugh. "are you serious?" you squealed, and he nodded "as a heart attack" he said, and you ran to him, giving him the biggest hug.

"can I please borrow your car?" you asked, needing to find Eddie to tell him everything. "sure" he said, handing you the keys

"thank you thank you thank you" you said quickly, giving your dad a kiss on the cheek and running out the door.

——

10 minutes later, you arrived at eddie's trailer, surprised to see his van not parked in his usual spot

you got out of your car and walked up to the door, making sure to knock as to not be rude.

wayne opened the door, meeting your eyes. "hey y/n, eddie isn't home at the moment, i sent him to the store and put him to work" he joked, and you let out a small laugh

"as you should" you responded, and he ushered you in "come on in sweetheart, you can wait in here, i'm sure he'll be back in a few minutes" he said, and you walked in.

"actually, can i talk to you?" you asked him, and he nodded. "anything," he said, closing the door behind him, and walked into the kitchen to get some coffee.

you explained everything to him, the demo, the contract, the tour... everything. he just stood there, baffled. "wow" was all he said for a couple minutes

“he should go” he said, finally making eye contact with you. you nodded agreeing with him, when you noticed a couple tears forming in his eyes

“oh don’t cry” you said, taking a few steps towards him and embracing him in a light hug

“i don’t mean to, i’m just-“ he stopped and pulled away, going to wipe a few fallen tears

“i’m just so happy for that boy, he deserves it, y’know? and i hate to see him leave but he needs to get out of this town sooner or later” wayne said, and you smiled, tears starting to flow in your eyes as well

“and we know he’ll be smart, and they’ll be lots of security to watch them and-“ you were cut off by the door bursting open, eddie holding two bags of groceries

“hey wayne i couldn’t find any of the-“ he stopped mid sentence, seeing the two of you in the kitchen with teary eyes

“oh god what happened? did someone die?” he asked, hurriedly getting through the door and setting the groceries down on the table next to him

“no one died son… why don’t you sit down for this?” wayne told him

everyone walked out of the kitchen and into the small living room, wayne opting for his usual corner chair and eddie and you sitting on the couch

you faced him, and looked at all of his beautiful features, missing him already

“this might be a lot to take in,” you started, grabbing his hands in yours. eddie stared at your stomach for a couple of seconds and then back up at you

“y/n i promise with all my heart and soul that our baby-“

“baby? what are you talking about?” you interjected with a horrified look

“what are you talking about?” he said with wide eyes

you shook your head at the comment and smiled

“eds, a couple weeks ago i gave my dad your corroded coffin demo, and turns out the label loved it… and they said they want to give you guys a three album deal…” you trailed off as he just stared at you

“what?” he said shakily, and you nodded, and couple light tears rolled onto your cheek

eddie brought his hand up to your face, and gently wiped them away with the pad of his thumb

“but also, Iron Maiden was looking for a band to join them their world tour and apparently they want corroded coffin to be the opener…” you told him, looking down at your intertwined hands

he sat there, staring at you in disbelief

“are you serious?” he muttered out and you smiled. “like a heart attack babe”

“oh. my. GOD” he screamed, jumping up, putting his hands on his head and pacing around the room

“wait seriously?” he asked again

“she’s serious boy… you better learn how to pack” wayne said with a smile as he got up to hug eddie who was still in disbelief that his dreams were coming true

“and you did this for me?” eddie asked, engulfing you in this biggest hug you think he’s ever given you

“baby, you deserve this, and i’m so so so proud of you and everything you’ve done so far,” you started,

“and even though it’ll hurt like hell to watch you leave…” your voice started to crack

“i know you’re going to do amazing, and i’m so happy for you baby” at this point the tears flowed

eddie pulled away to look at you, tears in his eyes

“i love you, so so much y/n” he said, gently caressing your face

“but, if the tour’s over the summer then you’re more than welcome to join me babe,” he said with a smirk and you smiled

“i don’t think my dad would like that very much” you laughed

“all the more reason” he whispered, pulling you into a kiss

“alright well, you two love birds have a good evening, i start work in an hour but i reckon you two want to get as much time together as you can” wayne said, picking up his keys from the counter

he patted eddie on the shoulder, “i’m proud of you my boy” he said, before opening the door and walking out, closing it behind him

you stood with eddie in his living room, closely pressed together, arms wrapped around one another

“you didn’t have to do this y’know” he said and you nodded

“it’s selfish of me to keep all this amazing music to myself, so i kinda had to” you joked and he laughed

“i’m gonna miss that” you said

“miss what?” he questioned

“your laugh, your smile,” you said, “your lips” you ran your thumb lightly over his bottom lip before he locked his lips with yours

your lips melted together into the kiss, when you both pulled away for air, foreheads pressed against one another

“i’m serious, you should come with on tour with me, we can visit all the landmarks across the globe… watch the show backstage… we can share a bunk on the tour bus” he said, playing with a strand of your hair

“and what would entail on sharing a bunk with the famous eddie munson of the corroded coffin?” you joked

he shrugged “well we’d cuddle, obviously for safety reasons,” he said “oh yeah cause tour busses are soo dangerous” you rebutted

“and we’d get to share a blanket for warmth,“ he continued, “eds i think they have heating on the bus”

“and lastly, we can be this close every night, and i’m able to do this, whenever i like” he finished, starting to kiss your neck

“oh and what else do you think we’ll be able to do in this bunk?” you questioned, as he trailed the kisses back to your lips

“why don’t i just show you?” he teased, kissing you once more on the lips before picking you causing you to squeal

he carried you into his bed room and shut the door behind him

joining on him on tour sounds like a pretty good damn idea you think to yourself

fin.

[painted-bees]

Thinking a little more on the whole "when did Margie and Raf realize they were In A Relationship?" question, and while they'd both struggle to find a definitive moment, I think there was one particular situation that arose to kinda...lock things in for them.

Sometime prior to autumn 2009, Margie was headhunted by Bioware[Edmonton] thanks to the recommendation of an old Orbital Media colleague who was trying to establish/salvage Bioware's beleaguered handheld dev team. Following a promising phone interview, she was asked to make a 30 second demo track as part of the hiring process, and met expectations well enough that she was offered a job as an in-house musician and sound designer. Which also meant that she'd have to move to Edmonton. She had been keeping Raf up to date with this whole thing, mostly because she was too excited to keep it to herself. Raf was hugely supportive and excited -for- her. 'Cus like...he plays games. He even plays Bioware games, so, yanno...very cool. But he had also assumed this was gonna be more of a freelance contract kind of thing. And so, hearing her mention that the company would cover the costs of relocating her to Edmonton comes as a weird surprise. And suddenly, he's having a real hard time being excited for her. He keeps it to himself, 'cus he'd be an asshole not to. He's been really adamant with himself, and with anyone who asks, that he and Margie are just really good, comfortable friends/roommates. But even by this point, he's kinda known and been unwilling to admit to himself that the only reason he hasn't openly recognized their relationship for what it actually is--is because the non-committal ambiguousness provides him a clean way out if he starts feeling cagey/uncomfy about anything. It was an exit door that he liked keeping open incase he needed it. But Margie had seen it differently. To her, it was a door she figured she was gonna have to leave through eventually. Because Raf would inevitably find a more serious partner to settle down with, or he'd be whisked off by some other important venture that she couldn't be a part of. She figured he was leaving that door open because his current situation was a temporary transitional stage in his life that he simply allowed her to be a part of. And so, she's not really torn-up about the prospect of leaving, especially under the circumstances. It presented an easier, more exciting transition than she might have had to face if Raf had 'outgrown' her first.

So, Margie's excited about the new job offer, and Raf's sitting there feeling like he played himself--while being wholly unable/unwilling to tell her "Hey, uh...this sucks, actually, I really don't want you to go." Because that'd require him to admit that he's been lying to himself--which sucks. But more than that, it'd require him to admit that he's been lying to her--only employing honesty as a tool of convenience to dissuade her from going and getting something really good for herself. He can't, he won't. The sudden off-key in his tone, though, doesn't go unnoticed by her, and Margie is perfectly candid about the whole "we'll visit each other, I'll stay in touch--I'm not gonna disappear on you lmao" Except that's not really...how Raf operates. Distance + time does not make this man's paranoid lil' heart grow fonder. There's never been a relationship-friend, family, or otherwise-with enough staying power for Raf to maintain it once they're no longer within physical proximity. Even if he wants to 'keep in touch', it quickly falls off. He's just known...too many people, and been too many places...his brain doesn't have the bandwidth to maintain close relationships when there's a distance. And, after a long enough pause in communication, his paranoid anxieties lift the barrier of entry higher and higher until it's almost insurmountable. People become strangers again. Always. In the end, Bioware did not get to develop any more handheld titles, and the handheld division in Edmonton is dissolved before Margie was even offered a job start date to plan her big move around. And so the whole thing falls apart before it even had the chance to get started lmao. At which point, Raf finally allows himself to be honest and say "thank god, I was fuckin' dreading an empty apartment again." Treats her to a consolatory dinner, and gets to tell her as much as he is able to figure out for himself--that he doesn't really know what he wants, actually--but that things aren't as casual and clean-cut as he thought it was. He still can't bring himself to be like "yes, romantic committed relationship, that's us, that's what we are" but he does at least take measures to establish that he'd really like to take off his shoes, place them on the rack next to hers, and close the door behind him.

[journalsouppe]

The Touchstarved DEMO by @redspringstudio! I had so much fun replaying this DEMO over and over, I truly cannot wait for the full release. The art is gorgeous, the writing is excellent, and I am surprised at how much I really loved each character, I expected to at least hate one or two of them like with My Next Life lol. I highly recommend checking out the DEMO if you're a fan of otome games or gothic stories!

The DEMO can be found here on itch.io or here on steam! All the stickers are from different Hallween stickerbooks from Michael's Art Store ^^; (ngl I think this is one of my favorite spreads, I even did do some studies of the color/rendering fhdjsf)

Writing typed below! (plus extra notes)

Rating: 9.5 (demo score - great demo) Played: Sp 2024 Port: itch.io Play full? Y YES!!!!!!

Comments:

First Route: Origin - Unnamed. RO - Leander

love you have a choice of 3 origins

GORGEOUS ART!

this game made me realize I do really enjoy otome games and not as a joke or for irony lol fjdkfal

from initial appearances I like Vere and Mhin ^^;

all the gold on the angel doctor is so gorgeous

killer music

okay I thought I wouldn't like Leander but holy shit --

LMAO NOT HIS SEX ROOM

LETS go I got the special Leander option on the first try

I need to do studies of this art oml I need my art to look like this <3

DAMN, now I'm bummed I missed the kickstarter, I would LOVE the art book

I need the stickers too esp for when I journal the full version

not only do I like the art, the writing is very good too

Vere is so pretty...

I LOVE all the fun marketing lore and illustrations on the Red Spring Socials

ooo damn does Vere have a red option or did I do his route right without one

only three red choice dialogue. 4 recently for Kuras (no Vere)-- Vere has one now!!! Kuras and Vere should have them whenever the DEMO gets an update ^_^

I'm learning I'm good at making the correct decisions lol

I honestly didn't know you could die until after I finished Vere's route (2nd route I did correctly -- 1st was Leander) and was curious what submit surrender did (aka I didn't die initially but went back to see what would happen(

LMFAO NOT MHIN BLUSHING WHEN I TELL THEM OFF pfft

LMAOOO and now Mhin is scolding me

amused with who has slept with who

deathly curious on how fucked up Leander will be

Kuras's nose!!!!! <3

I love the concept designs of Sen and Elyon, I can't wait to meet them

LMFAO 'BASTARD'

ngl I love Ais's mullet

This should not have been one of my first otome games bc now my standards are so high, esp in regards to character design

I wonder if the flashing soulless in the title screen means we'll see more soulless in the full game (than just the one)

okay damn I also really like Ais, these are some really well written characters

LMAO I was not expecting this music for Kuras

oh interesting I didn't realize Mhin's red choice was during your first encounter if you're an alchemist

okay Kuras is very silly and goofy 10/10 guy

ooo good theories about Ocudeus and control on tumblr - "obedience" -- reference to someone thinking the "obedience suits you" line on Ais's character card was actually from Ocudeus not Ais

Summary:

I thought when playing more otome games it would be really hard to beat My Next Life, simply because I am a huge fan of the source material that preceded the game. But wow, with the way this game is setting up plotlines, the full version of this game could easily make it onto my top favorite games list. Otome games are all about replayability, and the way just the DEMO is so rich with content and alternating paths makes me so excited and hopeful for the full game's release. I am bummed I got onto the Touchstarved train late and missed the kickstarter, but hopefully a shop will open around release bc I'd kill for an art book. The art is just so gorgeous and I cannot wait to do some studies, especially with color and rendering. Before playing otome games, I like to look at the character profiles beforehand and predict who I'd like and dislike. And I am very delightfully surprised that any initial dislike I had of characters all but vanished because the writing and personalities of these characters were so well made. I thought I was going to hate Leander but he ended up being the character I'm most curious about. Although I would say my least favorite is Kuras simply bc I'm not a fan of romancing doctors, I am still curious about his background story and connection to the others. In other words, great character who is just not my type. I am also delightfully surprised at the "vulgarity" in this game without being overly explicit -- I have grown so tired of how sanitized a lot of games and shows have been that it's always really nice seeing indie companies play by their own rules. I am so glad I stumbled across this game!! At this point I've done every route favorably but haven't tried all the "wrong" options -- more to play whenever I think about how excited I am for the full game! I've also seen the sneak peaks of an upcoming update ^_^. Highly recommend the game!!

[webtoon-devourer]

The Kid At The Back (Game) Review

Let me cut straight to the point: it's really good! I'm so excited for the full game, as only the demo is out so far. I adore the (assumed) main love interest's design, and delighted in unlocking the four gorgeous CGs currently available.

The demo only features the first day of the story. Despite this, I am in awe of how many different options there are. I played through every choice, and choices which I would never take personally resulted in very interesting and unexpected outcomes. It fascinated me how taking an option I was dreading led to interesting developments I couldn't have predicted. I'm actually somewhat embarrassed to say that my first play through - making the choices I wanted to make - resulted in the least interactions with the main love interest. Bear in mind that, despite my first route being less spicy, so to speak, it was still interesting as I was introduced to an array of characters whom I'm sure will be important later. Elements which raised questions in one route I took were answered in others, while still leaving much mystery, really building a solid foundation for the story.

I absolutely recommend playing for yourself! Bear in mind that the game is R18. But I played the regular demo; I'm not sure how you get the NSFW version.

download link

[vendetta-if]

Chapter 4 Public Update 🎉

First of all: Happy new year, everyone 🥳🎊 I wish all of you an awesome year ahead!

Now, on to the Chapter Update! Chapter 4 contains 46K words which brings the total word count to 189K words! Chapter 4 is actually the largest update yet that I've done in a month clocking at 46K words instead of the usual 20-30K words update (I really pushed myself this month, didn't I 😅)

However, this update doesn't just bring the entirety of Chapter 4, but also some new and tweaked stuff on the previous chapters. So, I would recommend playing from the beginning if you want to see what's changed for yourself. I'll list out things I changed from the previous chapter below.

Now, a lot of you are probably aware of this already, but some of the things you'll do in this chapter are:

Meet Yvette and finally have a proper conversation with her (a lot of variations and different decisions).

Choose what you feel about her now. Do the years soften your hatred for her? Or maybe they've made you resent her even more?

Meet the rising star superhero—and your mother's protégé—Skylar Moore.

Meet the black sheep of the ECPD, Detective Santana Valdez.

Have a talk with the CEO of the Constellation Agency!

What have been updated in previous chapters include:

- Added a new clothing style, which is the “All black” clothing style to match the style that Luka is wearing (popular demand 😆)

- Added flavour texts for those choosing “Beatrice” or “Virgil”/“Vergil” codename.

- The skill check limits in Chapter 3 have been lowered. To succeed in the hotel entry, you’ll need at least 50 in the corresponding skill instead of 55. And to succeed in the CQC combat, you’ll now only need (Combat + Grav) or (Combat + Umbra) at least 105 instead of the previous 115.

- Make the Police Commissioner’s unsavoury connection to the Nemesis Project more apparent.

- Tweak how MC reacts to executing the Police Commissioner. Now, it’s based more on whether you chose your MC to be ready, hesitant, or don’t want to kill him in Chapter 2 when talking to Grandpa.

Oh, and also, I'm planning to make quick and fun polls on the ROs and Yvette in my CoG Forum post, so, if you guys have an account there, consider casting your vote 😁

[DEMO] | [PATREON] | [KO-FI]

[COG FORUM] | [DISCORD]

[gogovia]

okayyy,, I went full on loser mode today and played the day 4 demo of 14 days with you STRAIGHT without any stopping and BOY do i have some thoughts i wanna share and speculations

BUT im not sure if i can share these screenshots, or say anything about the actual contents of day 4 as i don’t know if yknow—i can really do that, plus i dont wanna spoil anyone and ruin their first play of day 4,,

what i can say is that day 4 definitely leans more onto the darker side of the story, as day 1-3 were kind of preparation days before the actual story starts and gives you some time to build up connections with the cast,,

it really did give more questions than answers honestly, ive been stalking the official 14 Days With You blog for answers and nor have I seen any posts on tumblr talking about day 4 so im reaalllyyy hesitant to post any screenshots (soz, better to be safe than sure ^^;;)

14dwy is definitely well made, it really gets you to think about it and analyze the story telling and how your choices effect your outcome too!!! I can definitely see it becoming popular in the future (o´ω`o)ﾉ

props to Sai and the team for making the demo!!!! i definitely enjoyed it and its up on the roaster for recommendation ＼(⌒▽⌒)

you can try out the game and download the demo here!!!!

[bonefall]

BONES WHERE ARE YOU

I'm here I'm okay! Sorry I went radio silent for like two months LMAO I've been a busy boygirl.

I have been doing A LOT of things. The embarrassing truth is that I noticed I was going a while without posting, figured I'd stay quiet a little longer so I'd have fun stuff to share to "make up" for the fact I was quiet, but then things got delayed and I felt guilty I had nothing to show for being gone so long, and before I knew it it was like 2 months. Girl help

I've always got a ridiculous amount of irons in the fire, but mainly 3 big things have been keeping me quiet;

Thing 1 is, unfortunatly, a super secret, non-WC related game project. You have NO idea how badly I want to blabber about this, but my team asked me not to :///

It's so fucking cool and I've been working so hard on it. I have been able to research so many cool environments and cultures. OHH my god, did you have any idea that Iran has cloud forests?? Or that you can trace Mayan trade routes based on the color of obsidian you find in archeological sites??? I want to spill beans so bad.

Hopefully we'll make more progress on this project in a few months and then I can share details, but at the moment I'm honor-bound to silence OTL

THING 2 I've been doing is graduating college and finding a good job, which naturally is time consuming. I finally did though, so hopefully I'll have some cash to burn soon on commissions and such. I actually have a couple Clan Culture posts essentially completed as drafts, but I want them illustrated before releasing them.

Aaaand THING 3 is that I started playing the demo for an Indie game called Critter Cove. I apologize that this reason's kind of mundane, but it is only a demo for what the devs call "the first 2 hours of the game" and I've already got 40 hours logged.

It's a good game, man. I'm obsessed with the character creator. It's got fat bodies, squid-faced options, hyena ears, lots of tails, even TVhead options, everything. The devs are also super responsive on the Discord. I have made so many fun designs lmaooo.

It releases into Early Access on the 10th and you save your progress into the main game. It's like Animal Crossing meets Windwaker. Can't recommend it enough if you're into these sorts of games.

TL;DR I've been up to non-WC things.

Doesn't mean I'm gone though! I'll be back soon. As soon as I have some time, I'm going to catch up on the Ivypool's Heart stuff so I can formulate an opinion about it.

[moondal514]

🪳 for sv perhaps? 👀 and any other AUs u really like!

bug me for fic recs

Thanks for the ask <3. I’ll be honest, it is hard for me to know what counts as an au for SV given the nature of canon and Shen Yuan’s unreliable narration is such that practically anything can plausibly be canon 😂, but I did my best and I hope you enjoy these

🪳 Recommend a great AU!

Celestial Afterglow by elanor_pam/ @elanorpam

Shang Qinghua, also known as Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, stared flatly at what had once been a field boasting near sect-level Feng Shui alignment, and the drowned, bloated remains of the Sun and Moon Dew Flower cuttings that had sprouted within it. Their plan was now quite literally a wash.

If only he could consult Cucumber Bro on how to save Cucumber Bro! But in the absence of Cucumber Bro, he could but rely on the one plot coupon the infamous Peerless Cucumber had ever applauded.

Canon-divergence au. Um…I’ll be honest idk how to describe this fic, it’s wildly ridiculous but in a way that’s incredibly fitting for the entire vibe of SV and it made me laugh so hard I literally cried

walk through walls into your heart by kitschlet

Fifteen years ago, definitely cishet man Shen Yuan transmigrated into Shen Qingqiu, the female villain of reverse harem novel Proud Immortal Demon Way, and never looked back. Now happily lesbian-married, Shen Qingqiu gets caught in a PIDW plot that makes her actually confront what she wants from her gender and her relationship.

Bingqiu genderbend au. Wherein a wifeplot forces Shen Yuan to contend with the trans implications of the fact that she loves being a woman and it’s a very fun time

demons don't write what they know by ataratah/ @ataratah

As a demoness, Liu Mingyan doesn’t have a lot of first-hand experience with romance. This wouldn’t be a problem if she weren’t in the process of composing a romantic epic for the ages. Luckily, local human gremlin Sha Hualing is here to help.

Purely for the sake of good writing, of course.

Human-demon role-reversal au. Lovely fic about Liu Mingyan’s journey to becoming a published writer (which of course features practice kissing with Sha Hualing, very necessary)

cover me with your green mantle by lavenderandrue/ @lavender-and-rue

There’s a legend about this place. Shen Yuan has heard it a hundred times, a thousand, in different permutations depending on the teller. In some versions, a demon lord with horns and fangs and glowing red eyes roams the wilds, stealing pretty young women from their beds for some nefarious purpose. In others, a powerful fae prince leads the Wild Hunt on moonless nights; those who hear the baying of their hounds may be tempted to join them, never to be seen again. Still others tell of a local man stolen by the fae many years ago for his famed beauty, who is still occasionally spotted leading lost souls out of the forest.

Whoever he is, Shen Yuan thinks he must be lonely.

Ballad of Tam Lin au. This fic is a great example of that lovely flavor of BinggeYuan where Shen Yuan is just so bamboozled by Bing-ge that he ignores all the concerning shit about him and sets about domesticating him and it works and is massively entertaining to read

In Blissful Rush Did Meet by Asymptotical

In a slightly different situation, Tianlang-jun would have been thrilled to play the part of the pregnant lover doted on by the stoic noble that knocked them up.

It's less fun while he thinks the doting might not happen.

TianXi fix-it via mpreg au. Wherein Tianlang-jun being the one to get pregnant instead of Su Xiyan prevents them from falling into the Old Palace Master’s trap

Primal Urges by stranglerfig

A mortal illness infects Cang Qiong Mountain Sect. Pandemonium ensues.

-

“We are cultivators,” Mu Qingfang pronounced gravely, “we are not ruled by our primal urges.”

“But shizun,” said one of his beta disciples, his voice nasally with wax plugs up his nose, cotton mask over his mouth. “Liu shibo has stolen the whole peak’s clean linens!”

Omegaverse au. Prob one of the few gen omegaverse au’s in existence 😂 but it’s so funny and so good

[mastermatoyas]

Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem - A Long-Overdue Review

Way back in 2015, I was a fresh-faced 21 year old just getting into the world of visual novels - specifically otome games. At the time, there was a lot of buzz about this one upcoming game with a really promising demo - Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem, slated for a 2016 release.

Nine years later, it's finally out (in early access)! Let's see if it was worth the wait.

What kind of game is this, anyway?

Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem was, and is, unlike any other game I have ever seen before. Considering the absolute development hell it went through, I doubt we'll ever see a game quite like it again. The demo that I played back in the day included the first three weeks of the game, and it had me absolutely hooked.

Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem is a stat-raising visual novel. Basically, it's a game focused on storytelling through text and still images, with the core gameplay loop consisting of raising various skills in order to pass (or fail) challenges. The game is set on the mysterious Vail Isle, where seven nations have each sent seven young representatives to forge political alliances (through marriage or otherwise), advance their nation's interests, and - at least ostensibly - protect the fragile peace between them.

As the player, you create a character from one of six nations (the seventh nation, Skalt, is not an option), build their stats, and try to survive seven weeks on the island (and maybe find love along the way?). The game is notoriously difficult - if you go in blind, you'll almost certainly fuck up at least a few things massively. There are two difficulty settings, Challenge Mode and Story Mode. In Challenge Mode, you can fail badly enough to either get kicked off the island or die. Story Mode is a little kinder - certain skill checks have lower requirements (at least allegedly), and no matter what you do, you won't die or get sent home early. You can still fuck up in just about every other way possible in Story Mode, though.

The choices you make during character creation have a major impact on your success or failure. Aside from the stats you raise during character creation, and the background you choose, there are also a number of options you can choose to influence your character's personality. Although all stats have some relevance, some of them end up being a lot more important than others - which makes sense, since this is a social and political simulator. Being good at talking to people is going to get you a lot further than being good at self-defence.

The gameplay loop

This, to me, is what makes 7KPP unique. It's actually possible, in a single playthrough, to impress every character and get the best possible outcome for every nation. It's also incredibly difficult, and requires making the right choices at basically every turn. You have to say the right things to the right people while having the right stats, and be in the right place at the right time. You have to minmax your character from the moment you start creating them, and never stop min-maxing both your stats and your relationships.

And it is FUN AS HELL.

Obviously, you don't actually "have" to do any of this. You can play the game normally, and get some good outcomes and some bad outcomes. I'd recommend doing this on your first playthrough at least, to get a feel for the game before you get bogged down in spreadsheet guides.

The stat-raising gameplay is roughly similar to raising simulators like Princess Maker or Long Live the Queen, but it's also not quite the same. It's not like stat-raising visual novels are a new concept, but I've never found anything that does quite what this game does the way it does it.

Characters

This game contains... hang on, let me count. I think eleven romance routes plus one friendship route, three characters that you can befriend (but not romance) outside of their full route, three more love interests that haven't been implemented yet, a rival character, and a few other important characters.

The cast is massive, is my point. But pretty much every character has at least some level of depth. They all have their own goals and motivations, and you can either help or hinder them. There are actually more routes than there are love/friendship interests, because political marriages are an option in the game separate from romances. Depending on your choices, certain other characters may enter into political marriages.

There's a wide range of characters, and I'm not going to describe them all here. I am, however, going to give a special shout out to the female love interests in the game. There are three at the moment (with two more coming), which is a pretty good ratio for a game about political marriages set in a fantasy world where only one kingdom allows same-sex marriage to begin with. It also avoids one of the common pitfalls I've found in games with both male and female love interests, in that the female love interests are actually interesting. Your options are:

Meek shy maid. She's very sweet and I like her a lot, but I'll admit to not finding that character type super interesting as a love interest. Nevertheless, this type of love interest seems really common in Western indie visual novels with both male and female love intersts. I think it's because they're broadly non-threatening?

Cool, tough warrior lady with the heart of a golden retriever. This is Tumblr, the muscle woman website, so I probably don't need to sell you on this one.

Evil princess. This is great for me, because I love complicated relationships in fiction, and because I had become resigned to the Bioware style habit game devs have of making the mean women straight. That is not the case here! They actually let you have the toxic yuri of your dreams! You can kinda fix her, or you can make her worse. I think she can also make you worse. Not sure. Either way, I haven't played her route yet, but I am so looking forward to it.

For the first half of the game, you'll probably spend a lot of time getting to know the various characters. The plot picks up in the later half of the game, which means that you have a lot less time to spend with the various characters, especially romanceable characters other than the love interest you chose. To be honest, that made me a bit sad - I put a lot of effort into trying to befriend all of the love interests, and it would have been nice to spend more time with them. Although considering that it's really hard to befriend them without them also developing romantic feelings for you, it does make a lot of sense - they distance themselves from you after being rejected.

They do show up throughout the story as well, in the later weeks, but if I had a criticism of the character writing, it's that I would have liked the love interests you don't choose to have a bit more relevance. However, given the massive amount of branching in the game and the fact that they are still actually there and involved in a lot of major story moments, it's not a major criticism. Realistically, I don't think they could have done more with those characters than they actually did - I just grew fond of them, and wanted to see more of them.

Luckily, this game has a ridiculous amount of replay value, so I'm sure I'll see more of them on their own routes.

Story and writing

Honestly, I think this is the part of the game that's going to be the most hit or miss. I personally really enjoyed the story, but the premise involves a basic assumption about human nature that I think is going to chafe for a lot of people: namely, the assumption that diplomacy can work.

The world of 7KPP is on the brink of war. It is possible, although extremely difficult, to turn that situation around through sheer skill and diplomacy, and instead bring all of the nations into a golden age of peace and cooperation. I think it's very easy to say that this is unrealistic - that people never change just because someone said the right things at the right time. And to a certain extent, that might be true.

But also, it's a video game. If you do all the right things and you're really good at the game, you get rewarded with outcomes that are maybe a bit unrealistic. That's true for all kinds of games, not just this one. If you play normally, you'll probably get some realistically ordinary or even depressing outcomes. You have to earn your happy ending. Right now, at this point in history, it's very easy to see the worst of humanity. It's very easy to believe that things keep getting worse, that selfishness and greed will always win out. And it's true, they often do.

But I think it's important to remember that it doesn't have to be that way. Sometimes, miracles really do occur. Sometimes, people and society really do change. For all of the misery of the past few decades, we've also seen a lot of amazing people doing amazing things, individually and collectively. I think most people, fundamentally, want to live in a world that does not suck, and 7KPP is a game about reminding people of that fact.

Basically, I agree with the fundamental philosophy of the game, and I think the fact that you can fix everyone's problems if you play the game right is a feature and not a bug. But I can see how that philosophy is going to be a much tougher sell in 2024 than it was in 2015.

I will say that the writing can be a bit clumsy at times. There are a lot of typos in the later sections of the game (although those will probably be fixed), and the prose and dialogue can sometimes be a bit... unpolished, I suppose. I think that's mostly just a matter of experience, to be honest. This was the dev's first project, so I suspect that her future work will benefit greatly from the ten years she spent writing 7KPP. I'll hasten to add that the writing isn't, by any means, bad. If you're not especially picky about prose, you'll probably think I'm being overly harsh. Most indie visual novels don't meet the standard I'm imposing on 7KPP here, but I'm still going to impose that standard because I don't want anyone to buy the game as a result of my review and then end up being disappointed by this aspect of it.

Other

The game was made in Ren'py by a solo dev who isn't a programmer, so the code is apparently duct taped together under the hood. I didn't encounter any bugs, so that hasn't been a problem for me.

The game balance is kind of amazing - it's really impressive just how tight the skill checks are if you're going for the best possible result, without any New Game Plus bonuses. It's doable, but only just, and I can't imagine how much of a headache it must have been to make that happen.

I find the UI kind of ugly, if I'm being honest. It's not super navigable, and it's somewhat unfinished, with the calendar only going up to Week 3 (unless that's a bug). Apparently the UI is on the list of things that they're going to attempt to fix throughout early access, with the dev planning to hire on someone with more programming experience.

I like the art style. It's quite unique, which is going to put off a certain sub-section of the visual novel community, but oh well. There aren't a huge number of CGs, or flashy effects or anything like that, but I don't think this game really needs that to begin with.

Most (possibly all?) of the music is creative commons, so it's nothing special. I did feel like some of the music wasn't a great choice for the mood, although I generally liked the character leitmotifs. They very clearly did not have the budget for original music, and it's also pretty far down the list of priorities, so that's not a real complaint. If they'd had infinite resources, it would have been cool to see some original music. They did not have infinite resources, and it would be unrealistic to expect anything other than what we got.

Conclusion

Here's the link to the game on itch.

I would heartily recommend buying the game if you enjoy any of the following:

Visual novels in general

Political intrigue

Complex stat raisers

Interesting and likeable ensemble casts; or

Innovative video games, just in general. Seriously, I meant it when I said that there is nothing quite like this game out there. You really do need to experience it in order to understand that.

Despite the relatively minor criticisms I've had, I really believe in this game. I believe it's something special, and after the amount of time it spent in development hell, I really, really want it to succeed. I will wear my bias on my sleeve here - I want to see more devs take these kinds of risks. I want this dev's ten years of work to pay off.

It's not a perfect ten, but it's a ten to me, damn it.

Side notes

This game used to have a thriving fandom on Tumblr, but that well and truly died. There are some active threads on the itch.io community page for the game, but I want to know where to go to post memes. If anyone knows, please tell me.

I hope it isn't Twitter, though. Fuck that.

I somehow got into this game right after the Kickstarter ended, which I've been salty about for nine years. I literally just missed it. Absolute tragedy.

I'm aware that the creator is active on Tumblr, and since I'm tagging this post with the game's tag, there's a non-zero likelihood that she'll read it. So, Aly, if you've read this far: hi! I really liked your game! Hope you're doing well. It's honestly a bit awkward to review a game knowing that the dev might see it, since it's always going to include some element of unsolicited criticism, but there's no real way around that. This review was aimed at potential players, which meant that I had to be comprehensive and honest. I hope that makes sense.

[ashenpumpkin]

GO PLAY TACTICAL BREACH WIZARDS RIGHT FUCKING NOW

okay but here's the actual review.

Tactical Breach Wizards, or TBW, is a comedic tactical sim game taking place in the far future. You play as a rogue team of wizards led by one Zan Vesker in an attempt to stop world war 5 he saw in a vision into the future.

It has a unique mechanic related to Zan's powers which allow you to "rewind" actions you taken this turn of combat and change your mind on what you wish to do, as well as being able to "foresee" what will be the enemies actions after yours before you commit to the end of your turn. This creates a fun environments to experiment with a variety of solutions to the fun challenges and puzzles the game throws at you.

Also you get to defenestrate [Verb, 1: To throw (something or someone) out of a window.] a lot

Scoring:

Writing [10/10]: The game is funny, like seriously funny, while still maintaining a very interesting story, and managing to hit powerful somber notes [such as conversations held with Dall], as well as intrigue. The characters are well rounded, and their banter is wonderful. The ability to delve into the "chats" option and explore various character interactions and conversations as the story progresses is really enjoyable.

Artstyle [10/10]: The game is beautiful, the character designs are on point, you can do bonus objectives to unlock cool skins for your characters. The artstyle conveys the different areas the game takes place in, and their culture and style from it.

Gameplay [9/10]: Responsive, Fun, Easy to understand but hard to master. The levels and challenges the game provides left me very satisfied. There's manually adjustable difficulty settings to make the game harder or easier to your preference, fitting even people who aren't the biggest fans of tactical sims. My only complaint is that some of the bonus challenges can not be completed during your initial playthrough of a level, requiring a revisit later. As well as one of the achievement being missable in the the first mission, and that mission cannot be replayed, forcing you to delete your save if you want 100% completion.

Music and Audio [9/10]: Your moves as a player have satisfying sound design, the music slaps throughout the game, menuing sounds smooth, actions taken feels smooth, cutscenes sound great. I just wish each combat music track was a bit longer, to avoid hearing it loop from the start on the harder stages.

also there's this cat, as well as tactical wizard yuri if you play your cards right.

in conclusion, i rate the game a [9.5/10]. And i highly recommend you go buy it. There's even a free demo for you to try out! GO PLAY IT!