itch.io

i just finished my first in game week, and oh boy, am i excited about this rpg! i love a cozy journaling game, and it gave me an excuse to use an adorable journal with a mushroom cover (formally slotted to be my next personal journal, but that was taking too long). it's amazing how much the author managed to pack into one page, and i think it strikes the perfect balance between guiding the player and giving us freedom to write our own story :)

i haven't even explored all this game offers (beefed my first dungeon in the first room, and i'm still waiting for that to reset so i can try again), and i'm having a blast. highly recommend to anyone who enjoys journaling rpgs, especially if you're a fan of things like stardew valley, gravity falls, or other stories that weave together small towns, slowly growing to be a part of a community, and intertwining nature and the paranormal. 

i'm honestly in shock that this game is free! it's amazing. i spent an afternoon with it and unlocked every ending, i believe (or at least every CG). for anyone wondering, the order i went in was margret, bemelle, lu, and then the guide, which i honestly feel was great for unlocking the ~ lore ~ in a more metered way (minor spoilers, but the guide's endings basically ONLY made sense because i'd already played lu's). even though i saw some of the bigger plot points coming, the way they were revealed were still fun + shocking! and i definitely didn't predict them all. 10/10 :)

Just wanted to come back and say I've finished the game! I don't know how y'all managed to make a story that impactful with just a few  images and words, but it was a really really lovely, powerful, and comforting tale. Again, thank you <3

I'm not Digital Poppy, but for what it's worth, I went and replayed after reading this comment! (SPOILERS AHEAD) My gut instinct has always been to help Trixie stand up for herself and her needs, but I also kept getting the ending where she wrote on the walls, no matter which one it was w/r/t the cabin. This time around I took some of the shyer/more anxious choices, and Trixie seemed to take things differently insight wise (scissors instead of knife, 'dark figure' was a bathrobe, unafraid of parsnip, etc). Other than my social actions, it was the same playthrough as before. However, she wrote her report on paper rather than on the walls, so hey, advocating for her needs def impacts her insight somehow!

EDIT: Of course, NOW I can't decide which ending corresponds to high insight and which is low. Maybe she writes on her walls because she saw The Truth and it broke something (very Lovecraft)! Maybe she writes on the walls because she's having a stress related meltdown and none of the spooky shit is real! Who knows!

aaaaah this game is so UNIQUE! not being able to see trixie's insight score keeps the whole thing mysterious. i love that the subtle differences across playthroughs means that the story is pieced together over multiple tries.  i've played through two routes so far (bell and gregg) and gotten two dramatically different endings, but i'm definitely going to try again with heidi's arc too! the skip button means that subsequent playthoughs are easy/quick too, esp since it automatically stops when you reach new content.  also, like others have already pointed out, seeing a cast of LGBT chars is so fucking great (even if we're watching them all slowly unravel from c o s m i c  h o r r o r).

I've only finished two worlds so far, but this is SUCH a soothing/melancholy puzzle game. The art and the music work together perfectly. It was a part of the racial justice bundle, but for only 3 dollars (4, when it isn't on sale) this would well worth it for new buyers too. Thank you! 

i looooooooooooooved this game! i got it as part of the racial justice bundle, but i think it would be well worth the 10 bucks too. who knew TYPING could be so stressful and so rewarding, all at once? 

first, the art is lovely, and the story is a unique/emotional journey! however, it didn't quite land for me. yes, this is ordell's journey, but i wish we'd been able to get to know the other characters more. ordell's recovery seems hugely tied to finding his place/his friends, and yet, with the exception of 1-2 scenes, i barely spoke to any of them outside of evan (who i attempted, somewhat unsuccessfully, to romance). the dev's have said that's by design, so perhaps that works for some people! for me, unfortunately, i left feeling like i was missing too much to decide how i truly felt about the game. 

Like many others, I got this game as part of the Bundle for Racial Justice and wow, this alone could've made that huge bundle worth it for me. I played it a few days ago; I'm definitely still thinking about it now.  The story is immersive, the mechanics of digging deeper into the phone is fun, and the ending left me sitting in front of my computer for a few minutes to process. Thank you <3