Skip to main content

Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines
(2 edits) (+1)

I love this story and the visuals! The UI layout is unique, yet I find it very easy to read and interact with. I got both endings! The beginning is mostly about introducing the characters and the world, which is really hard to pull off, but I think this game does it extremely well. I think one of the biggest reasons is that the protagonist constantly reminds you that something is wrong, even when everything happening on screen seems to suggest otherwise. While reading, I kept trying to figure out what the twist could be, and I was constantly revising my theory as more information about the world was revealed. Another thing is that it raises the stakes are right from the beginning by having the protagonist's parents die immediately at the beginning of the story. 

Some spoilers below!!

I think the main theme of the story is ultimately about giving the player a difficult choice of whether or not to love the brother after the reveal. What makes this especially effective is that throughout the story, the protagonist chooses not to love him, while the player, without knowing the full context, is thinking the opposite (from all the loving scenes between Clove and her brother). Then, after the reveal, the player is suddenly forced to make that same choice themselves. This is actually something I tried to do in my own entry as well, but I think your story does it better! One thing I think could make the final decision hit even harder is adding a little more weight to the choice. Julissa is likeable, but I felt that her character was weak compared to the brother. On the other hand, the only real "sin" the brother committed was killing the original abusive brother. Because of that, the decision felt a little easier than I think it was intended to be. Also, it wasn't until my second playthrough, after choosing Julissa over the brother, that I learned the consequence of that decision. So if the goal is to make the player genuinely struggle with the choice, I think making the consequences more explicit and making Julissa more likeable could make the decision much harder. But if the intention is instead to have the player make the choice first and then feel guilty or shocked afterward, then I think it works perfectly as it is!

Overall, I really liked the story, and I agree that I keep thinking about it after finishing it haha!

Hello!!! Thank you for your kind and thoughtful words! I've been thinking about them a lot during these last 4 days while I've been busy IRL this past week

I'm happy to hear the UI is unique, easy to read and interact with!  It was something I switched to halfway through the jam so I didn't get much time to refine it or the readability/interactivity of it before I submitted this jam project

Your experience with this project almost entirely echoes what I was hoping to aim for in this work: a story that tells you something is wrong even when everything is right, thus getting you invested in the truth that's slowly being parsed out the farther you go along until you get your theories proven right/wrong based on the info given :Dc And the choice part is something you definitely got nailed! I wanted to end this work on the idea that it's really up to the player to decide on which conclusion you agree with more based on the framing of the plot since this work ultimately touches on the idea of "can harm that's done be forgiven? if so: what does it take? if not: why?".

(obligatory spoilers below)

I 100% agree about Julissa!!! That is, in fact, my own main criticism with this work and one I knowingly enacted by choosing to prioritize concluding this story over leaving it unfinished and her part of this narrative fleshed out. I'm totally remiss I couldn't flesh her out more (especially since I'm a big advocator for focusing on gal characters in stories as much as their male counterparts), but if I'd gotten more time in this jam I'd have liked to spend more time fleshing out her side of the story and reinforcing the story behind her ending (because, yeah, it definitely falls flat and doesn't hit as hard when you kiiiiind of have no reason to get behind her since she comes out of nowhere lol). 

Thank you again for the kind words! I really enjoyed reading your thoughts and hearing about your experience with this funny little jam game ^^