Really cute setting, of course Machi is great, maybe they could be a sequel about them since they went out on adventures 😁

And I really like that the ending turns out not as blunt as you expect it to be because yes, communication is key!

i was originally drawn to this game because we have somewhat similar themes and settings in our games! (that and i love goblins). overall i had a fun time with your game, the message and the twist of the message was certainly a nice change of pace. i like the characters too. a very unusual realistic take on a fantasy setting. (michi is so real for that)

my biggest comment will be on the "cleaning" system. i found it nice and novel changing the frame of the battle to a cleaning session instead. but the repetitiveness of it without changing things up lost its charm by the second day to the point i was just mashing buttons to get through the fights. third day onwards i just started watching videos on the side to pass the time waiting for the next story beat. it would be nice to have some variety or challenge in the fights to keep the player engaged more.

otherwise, good work!

First of all I like the theme of the game, working is often hard, and as someone who spent 2 years stuck at a job I didn't like I understand that the feeling of being stuck doing the same thing over and over again while people surpass you in both life experience and skill. But I feel like it could've been handled a little better.  The game play feels frustrating and mindless, which fits the theme of the game but it feels so mind numbing. All battles last 2 turns (3 if you miss an attack) and are never more complicated than mashing the space bar and waiting for the animation to finish. The difficulty feels artificially made harder by increasing the amount of items you have to clean. It is never made clear when you're done. There were a few times where I thought I was done only to get sent back by Simon cause I missed a dust spot or forgot to fill a jar which have no visual change when finished. It turned a maybe, 10-15 minute game into a 30 minute slug fest. I also only got the second ending because I was saving regularly and had one on the last day. I do not think there should be an auto save at the game's ending. I think it the last auto save should be set at somewhere on Friday, maybe at the beginning of work or towards the middle. It'd make getting that second ending a lot easier than replaying through the entire game again. 

Especially with how dark the bad ending is and how insistent the game is on you getting it. It isn't the darkest ending but it comes out of left field when the world and characters you set up are all cute and fun. I have no problem with being cute with a dark undertone, plenty of games have done it well, but I feel like it never braced the player for something so needlessly dark. I don't mean to try to pry but I feel like this ending came from a very dark misunderstood place. 

I'll finish off with the good. I really really really loved the character portraits. They look rad  as hell.  I love the characters, they're all really fun and cute with different personalities. I know Machi is probably everyone's favorite but I think they're the cutest. I do like how Simon isn't written as some villain and is actually pretty nice but thinks you're capable of more and more work. I like the main menu art it looks really cool. I just wish that Gary portrait was used more, it isn't even on the pause or battle screen. The mapping was good, everything felt natural and the directions on where to go were clear. Overall, I feel like if it was a bit shorter it'd be better but you still did a good job.