Hi there!

I'm one of the 6 judges for this RPG Maker Game Jam 2025. I was one of the 2 judges assigned to your game, and we have been assigned to rate your games according to each metric highlighted on the game's main jam page, and submit these ratings to the organisers, who will then appropriate what happens with that. Please contact them in the Q&A if you have any further questions about the judging process. The judges will work on different time schedules, so even if I may have finished playing your game, the entire process might not be finished as of yet. Many of these reviews I am posting while still judging.

All that aside, I'd like to share my VOD of me playing your game, which contains up to an hour of gameplay, and some final thoughts at the end! Depending on whether I stopped the VOD early or not, it will also contain many of the thoughts that I say to you below, which may cause repetition. So just be aware of that.

I will also attach a review below this VOD. I will not disclose my ratings for each category as of yet, but those will be revealed in due time. Not all judges are required to post a review or VOD to each game, but many will do so even if it's optional, including myself.

Here's the VOD:

Well, it's safe to say that this game is a banger. I really do think there's so many ideas present here that are innovative, interesting and full of character. Certainly, the idea of using an OS and a blogosphere and a revival project and a instant messaging client and a graphical image editor and a files/folders simulation to sort of cobble together this collage of videos, images, posts, messages and a central game is an idea worthy of the many elements that comprise it. They weave together their details, their mysteries, their gameplay solutions, into a mystery that is worth pursuing, and I personally found some resonant messaging and feeling towards.

There's pangs here of internet celebrity culture, culpability of actions in friendship, leaving messages in early internet era via obscure media, and the investigative unravelling of a legacy that perhaps should have been kept hidden all along? I'll leave the player to judge that one.

It's difficult to make a game within a month that has resonance beyond just "oh, fun game". And this game definitely succeeds in that... well, I was going to say "mission", but perhaps the developer just wanted to tell a cool story? I think there's some staying power here, regardless.

Because this is one of the few entries in this jam (and there have been a few, I'll give that credit) that stuck with me in the weeks following my playthrough. And that's what a TRULY great game does.

The ways it bucks expectations are obvious. There's fourth wall breaking WITHIN the fourth wall breaking, and there's layers of rooms and operating systems and games. Well - three layers, I guess. :P These contribute to this multi-layered discovery of a person both directly through conversation and then secondarily through their art.

Assuming also that a "series of blog posts" qualifies also as art. What drew the crowd to be so obsessed with Kana? I'm not so sure. But the thoughts of its target may not be so simple. And yet Kana themself feels very, achingly human in their desperate attempt to connect with humanity.

I dunno, it seems hard to discuss this game purely in terms of technical merit, but there's great graphics here, great sound design, some really innovative gameplay mechanics - namely, scrolling through messages and finding clues and using story to create solutions within the game itself - and it's just a series of massive "Eureka!" moments that you discover one after the other.

Also, I'm kinda silly... I only found one ending, but I realised later that there were at least two, because I watched someone else play. Either way, my time with kana.exe was an immense one. I enjoyed it very much, and I thought about it for days to weeks after, now and again.

What a marvellous horror mystery game you've created. Keep making incredible games. You're awesome.

Just played this game with my friend, and I can't believe I actually stuck at the naming png was so longg cause I'm so clueless JSJSJJSSJJ. Manage to finish both the endings by watching playthrough though. The concept was so interestinggg and Kana is so cute. 100% gonna recommended this to my friends. Tbh, Hatoge is so GOATED.

Yo, what?

This is the only entry of the jam that kept me engaged closer to 100% of its duration so far. I loved the free narration that you can explore on the internet: the interface was really surprisingly responsive and immersive, and the small puzzles you had to solve in a meta ambient of the desktop. And the yume nikky gameplay was integrated in a very smart way.
I'm not really a fan of yume nikki-like games, since they make zero to no sense at first glance for the player (and so it's just confusing), but here I can easily get over it given the context behind it, so I experienced it in a different perspective (which is good).

You played a dangerous game (and literally so did the protagonist XD), since cryptic games risk to not be enjoyed if the player doesn't get anything at all, but here I feel like there was a good amount of information to let the player at least try to figure out and understand something on their own.
I don't have anything negative to say about it, maybe the only thing was that navigating the digital hub (the first in the game) was not super-clear, I would have appreciated more reference points to not get lost every time. And the save option in the game working differently was a little unnecessary and unintuitive.

So far, this is definitely my favorite game of the jam, congratulations! I would definitely love playing a longer version of this!
Here's the VOD: 

Oh, sorry. Someone is knocking on my door. I'll continue the review later-

I got so scared I have to stop playing this at night....the horror atmosphere is that good. It's always a delight to see your games and this one's no exception! The gameplay's really immersive and also impressed at how much is there to explore considering it's a 1 month jam!  

It definitely reminds me of yume nikki and those old internet stories....I felt nostalgic while playing this.  I haven't got all the endings yet but I love all the details scattered through the game that allows you to piece everything together. Amazing stuff. 

This is definitely a "me" game. Vibes are perfect, and I really like the idea of changing things in a game's files to affect it. It's really impressive how pretty everything looks.  Unfortunately, I got stuck after solving the window.png puzzle. Booting up kana would stick me back at the computer. I messed around with a bit, but I couldn't figure it out. 

Very cool little game that plays with meta elements. Has tons of art, very impressive that you got so much packed into it in such a short time. I like that it is unlike the average walking simulator experiential type of games in that it includes some actual puzzling to be done that requires a bit of thought and observation without being overly obtuse. Very much an experience that can only be made as a game. Got both of the currently available endings. I did encounter a bug that was already previously mentioned.

I can't say I quite understand the story it's telling, it is very light on details, but it's certainly engaging and I certainly have some theories. Also, Kana is quite cute.

Very good job! Please finish it after judging time is over.

My windows security alert popped up right when I opened File003 and I nearly shit myself.

Seriously great work! This is super reminiscent of old ARGs and working together with the community to solve them (cause I sure wasn't smart enough to do some of the puzzles without checking the forum). Reminds me of a cross between Yumme Nikki and Irisu Syndrome, which was fantastic. 

Also as someone who also did a meta/lost media game concept for this jam, it was cool to see the way you did everything, it was incredible!