itch.io

woah, incredibly huuuge fan of this-- utterly enamoured by your prose and the way you so skillfully present such an oppressive, dripping atmosphere soaked in death and rot. i played this midday and it somehow still felt like the shadow below my feet was darkening and creeping up the walls, growing taller than me with every click of my mouse. and as a fellow maniac gorehound, gotta say it was a total treat to indulge in such a story. 

riley and ainsley are intriguing foils to the other, both extreme ends of behavioural cope to their strange situations. in another life, i think they could be the other. maybe in this life, even. and despite their circumstance resulting in something as twisted as what they share, theres a beauty in it too-- the way you specifically write rileys compartmentalized relationship to both ainsley as a body vs ainsley as a creature is very fascinating to me. i thought a lot about the novel "tender is the flesh" while playing this game... i highly suggest you check it out if you havent already. 

and what a treat it is to see phalloplasty in this way! i feel like i never see that kind of srs in media. gold stars all around, love love loved all of this. <3

is it against the rules of this jam to submit a project that is also submitted to a different jam, so long as we adhere to the overlap in each jam’s dedicated timeline? 

oh wow this is absolutely incredible… the poetic cadence to the passages, the flickering aesthetic in navies and creams and crimsons, the 8-bit ost to accompany the lo-fi and pixelized aesthetic… stunning as always, of course. and how amazing the exploratory experience is here that captures that jumbled internality so many with deep trauma navigate, running through the various chambers of one’s heart, mind, and soul in a messy tangle of reminisce and regret. it’s like a journal come to life, full of kagurasuzu’s most tender spots.

“i want to teach you what 'good‘ looks like.”

“i have a love that would only destroy you.”

"then i’ll let you."

a snow-dusted, bare-footed, lantern-lit memory of two lost souls finding hope and a second chance in each other. both born in a tundra, fiery wings spread wide after emerging the cracks of their snowy eggs, they reach a hand towards the other and in its meeting find a moment of peace. sometimes that’s all we can hope for, when so many regrets and desires weigh heavy on our shoulders— is that particular breed of hope found only in the connection with another.

it’s a commonality in all swanchime works, but never fails to move me all the same. cheers to the death of winter, and the eventual blossoming of springhope.

a story about heartbreak and hope, in equal measure- i maintain that this is not only one of my favourite games i’ve ever played by nature of its heartfelt, raw depiction of DID but also for its unashamed, unrelenting authentic rawness beyond that. among the thick spruces of beautiful prose and storytelling peek rays of a deep honesty i haven’t been able to shake since i first played it, and don’t think i ever will. the final third of this game had my heart between its fingers, squeezing ever so slowly until it burst at the end of it all. i cried, i’ll admit. just- amazing. VIOLENCE IS NOT THE ONLY TRUTH. ... for love is just as truthful and honest, if perhaps not more.

this game was incredible, just oozing from top to bottom with an authenticity that draws you in from the moment it starts until the second it ends, not letting up at any point in between and breaking your heart over and over again all the while. the depiction of lea's headspace in the aftermath of their loss and those swings from apathy to despair feel all to raw, all too relatable. i'm holding out for their happiness in subsequent parts, of which i screamed at my screen to learn about there being. i need more of this as of yesterday, i'm beyond invested- just amazing. 

A super tender story about becoming your own demon, worse than the kind any storybook could hope to conjure up, and how love can save us from the depths of those miseries even when it terrifies us. Speaking of storybook, your visual style for this game is so charming, its daintiness only elevating the contrast of Orchid’s internalized horrors becoming externalized. Also a huge fan of the music you selected, it all works together really well to feed into the fantastical setting of witches and demons etc that this story boasts. Not to mention: lesbians. Very very cute game! 🌸 🌙 🫖

me gasping as i read the context of that cg between the 17 and 29 year olds…. i think ive missed a lot about your recent projects on my hiatus and i did not anticipate that background lol but it just makes me all the more intrigued for this project! and seeing how your art has improved since my hiatus has been really cool too. 

and i think your plan to give a complimentary book to those who have rated is a great idea, and an idea i might snatch from you at some point! its a thoughtful way to give devoted players a reward for showing their support in such a beneficial way to the dev (given the effect ratings have on algorithms and whatnot). youre right that ratings cost very little in terms of time and energy in the first place, but that little extra incentive will go a long way im sure.

i cant wait to see whats discussed/shared in next months devlog! 🪷

WOW! This is my first introduction to your work (I’ve yet to start Actala) and BOY OH BOY AM I EVER EXCITED FOR MORE CHATTERCAP PRODUCTIONS NOW. Remember when I said I loved a good clingy yandere ex-boyfriend? Well I maintain that point, and you totally delivered. 😁

Super enamoured by the visuals, the dynamism of everything having slight idle animation to it and the addition of comic-book-style panels was super fun to watch and very engaging, I found myself sort of just staring at it all quite a few times. (Big fan of the kitty peeking out from behind the bed in Ending A.) And I quite like this UI as well! I didn’t realize the potential Unity had for making such beautiful and dynamic VN’s, it never would have even crossed my mind, but you did an absolutely amazing job top to bottom on this! You make it look a lot easier than I’m sure it really is. 💙

And your writing too, the slow unravelling of different details and aspects of Nelli and Raku’s relationship to one another but also their own individual pasts and how it all snowballs with each passing ending was really fun to uncover with fresh eyes in each subsequent play-through.

MASSIVE props to Shay-Ki and Zoe for their PHENOMENAL voice acting, totally elevated this game into a whole new realm. I’m especially taken by Shay-Ki’s work here! He delivers the bone-chilling emotionality of Raku’s yandere personality so well.

⚠️ [MILD SPOILERS?]

My favourite line was Raku’s “But you don’t need me? You don’t even want me?”, the delivery was absurdly good. Actually, now that I think about it, that line is perhaps second only to Raku’s “What’s in the bag, Nelli?”... CHILLS. 😵‍💫

⚠️ [ACTUAL SPOILERS!]

I KNEW in my gut there was some kind of flesh in that yellow bag when she put it into the freezer in Ending A. I didn’t piece together it could have been Ji-Hoon, but I certainly had a feeling Nelli wasn’t as innocent an MC as we perhaps presumed her to be initially based on that small freezer detail alone. I love morally dubious MC’s, they always have a place in my heart.

I was also so glad we got a monster form reveal, total sucker for ‘em. 🕷🕸

SUCH a deeply tender experience from top to bottom, getting to parse my way through this pairs shared youth and reconcile the distance thats since grown between them was incredibly heartwarming. its a story theme im quite fond of, the idea of forced separation and a later reconciliation full of a bittersweet entwining of comfort and angst at how they've grown further apart yet only closer to the other despite the lack of presence.

im not sure if it was intentional, but the character designs of either character leaning into autumnal (peter) or springtime (amanda) themes was a total cherry on top for me. amanda, growing and blossoming out of her bud into peters sunshine, while peter stands tall as his big oak tree self, forever himself no matter how the wind may blow (see what i did there) his leaves. im a total sucker for things like that. 🍃🍂

just a wonderfully tender, heartfelt little story i am so happy to see finally released and receive the love it deserves! the love and care you and your team have put into this project oozes off of it in every corner. thank you all for the friday morning fluffiness. 🤎

moment of appreciation for T.M. Bach's music too! i found myself humming along to the opening menu theme anytime i stepped away from my computer for a moment.

[BAD END SPOILER!]

the bad ending is so heartbreaking, to abandon peter the same way we assume he must have abandoned us all those years ago, letting the harsh winds of an unforgiving world crash against his branches until they break, tearing his gentility apart and replacing it with a harsh aggression so unlike his otherwise calm, soft demeanour. gah. im forever a sucker for a bad ending but i cant deny the heartbreak they give me nonetheless...

so glad i did the bad ending first, because if i had to go back afterwards and break these two squishes hearts id be devastated... 🥲

HHEHEHEHE…. remember when i said i love tragic gays… 👁

IM SO HAPPY U ENJOYED!!! <3 they were so much fun to write for in a texting format like this, i could have seriously tripled the word count with all i wanted to include. who knows, maybe i’ll release a longer version or somethin one day. its so funny, because they both have those types of cute flirty little comments but hal always brings attention to it by being like uH WAIT I DIDNT MEAN THAT… like yes u did… stop lying 🤨… her gay panic is forever so relatable.

AHHHH thank you thank you thank you! 💘💗 u have no idea how nice that is to hear, (esp from u i love ur art style like PLS) i’ve felt like i’ve not had a distinct art style for so long and now that i’ve found this little niche of mine i’m just so pleased and excited to work o more stuff! i thought the limit on sound really worked in my favour here too, i’m glad it gave u the same type of Vibe.

eee im so happy to hear u played through it a few times to explore all the choices! i tried to make it worth the curiosity. :- ) it was so fun to get to explore how their specific dynamic is impacted by this type of communication, and how much more or less vulnerable they were because of the format. there can be something really intimate about texting sometimes, and i tried to capture it in some small parts of their conversations. i initially had more dialogue when i was trying to create timed choices so if lin didn’t reply quick enough it prompted hal to say something, (most of the time it was hal jumping to conclusions like always,) but that kept bugging out and pissing me off so i dropped it and just lengthened some other parts of what was already there lmao.

(the one dialogue branch that always breaks my own heart is the one where hal offers a ride to lindsey in the morning and u decide to ride with lindsey’s boyfriend instead, when lindsey scrambles to say that she’ll kick him out next time because she loves riding with hal, but hal just shuts it down and tells her its fine. 💔 WE ALL KNOW ITS NOT FINE. AND NEITHER WAS MY HEART WHILE WRITING IT.)

hal being so desperate to drive lindsey around… [dog “i know what u are” meme]

GAH thank you again for this comment, ur thoughts always make my day to read and i treasure ur feedback lots! thank you for playing as always <3 and i hope the eventual full release of loose tooth is everything ur wanting! 💜🐰

AAAH THANK U SO MUCH FOR PLAYING!!! AND FOR LEAVING SUCH A THOUGHTFUL COMMENT!!!! this means the world to me 🥺

thank you so much, i was so proud of how the art turned out for this game, prouder than i’ve been with something in a while! so it’s really nice to hear that others think it looks just as good!

OOH i love that comparison, i haven’t seen that movie in a long time but god is it wonderful. it’s honestly a bit of an honour for my work to evoke any type of similarities to a wong kar-wai film ah u have no idea…. the relationship between lindsey and hal is one i’ve sat on for a long while, and i try to be incredibly intentional with the way i handle them, especially in the few moments like this where we see them together alone.

once loose tooth is fully released i plan on releasing a devlog or something detailing more about their relationship and its conception on my end, but for now i’ll just share that they certainly exist in this limbo you described quite accurately. (except the respective-partner-affair thing which is very much absent here thankfully… hal is #single and lindsey breaks up with her boyfriend like a handful of months after this anyways) it teeters many lines, as was really exciting to get to sort of pull the curtain back on through this game. i’m really touched you gleaned so much from such a short experience!

i hadn’t even known about the amare festival but i do seem to qualify so i’ll definitely submit! thank you so much for pointing me in that direction! :- D

thank YOU again for your play and such a thoughtful comment, this really warms my heart and is seriously the reason i love to make games! :- ) + thank you too for the help with my button issue, i’ll definitely take a look into that and see if i can fix it because i really want to perfect it for other titles!

OOOH THE WAY THIS TORE MY HEART UP INTO A THOUSAND TINY SHREDS.

from the moment alice said "not bad! we had mcdonalds for lunch" i knew this game was going to be a nostalgic gut punch of the best kind. i remember those days, where everything was better on a day you got mcdonalds and could play your little computer games. when grandma would buy you 500 coins for you to spend on stupid little upgrades in your homes and on silly outfits for your avatar. when the newest mini game felt like the greatest news in the world. in such a small time yet with so much heartfelt charm, this game delivers an incredibly bittersweet experience that perfectly captures those moments in time those of us of that era had in these online spaces with our friends, and how the darkness of our impending growing-up and the traumas we face within it looms within every corner of our otherwise lighthearted and brightly coloured worlds.

"i thought u never had nightmares, i thought that was ur thing"

"i think its part of growing up."

the new main menu art after you get the true ending?? thats my SHITTT.

i love the way this game lives in a perfect corner between creepy/terrifying and adorable/cartoony, that's one of my favourite dichotomies to explore in any type of media and uve got me really interested in these characters and seeing more of ur work in similar veins now!

[SPOILER]

karius' hedonism bleeding into his death was such a great character detail to him specifically that has me even more interested in him. never thought i'd want to see him murder all these past-dates but i am now very interested in seeing exactly that, and who the hell he really is! tavi too honestly, with her being a nullifier? super cool peek into whatever world building i imagine ur expanding from here, cant wait to check out more! 🌸🍰💘

i am totally sold on of sense and soul after this! the amount of polish here is insane, and you guys did an amazing job at using the limitations in your favour versus bumping up against them. 

the use of a spinning background alone was a great workaround for the cg limitation, but combining it with the darkening/lightening and panning in and out of the graphic as well, it just elevates the visual storytelling done here into such a new level, bravo to ingthing for melting all of it together so seamlessly! it honestly feels theatrical in presentation, and i loved every minute of it.

max's voice is perfect for hugo, and they really do a great job of conveying the emotion that drips off of every one of hugo's lines. he seems like a real tender hearted softie, and i find it really endearing, especially when he talks about seamus. (i get such a kick out of imagining them as having met on victorian craigslist.)

and the writing too! i've always been particularly enamoured with stories set in a victorian setting, so i'm no stranger to the particular way you have to write those stories for them to not sound "off", but that's not at all an issue for ingthing it seems. the tone and vocabulary used are amazingly well done.

seriously just a GORGEOUS little game in every way, from script to visuals to audio, absolutely incredible. 🤎

oh my god erline is the most beautiful woman i’ve ever seen, the way i was blushing the whole time i played, i really felt how i imagined noraka must when they’re together… and she’s so charming too! just a really lovely character, i love how silently astute she is, she’s very well-spoken and seems to know noraka well enough that she’s like an open book to erline, even if that might not be the case with noraka usually. and it was really nice to explore the subject matter you do too, it was really well-executed and i appreciated it being a facet of their conversation/relationship but not dominating the whole discussion, you cover a broad spectrum of topics between these two that what's really such a short experience feels so jam-packed!

speaking of, i’m totally sold on her choice now! this was a really nice little peek into this world and some of its characters, and the chemistry between these two is so palpably accessible that they make for a perfect “preview” to what i imagine her choice must be!

i’m excited to play more of ur guys’ work if it’s anything as perfectly polished an experience as this was! stunning art, wonderful writing, enjoyable characterization, u guys have it all! amazing job :- ) 💜

(ps, the way my heart shattered when erline called noraka “old friend” vs “sweet friend”… i should be liable for financial compensation honestly 💔)

i am so unbelievably enamoured by ur art style it isn’t even funny. i was like a cartoon character with hearts in my eyes just staring at the cg you made, it not only looks beautiful but perfectly captures the visual sentiment of what i imagine this moment feels like to our main doll. it’s confusing, and saturated, and bleeds into itself, much like i imagine doll’s feelings about this reset.

BIG fan of this soundtrack too! perfectly compliments the atmosphere this game captures.🔧⚙️

was super interesting to replay so many times and continue to pull out further and further details about the operator and what being a doll is on so many rounds of playthrough, you’ve packed a lot into this little game and made it very well worth the players time and curiosity!

very intrigued to check out the rest of your works and i hope to see you work on something similar in the near future! :- )

LOVED this ui right off the bat, very inspiring deconstruction of the typical textbox/frame formatting.

i didn't pick up on it being a metaphor for asexuality until i read other comments here, but replaying through that lens really does add a new charm to the story! and the subtle nod to that context through the colour palette too is really smart and well-executed. 

overall a super cute little game! :- ) 🍰

i must begin my comment with: UR ART STYLE! IS GORGEOUS! 💜

the way these fantastical pinks and purples blend together to create such an oddly warm and welcoming atmosphere despite the impending destruction on its way was a really beautiful juxtaposition, and it all works together perfectly to foster a really bittersweet atmosphere.

i’m not sure if this was an intentional addition to our friends design or not, but the little angel wing on their ear makes me think of it being a detail meant to echo the fact that they’re our angel on earth in this moment, and that there’s no better place or person to spend that limited time with than them. it was very sweet.

it all just captures the feeling really well of a final moment with someone. i’ve had so many of these same moments in my life (minus the meteor part), where you both know it’s the last moment you’ll have together, but all you do is dance around the depth of that truth because to dive in it is too painful at the moment. so you don’t, and you just try to hold onto whatever part of that very moment you still have. really well done. <3 ☁️☄️

i was sold on this as soon as i booted it up and the menu/ui experience mirrored the feeling of booting up an old cd on an actual box tv, i’m a sucker for a full commitment to theme and that was a total nail in the coffin for me. 📺

already a big fan of haul’s character and am curious to see where he goes next assuming the chapter zero text implies this to be a prequel to something bigger. you managed to make him an incredibly charming and expressive character even with the jams limitations, and it was a real blast to play through a bunch of times just to hear his snarky comments on the stuff he sells you and whatnot. 

i laughed out loud when we called him suspicious and he took it as a compliment. that’s always the sign of a character i like. ;- )

LOVE! LOVE LOVE LOVE! AAAA!

everything about this is right up my alley, from the visuals to the story itself, and god was it ever executed well too! i’m really taken with the common thread between the pair of characters being their victimization to the same land, how for the demon he is victimized by being trapped and spoken of in a lying, deceitful way, accused of being something worse than he truly is, and for farm boy it’s that he is literally victimized by the community that claims to love him as they prepare him for a sacrifice of his own life to feed a land that clearly doesn’t love him. it was really nice to have a happier ending where the pair break free from these chains that bind them.

major props to brandon for their voice acting, they capture such distinctly different emotions and tones between the demon and farm boy perfectly, and it elevates this story to a whole new level to hear the characters brought to life in that way. 

totally enamoured with this art too, the colours melt so beautifully together, and the colour palette primarily boasting shades of oranges and greens really speaks to the duality of the characters as well, green being the life and naïveté of the farm boy while the orange is symbolic of the flame and ruin the community, and farm boy by extension, assume of the demon. LOVE intentional details in visuals like that! 🧡💚

this entry has totally sold me on your work, you’ve gained a new follow and fan in me! :- ) 

*edited to correct brandon's pronouns!

this was so funny, thalius has a really funny voice about them that i really got a kick out of a few times, which is impressive in such a short game! would totally love to see more of them as a protagonist, love a good disaster bisexual. 

i don’t personally consider myself ace, but still being a part of the queer community in other ways, i believe we all have a due diligence to learn more about our ace peers and listen to their experiences from a place of understanding, love, and acceptance so we can better support that facet of our community. like seo-jun says, not everyone gets it, but worse than that is that not everyone wants to get it, and that needs to change.

and this game is one of two that have personally taught me so much more about asexuality than i’ve ever stumbled upon before, and i am incredibly grateful that there are stories like this being shared for people like myself to play, listen to, and fully embrace with love and celebration.

it breaks my heart, to hear seo-jun’s dating history and experiences with sex being used as an expectance in his past relationships, and how his asexuality was deemed something broken that needed fixing, or that it otherwise somehow made seo-jun a boyfriend who didn’t love his partner. there's a human experience in there that i think is inherently relatable to many, but the added layer of his asexuality and how that must influence the internal experience of a situation like that makes for an incredibly emotional story and deeply sentimental understanding of that type of experience through seo-jun’s vulnerability.

my favourite line was iris, when she said that she was glad she could help seo-jun realize and accept that he’s normal. because he is, full stop. there is nothing abnormal or immoral or otherwise wrong about asexuality in any degree or form it may take in an individuals life, and there was something profoundly touching about iris explicitly communicating to her husband exactly that, that their relationship and her husband as an individual himself are both normal, just as much as anybody else they may know or meet.

wonderfully emotional experience from top to bottom, thank you for telling this story and allowing us to share in it with you. 🖤🤍💜🫂

i love the idea of exploring mind reading as a concept and how, whether a real ability julius has or not, it is so incredibly capable of ruining relationships when used to jump to assumptions that ultimately evade a healthy dose of much-needed context.

the snippets of mark's thoughts capture this perfectly, and given the words julius mind reads, it puts the audience in a really interesting limbo left to figure out whether he truly is listening in on mark's thoughts or if they're his own projected thoughts based on past shared experiences. that's great writing. :- )

i loved too that each ending explores this on a sort of sliding scale, with 1 being a really positive conversational experience for the pair of characters whereas ending 5 is drastically more intense. i think it really serves to drive home the degree to which mind reading can serve to sabotage our relationships based on a sliver of a bigger picture.

great job all around! ☕️

LOVE a story that changes so drastically in tone with hindsight, and INTRUDER did that wonderfully despite its restrictions. would love another glimpse into this world! 🛠🧬

as a huge fan of body horror, i was a big fan of this little game!

the outwards panning of the camera to show the player rosy's little tendrils decomposing our flesh was a really cool use of the single image limitation, and her further explanation of what it is to decompose, and the beauty of melting back into the cycle of life and death was a really comforting and poetic read.  it's a nice feeling, to put something known to what's often considered one of the greatest unknowns of our lives.

rosy is adorably pleasant company to decompose alongside, by the way. death via poisonous spore kiss really doesn't seem like the worst possible way to go... 🍄🪵💘

im sorry!! i wrote this q in a half-asleep stupor last night and wasnt quite sure how to communicate what i was wondering but i think i get it now! was just wondering what the parameters were for “common route” text :)

i thought if 3 lines of text are the same in every playthrough no matter what choices u make, that would be part of common route text and not count, vs the text that comes from the choice u make which would then change across each playthrough and thus count. i dont have a loop built into the gameplay, but players can obviously restart the game and are thus encountering the same base text until they make a choice, at which point new choice-relevant text appears.

idk if that explains it any better but i think i get it now anyways! :p + thank u im advance re: q # 2 as well!

when it comes to the rules re: common route text, does that essentially just include anything that is static and unchanging across the game no matter choices made? so as to make it that only choice-relevant text counts towards the total 1k word limit?

and would timestamps on text messages count towards that final 1k as well? i would like to use a text message format to communicate my story and want to use timestamps just to elevate that immersion but not at the cost of the total 1k. :)

so loose shes practically about to fall out (THANK U!!! for playing my game and leaving a lil comment like this, i cant wait to share more of it!!!! thank u for being so cool always🤘)

y’know when u read a comment and it makes u melt into a thousand tiny sobs? thats me with this comment right now. forever and always beyond grateful for ur support carrot, it truly means the absolute WORLD to me. 🌎🫶 

what can i say, nothing speaks to me more than tragic gays and an equally as tragic and gay little story. i know ur familiar with the type… heheh. but im glad u feel so curious as to hal and lins dynamic and their present as well! im beyond excited to get to continue to unfurl the pair of them and how they connect with the full release. ive sat on their story for a while until finally making it into loose tooth so im quite eager to share whats been brewing. ( and if hal could be any phrase, subdued hopelessness is honestly the best choice. ) and i promise the weight lifts as the story progresses, and there WILL be a happier ending than im sure u can imagine rn! maybe happy isnt the uh right word, but its certainly not hopeless. 👁

AH this comment has meant more to me than ull ever ever know! i will be framing it in my mind forever, this is all the motivation i needed to pick production back up with a spark. sending u a big digital high five for always being such a cheerleader, and forever waiting eagerly for more work from ur glorious mind too! :- ) 💕