It's hard for me to even know where to start with this one, but wow.
There's so much of this that really speaks to me, and not just as someone who's gay living in the UK. The way you handled the theme of toxic masculinity as an underlying force throughout the novel that claims to help men but only really serves to hurt & punish them while making them to lash out at those around them was impeccable, and the ending was a perfect mix of never feeling predictable while still staying true to the story that had come before it.
I'm actually quite a fan of the art style, personally. It took some getting used to but you did an excellent job conveying emotions with nothing but the photorealistic eyes, and despite the somewhat off-kilter look the characters manage to remain recognisable regardless. Hell, even if I didn't like the designs, the writing alone would be enough for me to stay attached to them; the main cast do a great job in their roles, and even when they're not acting particularly 'likeable' it's always in a way that improves the story and makes me want to read more rather than less.
Overall, I definitely think it was the right call to make Hartland the main POV over Carter; while I'm sure a window into Carter's thought process throughout the story would've been fascinating in its own right, I feel like Hartland would've felt a little bland without us being able to see his thoughts throughout, not to mention that him being an 'outsider' to the area itself helps add an extra layer to the borderline cultish vibe of scenes like the one after the gym workout that fits what the story is going for perfectly.
Overall, if I have any real criticisms it'd be that there's a couple typos here & there and it feels as though Lee gets shafted from the story somewhat after building up what feels like it's going to be an arc during the first half, but I can understand that both of these things are most likely the result of the game jam limitations than anything else.
While I'm a bit exhausted after the whole thing turned out to be a lot longer than I expected (......if you'll excuse the phrasing) I'm definitely glad I picked this one out as one of my first Novembuck projects to try.