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(+3)

You likely don't realize what you've accomplished with this game.

I have been a hypno-enthusiast for many years.  For me, however, it was only fictional.  Nothing that was supposed to hypnotize me seemed like it had any effect.  Maybe I couldn't be hypnotized.  Maybe being hypnotized just felt exactly the same as if nothing happened at all.

So I downloaded the game and unpacked the archive.rpa file.  I read over the suggestions and decided that they all seemed acceptable.  Well, almost all:  I used your in-game option to disable standing, as jumping jacks would be a problem.

I launched the game, planning on following along, but not expecting anything to happen.  As the induction proceeded, it was clear that it was very high quality.  Telling the reader to click is a clever way to get the reader used to obeying the hypnotist when you absolutely have to click in order to proceed.  Having a dark overlay with ever increasing alpha as the induction proceeded was a clever way to make it look like everything else but Hypno-chan and her words were fading away.

As I finished the countdown, I felt relaxed, but didn't expect anything to happen.  I'd seen many countdowns before, after all.

Then Hypno-chan snapped her fingers.  My eyes involuntarily slammed shut, then slowly drifted back open so that I could continue to read.  Well that was a surprise.  I had never anything remotely like that happen at any point in my life.  A few seconds later, she snapped her fingers again, and again, my eyes slammed shut.  Then she did it again.  And again.

Soon, I was meowing like a cat, getting my arm stuck in the air, and verbally agreeing with whatever Hypno-chan said.  I was playing along to some degree, as I had certainly intended to try obeying all of her commands.  But I didn't expect it to feel so automatic to obey whatever she said without thinking about it.

I wasn't sure if I had been hypnotized for real or not.  It was certainly very different from anything I had ever experienced before.  But the session only takes about five minutes, so I decided to try again.

Within a few sessions, Hypno-chan had trained me well enough to drop for her finger snaps that even the very short induction quickly took me into a deep trance.  I would go on to obey everything she asked without thinking about it.  Well, almost everything:  no matter how loud she wanted me to talk, I only ever whispered.

Hypno-chan succeeded where all others had failed.  Nothing else had even managed to get me into even a light trance.  So basically, she is the world's greatest hypnotist.  I say that only half in jest.

So why did Hypno-chan succeed where nothing else did?  I think that part of the problem is that audio fundamentally doesn't work for me.  I'm not deaf:  my hearing is actually pretty good as measured by whether I can tell if quiet sounds are present.  But I just don't process audio well.  If I listen to some audio recording, the effect is always the same:  boredom, annoyance, and "why do I have to listen to this stupid thing?"  I can listen if I have to, but it's mentally strenuous to do so, which is not compatible with the relaxation necessary for hypnosis.

I didn't say an audio *hypnosis* recording.  The effect is the same whether it is a podcast, music, an academic lecture, or anything else.  Videos that rely heavily on listening to people talk have a similar effect on me, and that includes most movies and television shows.  Most hypnosis is either purely audio or at least relies heavily on listening to the hypnotist's voice.  If that doesn't work for me in any other context in life, then it shouldn't be surprising that it doesn't work as a way to be hypnotized.

There are other text hypnosis scripts online, of course.  Most of them are written with the intent that the hypnotist will read them aloud, often with stage directions to the hypnotist that are not intended to be literally read aloud.  Scripts that are designed for the reader to be hypnotized directly by reading a wall of text also don't work for me, as I just process the information in an academic way and don't relax at all.

There are also programs designed to hypnotize you by having text appear at various times.  But if it's set intervals, that's not going to work, either.  Go too fast and I'll miss some suggestions.  Too slow and my mind will wander off as I think about lunch or sports scores or some political scandal or whatever.

This game allows me to click ahead to get the next suggestion on my own timing.  That way, Hypno-chan always gives me the suggestion exactly when I'm ready for it, not too soon and not too late.  That seems obvious, but I'm not aware of any other games that go that route.

So basically, you made it possible for people like me who fundamentally think in terms of text rather than audio to experience hypnosis.  I haven't tried this, but I would bet pretty heavily that most professional hypnotists would be unable to do that if they didn't already know of your solution.  At minimum, no one else actually had.  And that's really impressive.

Hypno-chan repeatedly hypnotized me to leave a nice comment about the game.  You go deeper into a trance if you obey everything that the hypnotist asks, so here it is.

I do have one quibble about the game, though.  Audible finger snapping is a major part of the induction.  Hypno-chan trained me that every time she snaps her fingers, my eyes slam shut, I go deeper into a trance, and then my eyes drift back open so that I can continue reading.  I'm aware that the intent was for that to only happen if she said "sleep" in addition to snapping her fingers.  But the way that I process it is that I hear the snap, then my eyes slam shut and I go deeper into a trance, and then my eyes drift open and I can see what she said.  The effect is the same whether or not she said "sleep" because I can't see what she said until after I've already gone deeper into a trance.

In most of the script, that works pretty well, and may even be beneficial.  Having that happen at the very end of the wake sequence is sub-optimal, however.  Maybe Hypno-chan just wants me to stay in a trance and hang around for another session.

(+2)

Wow, I wasn’t expecting to get something like this. I’m glad you were able to enjoy it so much, and that it had such a strong effect on you! She had the perfect little set up to lead you under her spell, didn’t she? I know Hypno-chan would be ecstatic reading this. And she’d probably start getting full of herself… though she is clearly a good hypnotist, so she deserves the praise a little, at least.

It is really awesome you were able to experience real hypnosis though! It is a unique experience, especially the first time. I’m somewhat in the same boat as you were though, where I’m not really sure if they’ve actually worked or if I’m just following along, though I have enjoyed whatever it is I’ve felt. I do relate to text-based hypnosis not really having any effect (though I also don’t really give it much of a chance since it doesn’t seem like it would work; and I don’t think a video where you read text could ever hypnotize someone.) So that is probably part of why the game is slightly imperfect: given my experiences. Though since it is a game, everyone can react to it differently, so instantly closing your eyes at the snap is understandable. Honestly, I do think hypnosis is more effective if your eyes are closed, but of course, that doesn’t work with this medium. The part about being snapped back into trance at the end is really funny though. You’re just not allowed to leave, it seems! Your mind wants to stay in trance. But it can be nice and relaxing to just sit there, you know?

Although sadly I haven’t truly been able to experience hypnosis quite like this where you’re told to perform “fun” actions. That was kind of my main motivation to make this: I like hypnosis that tells you to perform actions, rather than imagining stuff or only doing 1 single action. Like you’re at a stage show or something and not in therapy. And a program that makes its own random and unique sessions seemed like the perfect method! Honestly, I don’t think the full potential of the concept really struck me. Being able to read and experience at your own pace really does heighten the experience. Being slow and boring is pretty common in the types of games that inspired this (I won’t go into detail on them, but they’re about instructing the player to “touch something.”) And of course, it applies to hypnosis too, and if anything, the feeling is worse there because you want to be feeling something — to be in a trance — but instead you’re stuck thinking “when does it get good or start working?” Something that a professional probably wouldn’t think about is how when you’re engrossed in a game, you’re actually in a trance, so I took advantage of that trance state and turned it into a hypnotic one!

The game probably has done more for others than I initially expected — like it has with you. Hell, it’s already done better than I expected in terms of reception and the number of downloads. Maybe it would be a good idea to try adding more suggestions, but being I have to keep it SFW, I kind of ran out of ideas…

Anyway, thank you for playing the game and having fun with Hypno-chan :)

(+1)

There are several reasons why I believe that I'm very difficult to hypnotize.  It's not just about audio, though that is the hardest one to work around.  There are some that I'm unwilling to explain for privacy reasons.

But there are also some that I will explain.  I'm a very cautious person, and if you had only shipped the .rpyc files without the .rpy source code, I'd have been very scared of what Hypno-chan would hypnotize me to do.  I probably wouldn't have been able to drop into a trance even if I wanted to.

Another is that I'm very prone to fixate on throwaway lines that seem "wrong".  For example, a lot of inductions say "twice as deep" or "ten times deeper" or some such, which asks me to quantify trance depth.  That would completely ruin it for me.

These are things that a professional hypnotist could easily work around, of course.  But a recording made by someone who wasn't customizing it for me likely wouldn't.  It's kind of a fluke that Hypno-chan didn't try any of the things that would wreck it for me.