itch.io

Fun, pretty relatable game; good to practise reaction time!

A super cute in artstyle little piece of ace representation! I also really really liked the writing and the way both rain and, the title-sake, petrichor were used as metaphors throughout; clever!

Very laggy, unplayably so, sorry

Really interesting way of using the "meta"/fourth wall break trope. The story and art are interesting too. Excited to see more of this potential game universe

It's cool! I like the twist and how it slowly develops, it's really eerie but in all the best ways and somewhat kooky

Certainly very cute in artstyle as well as in the little bits of voice acting here and there-quite the bit of an enjoyable brain teaser too! All in all it's a great quirky game to pass the time with. I just wish there was a way to save progress!! :(((

Usually not a huge fan of the pretty cliche trope, however the curse put a really fun and tragic spin on it. I enjoyed it alot! The artistic direction was nearly as good as the writing(which was, oh my god, so good in quality and metaphors and parallels, like the parallel between good end and bad end 1? AUGHHH), with the more anguished sprites being literally SO expressive. A tragic piece of art to be sure

DAMN. for a low effort jam??? This is fucking amazing, my god. The writing is so so great as is the subtle world building, but what really HIT me was the poignant indiscernible feeling of seeing the two of them fall down at the same time. Another one of those games that make me feel something so deep, yet indescribable. 

I must preface this with the fact that I don't have diagnosed OCD, but can empathise alot with the experience of having intrusive thoughts and compulsions due to my otherwise mental state at times as well as my Dermatillomania(which some argue is a form of OCD but I digress). That being said, in my humble eyes, I think the representation in this game is amazing, and the gameplay loop/elements perfectly capture the frustration and anxiety. A more subtle(?) thing I loved was the way that the FOV constricts the higher the anxiety, not only mimicking the tunnel vision given by repetitive thoughts and compulsions that you don't feel you have control over but also giving the player an unpleasant sensation that gradually worsens the longer a compulsion is delayed(again, mimicks the lived experience using its format as a game). It's all in all really clever and a GREAT tool imo to introduce people to/get people more familiar with what it's like to have OCD. 

Super high quality writing(I mean, wow) and even greater quality art(even if it's just one sprite. I must say, and this is not just limited to this game in particular but your games in particular, you draw people really pretty. Every character I've seen you draw has been positively charming)

Really clever use of typeface and the option to change it

SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRERTY OF MY COMMENT

I guess I’ll start with the non-narrative features(well to the best of my ability without interweaving narrative into it) and go from there. Besides the music being amazing at both setting the whimsically regal tone of the setting as well as adding great emotion in a lot of moments(though I must add I found myself bouncing in my seat at the house party music), I really really liked that the CGs are so dynamic. They don't feel like illustrations, but more like elaborations on a scene, with how many different expressions and poses there are in some of them. Really gives certain scenes that extra punch they need, and varies up the gameplay experience. Speaking of diversifying the gameplay experience! This VN really uses the trope of non-linear story-telling to its advantage. It conceals information when needed to allow for more meaningful twists and character development, but also diversifies the experience by breaking up longer chunks of story into more interesting bits and pieces to draw the reader in, wondering how the pieces fit together. The "reports" section in particular I feel acts as a FANTASTIC narrative hook.

The minigames certainly give the game a great edge and add a little bit of stakes and excitement, which are great and also vary up the gameplay. I guess I have to bring in the narrative here a little bit since my point then flows nicer, but I like how the introduction of “concepts” from which spells are crafted is incorporated into said minigames. While I’m on the topic of magic, I might as well ease into narrative comments a little. The world building is really grounded, and the use of magic is mostly great throughout the story. I particularly liked the set up and pay off of quirks using the glamours masquerade. I do feel that in some circumstances it feels like things were invented simply to give Q plot armour, but alas, this isn't too often and it mostly inevitable when dealing with magic in a story. Otherwise, the different schools of magic feel grounded in pretty sound logic(with how their linked to the aforementioned concepts) giving this a sense of realism that really just makes it, relatable, I guess? Idk how to phrase my words here but it's a good thing.

I guess my only non-narrative critique would be that there is a slight pacing issue towards the beginning, where it drags for a bit, then the revelation of Q being an assassin is paced super quickly, only to drag for a little bit afterwards. After that, though, the pacing evens out, so I figure this was just growing pains from when the VN was in earlier stages of development. Speaking of the Q being an assassin twist, I feel it is very well done! Yes, you can see it coming if you're real perceptive, but that just means there is great foreshadowing up to it. Also liked the use of the trash bin stalker as a red herring to help ease some of the potential predictability of the hints earlier on. Like, for example, when Q inquiries about using magic to hurt someone; the red herring here perfectly serves its purpose as the reader is more inclined to believe that Q wants a means of self-defence against a perceived stalker!

It was also surprisingly refreshing to see a "meaningful choices" type of VN(where choices affect endings) that doesn't bombard you with meaningless, filler choices that don't have much payoff in the end. Really nice to see choices kept to the more critical decisions made along the story, idk, it’s just nice. Upon completing my initial run and going back on some of my choices I was very surprised to find just how DEVELOPED some choices were. Sure, some of them were still what you would expect; a scene and some dialogue and then a premature "bad end". I was expecting this to be the case for most, if not all, and these expectations were entirely blown out of the park. Some of my favourites were the entirety of the "I can't" epilogue(which especially sparked my interest with the mysterious figure at the very end speaking in blue, I mean, what was up with that???Explain???gahhh I'm so curious) and the way that not coming clean to Milo willingly had an entirely DIFFERENT set of events that, while feeling completely natural, eventually looped back to the ending gained otherwise. I was really impressed by that, and I love love loved the extra exploration of the characters of Milo and Q as well as their relationship and the intricacies of trust that it provided. T'was also cool to see the court system with the Sages in action.

Speaking of characters, as I progressed through the story, I came to enjoy just how developed everyone felt. Sure, ALOT of focus was placed on Milo and Q, naturally so, their relationship being the centrepiece of this entire story after all. I particularly liked the exploration of the effects of military training on Q, and the complex that Milo felt towards Wren with how he wasn't protective of him entirely as a person, but by partially objectifying him as an asset to be secure and kept safe(which not only links nicely into their existing issues when it comes to their charm, but also provides yet another nice parallel to Q, with how Q was also seen as a valuable asset by Reed.) I do believe that Milo is ever so slightly "cinnamon bun"ified with how he "always sees the good in people" and forgives Q just a little bit too quickly in my opinion(though I think this might just be a pacing issue, after all, I don't think the sheer length of time it would realistically take someone to forgive and regain trust after something like this is doable in a VN without major time skips that just wouldn't work with the urgency of the plot, ie the Organisation being quite literally on their tails). This is mostly remedied however, by giving a good explanation as to why Milo is so against murder(the death of his former teacher), while also giving him morally grey qualities such as dabbling in the dark arts. All in all this is just a slight nitpick that is wayyy outweighed by the otherwise character writing and development. Especially with Ending B, where we see that, despite forgiving Q partially, there are still very real consequences to the choices we choose to make. In my humble personal opinion this is the canon ending, to me at least, as the choices I made to get there felt the most realistic for Q(with the aforementioned military conditioning and all) and less "idealised" than Ending A(which is adorable as wish fulfilment in its own right, don't get me wrong)

Me gushing about the endless complexities of the two and their relationship aside, I liked the subtler developments to the rest of the cast to give them more personality. I do sincerely like Wren, despite him being atleast partially morally grey. Actually, speaking of morally grey characters(well this one leans slightly more towards the darker side of grey but alas). Loved the way that you wrote T morally grey. It would've been so easy to make him a crappy abusive ex with little to no dimension, but I really liked the way his motivations and own insecurities were explored(not justifying, but providing the reasoning for why he acted the way he did). Also really enjoyed the way that these insecurities this caused Q mimicked Milo’s own insecurities with his previous relationship let downs also being focused on his bodily appeal rather than “genuine love”. I really, really also liked June as a supporting character. From her realistic outburst at learning about who Q is, all the way to the GREAT further payoff of the quirks set up, it’s nice. Just a little cliche with the soulmates trope, but fun nonetheless. Speaking of set-ups and payoffs, I just really really liked how so many things in the story were set up, only to payoff really well

However, my last complaint comes in the mishandling of the ending, in my personal opinion at least, in this regard of set ups and payoffs. With all the talk of an "informant", I was hoping the reveal would be that it was someone among the cast(perhaps it was the guy who brought the kill order into the equation using the glamour, I might be being an airhead...), but it really didn't feel like it paid off at all. My bigger problem was just...Phelps?? The entire plot-twist with him being the one to suggest they get rid of T, it just felt like it had no set-up at all; it felt a bit like a cheap twist to give Q just that one more emotional moment in regards to T, where I felt that aspect of his character and the insecurities it caused were mostly delt with earlier on in the game and lingered just as much as they ought to have in the background as a part of Qs character. Idk, I really just don't think it was necessary(despite seeing how, perhaps, the set up here was the mentions of others bullying Q at the facility. Then again, I thought this was much rather to serve the development of T as a possessive individual, idk).

But my various nitpicks and criticisms aside, I do only mean them as constructive criticism and attempted to phrase them as such so I’m sorry if I came off rude or anything because I really, truly enjoyed my time with this game. It was entirely whimsical and fun and tense in all the right moments and, despite dragging a little as I already mentioned, kept me hooked all the way throughout by getting me to really care about the characters and all their various complexities, I really couldn’t recommend this one enough. You don’t need me to reiterate how much I enjoyed a game if I write a whole ass essay on why I liked it in comments, do you? (Though maybe, just maybe, include an estimated runtime on the game page? I really didn’t expect this to take up a whole 14ish hours of my time, but I’m glad it did ahaha)

Garlic is infact VERY silly. Send my praises to the VA, they did such a wonderful job fully conveying the whimsy of this...particular individual/compliment

While there is really no narrative to speak of(/not an insult, just an observation), the writing absolutely CARRIES this game. The continous inner monologue so beautifully encapsulates so many feelings, all wrapped up in the extended metaphor of seasonal language. Touched something deeply inside of me, that's for sure

my game always crashes when I try to inspect the food? Is this intentional? it doesn't feel so. I've done everything else around the cottage soooo

Oh I LOVE the premise of this, it's so creative and eerie. Really captured that uncanny valley creepy aspect of talking to AI sometimes. I'm super curious as to what the binary and russian(?) said but alas I am too lazy try to decode it ahaha. But yeah, it's a really interesting premise and executes the horror really well. The endings, aside from the visitor, don't really make sense to me? Unless the player is also inside some form of simulation that means the world outside can just change like that. But the visitor ending certainly gives you the chills for sure!

(also love to see fellow poles out here, and creating such an interesting and well-drawn vn? mannn, it's nice)

Certainly a silly, fun game and premise. Really liked the artstyle, and ESPECIALLY the little dynamic cutscene of making the snow man

Super wholesome and fun. Like, the premise is such a cool and quirky spin on a christmas party sort of tale. Loved all the characters through and through, and the voice acting was SUPERB, really brought everyone to life. Also really like the diverse representation of different cultures here, it just feels so natural, and not forced

Spooky with intriguing world-building. I am just ITCHING to find out where this goes and what the deal is with this funky lil fella we play as 

Cute, loved it. As another person said, very reminiscent of Papa's games; a very good thing! Also the timer gave it that little extra kick of difficulty that it needed to make gameplay more tense and therefore enjoyable

Oh this was just the CUTEST. Absolutely adorable and whimsical, and the inner thoughts of the cat were really well written imo. I also really loved the dynamic between Iggy and Baba, so so adorable(also love fairly accurate, not "evil ugly hag" witch representation!!!). 

Dope as hell omg. Wish i got around to playing it during the jam so that I could've contributed to ranking TwT. 

SPOILERS IN THE REST OF MY COMMENT!!!

Well! Either way, it's a super solid game. I'm genuinely really impressed with just how much this drew me in near instantly, an interest that only grew throughout the course of the game. On the surface, this is like, the furthest from the types of games/stories I normally enjoy(/not negative, just a personal preference usually), but MANNN did I enjoy myself with this. I think it partly had to do with how great the set up is; I think the moment I was hooked was with that first scene of Kyle getting bitten by the cow. Immediatelly made me think this would be a mad cow disease transferred to humans sort of deal. And then it gradually became more of a skin walker/mycelium hivemind type of deal which is even MORE interesting. The game really justifies it's run time and never looses me/makes me feel like I'm clicking through pointless fodder to get through to the meat of the story. 

 I love love LOVE all the characters and how unique you made them all feel. Especially camp 1, everyone there feels like their own person and that just makes em all really likeable. I particularly enjoyed Lorenzo and Aston for both just how cute of a couple they are but also the slow-burn heartwrenching tragedy that is happening, as well as Gregory in the moral dilemma his character resides within, I really feel for the guy :(((

The art is great, it's realistic enough to lend a hand to the horror aspect but also stylised enough to give is a charm that is great and SUPER pretty. My only critique vaguely would be the voice acting, and, well, not actually the acting itself per se-the acting is great! Not too exhaggerated, but also emotive enough to feel real and engaging(the sound processing/quality is also AMAZING, it genuienly feels like a movie huge props to you). My only issue would be that you've casted relatively similarly sounding people?? I wouldn't be able to pick out a character by voice, especially the male characters, they all sound too similar to me. But that might just be a me issue with remembering and recognising such a varied cast!

Either way, I really can't find any faults in this otherwise, well aside from leaving me on such a darned cliff hanger!!! Can't wait to see where this goes. 

Dope af way to explore the concept of breaking the fourth wall within a game, messed me up a little but in a good way. Thought provoking

SPOILERS!!

AMAZING deconstruction of various forms of misogyny in society; no themes are left untread imo-even the toxic masculinity side is mention, and in a tactful way that doesn't make the girl feel responsible for staying with him out of pity. Afterall, even if there is reasoning, pity inducing reasoning behind the way he is, he still has had and has free will. He has still hurt her and will likely continue to do so. And it's not her responsibility to deal with that.

 I also liked the use of the "reprogramming" metaphor for what would otherwise be manipulation and abuse. The changes in code being the degradation and erasure of her sense of self, sense of choice. The clear pain in the resets likely representing abuse especially. 

All in all a great tool to spread awareness of the many ways misogyny affects the lives of women that I think anyone would benefit from playing through. Great game, great use of the medium, great message. 

Oh yeah I think those more enthusiastic about greek myth than me(as unfortunately i am not) would appreciate the usage of the tale to critique misogyny too!

SPOILERS!!!

Like the unique spin on the fact that it's usually demons stealing and/or eating souls. The comedy was also nice. OST funky, too/pos

The game-page premise didn't originally draw me in, so I'm super glad that I chose to give this a ago in the end(after playing and falling inlove with carrot's artstyle in their games ahaha), since my oh MY is it alot more than it seems on the surface. I really liked the character dynamics, the way mental health topics were handled, it all just felt very real and authentic, but in an approachable way. You could sort of see the end twist coming but that didn't tape away from it's gut punch impact in the slightest

LOVED the folklore vibes here, and the mystery behind and witch as well as the moral debates that it brought up. The music and visuals were absolutely KILLER, too. I wish I managed to play this in time to rate it on the Spooktober jam :((

I liked it. The lack of payoff to the build up was a little dissapointing but the clever use of the "all letters in the alphabet" sentence to elaborate on the horror was cool, and when mixed with the dread of being timed and not making mistakes made it feel rather spooky of an experience

I liked it, it's perfectly spooky and kooky! Doesn't take itself too seriously either, which lends way to some pretty fun comedic parts too. Like the little bit of world-building and mystery, but the most interesting thing about this that I don't think I've seen before is how you can choose whose perspective you'll play from

REALLY liked the character designs and the expressiveness of the sprites. Even if the story was a little confusing and felt unfinished(because seriously how do you get endings other than 1 and 2??) I liked the world-building, mystery and just mostly the shenanigans and interactions between the two main characters

Eerie, I loved it! The atmosphere was great and the art is absolutely stunning and the style fits said atmosphere like a charm. I also really enjoyed the skinwalker vibes coupled with analog horror. The story also built up suspense really well and I think the horror was well executed. My main issue would be with the functionality of the game. No settings, and the UI is not intuitive at all which broke immersion a couple times trying to figure out how to leave the save file screen(the little "close" button in the corner is so god damn small and doesn't stand out in any way, poor design choice in terms of functionality imo.). Loved the analogue horror vibe, but the text was a little hard to read and would cut off a good couple times at the bottom of the screen(mostly towards the beggining of the game).

Although I'm a lil confused at the sudden ending like that with no explanation, it feels like a good choice. It leaves the entire story up for interpretation in a good way imo. Have the feeling it's a metaphor for their friend; they are the friend that they recently helped get away from a toxic friend group that was weighing them down, and letting go of their friend in the "go back" ending symbolised that. Even outside of such interpretations, the story is still cool in the way it builds up the unease masterfully. LOVED the artistic direction, as well as the choice to add movement, it's a nice addition that makes you feel like you're doing just a little more than pressing through dialogue and breaks up the monotony. I guess my sole critiques would be that I wish there were more choices to be had to make it more interactive, and that, atleast on my pc, the text looked a little low resolution(unless that's intentional!)

Really really like the simplistic artstyle and the symbolism of either a black or white background depending on the route you take. Although the story is a teensy bit predictable it is charming all the same, and perfectly eerie in the dark path. My main issue would have to be the voice acting. Don't get me wrong, there are some really good performances imo, like Alice and Julie, but some of the other characters, while certainly protraying the uniqueness of their character in their voice, they overdo it just a little imo. The overdramatic emphasis on every single word gets annoying, fast. I appreciate it takes effort to strike a good balance between not being too monotone/bland and being like this, but I felt the constructive criticism in this regard was much needed, sorry

Although I'm not entirerly clear on what's happening, the commentary of grief, particularly the denial stage with bits of anger, depression and acceptance sprinkled in is clear. I also get the feeling Viola may not have been the best person, but perhaps that was just the entity being possesive(pun intended) and manipulative. The spook factor and overall art is great, too, especially the sprites! So expressive! My only issue would be with voice acting. The lines just feel a little, bland? But also unnecesarily sly and menacing, near every single one of Viola's lines feels like it has exactly the same "evil" intonation and it gets old pretty quick.  But that's not the main issue, the main issue was with audio processing. Some lines would randomly cut off without warning, in a way that was clearly not intentional(ie not partial voice acting). And for some of the branching paths dialogue from previous ones would play while text displayed route-appropriate. Probably bugs but still

Really liked it! Especially the pacing of the story and how it's not too dificult to not get game-overs while still making you feel clever for using your intuition. Love how the characters are developed as people, it makes things alot more immersive and makes you care alot for the characters. Mentioned endings already, but I just HAVE to say that there is a great variety in endings. Other than that, the visuals are absolutely outstanding!!! The light animation, especially in the intro sets the mood oh so well and really adds to the aesthetic appeal as well as the colour/stylistic choices made. Also reminded me of MLP infection AUs lol/pos

Really liked it! Especially the pacing of the story and how it's not too dificult to not get game-overs while still making you feel clever for using your intuition. Love how the characters are developed as people, it makes things alot more immersive and makes you care alot for the characters. Mentioned endings already, but I just HAVE to say that there is a great variety in endings. Other than that, the visuals are absolutely outstanding!!! The light animation, especially in the intro sets the mood oh so well and really adds to the aesthetic appeal as well as the colour/stylistic choices made. Also reminded me of MLP infection AUs lol/pos

Couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get endings other than running outta money or dying to cuthulu, but I enjoyed myself alot nontheless! Loved the satrirical take on "beyond humanity" powerful mf creature assimilates to humanity plot; had myself a good few chuckles throughout. All in all a fun game!

Gave me indescribable feeling. Like, I feel something deep after playing this but, I just can't decipher it. Thank you all the same, though!

If I can say one thing, it's that I enjoyed the gimick of having to choose different name each time. It gave me the chance to explore truly being all the names I've gone through over the years, and that nice. Oh! I also liked the duality in the end of the world being what you saw it to be. That was quite poetic I think

WONDERFULLY written; I swear! I love the slow progression shown through the emails. What I found ESPECIALLY clever pacing was the denial from MC, followed by a single crow caw. MASTERFUL.

Really good both art and story wise. The scream is very reminiscent of a machine making a horrible screeching sound as something goes wrong, and that coupled with the existenial horror that is beyond our understanding(since we don't get an in-depth explanation), which fosters whatever horrible truth the brain could infer from his few words of, assumably, pain.