itch.io

"MC’s personality should be toned down bc most players didn’t enjoy it" - there's no way to know if this is true. People tend to comment more to complain rather than say "I like that x is like this", so I think the complainers are just vocal rather than necessarily representing a majority. If it was really such a big issue then people wouldn't buy the game at all.

Personally I like the MC so far! She's fun & isn't the typical FMC you usually see in otomes, she helps drive forward the story (several scenes wouldn't have happened at all if her personality wasn't like this), and she keeps Jayce on his toes. I liked that he called her a "handful" lol.

The creator is a solo indie dev, she's making the whole game by herself, so there's a lot of work put into this & it's a passion project. It's unrealistic and unsustainable (and a lot of pressure) to expect her to be able to cater to the audience's every whim, and I'm sure I speak for most people who bought the game that we trust her vision for it. So I hope people can accept her statement made in this post and be patient & wait for the next part of the game. There are so few games like this for a female audience (I don't know any 3D ones), and this one in particular is already so promising, so I really want it to do well.

"rude to a person who is clearly struggling" - Jayce has literally been stalking her for a year 😭. I know MC doesn't know that yet, but it's understandable that from her POV his behaviour is off putting and unsettling. Remember this is a man who is a complete stranger to her - he ignores her & doesn't speak to her when they first meet, does that creepy joker smile that freaks her out, he "happens" to turn up at a cafe she's at on her day off DRINKING HER FINISHED DRINK????

You're welcome, I hope it helps you find more! (<--- also obsessed with IFs lol)

Probably because 1) it's already stated in the description & in a comment a couple below yours & 2) there's no shortage of games with male MCs, especially adult VNs, so it's nice to have one with a female MC made for a female audience.

I'm the opposite, I'm excited about the possibility of the MC getting a more detailed look, because I'd prefer an MC with features. I'd like seeing a character that fits into the world & looks good with Jayce. I can't really project anything onto the grey MC and find it a bit distracting when she's present (and the more immersion breaking option). Although of course I'd understand & accept it if things remain as they are too, since it's more work for the dev to add these options.

I haven't played many yandere games before (I saw this on r/otomegames) but I like this one since Jayce is caring and puppyish (although still unhinged lol). I love seeing an adult game like this made specially for a female audience, and how much care was put into both Jayce's appearance (😻) & character. Everything feels very carefully crafted.

I actually love the MC so far!! And I'd love to see her character and background explored even more in-depth. Another comment mentioned this, but I'm also glad she's not the typical shy/naive/doormat otome MC, but instead is suspicious of & challenges Jayce’s weirdo behaviour (I love him, but in her circumstances who wouldn't be like what tf is up with this guy??). And honestly MC bullying Jayce is so fun 😎 lol. I don't see her as a shy wallflower since she likes going to the bar regularly, kissed Jayce the first time she met him, and works customer service jobs. Like you said in a reply, she has to take actions to drive the story forward (and it's nice to see in a FMC).

I saw a few comments about this, but I was actually hoping there'd at least be an option for the MC to not be a virgin. She's in her 20s(?), and it’d add contrast between her and Jayce and their life experiences (and extra jealousy potential!) She’s also less socially awkward than him, and even though she's a bit insecure I think she's meant to be generally attractive too? Since she got asked out by a popular & attractive football player, who could probably date anyone he wanted.

I’d also love more choices at more regular intervals if possible (even it's just flavour text that doesn't affect much) & more choices for the MC. Like she automatically said she liked anime & games, but if the MC wasn't already into them maybe Jayce could have introduced her to them & it could be a bonding activity. There’s a lot of humour potential with anime in particular, since a lot of anime seems weird to newcomers lol.

One thing I was wondering…would the grey MC mannequin ever be customisable at all? Like skintone, hair colour, hairstyle, eye colour, etc.? Or presets kind of like Oathbreaker or Oathbreaker II? I understand if it's not possible though. This game is already a huge undertaking for a single indie dev, so I hope you don't feel pressured to massively increase the scope of the game.

**Potential SPOILERS for arc 1 part 2**: 

• I thought the princess carrying was sooo cute 🥹 (I'm a sucker for that), and generally how he was (trying) to take care of her.
• I liked how he called MC a “handful” and the whole supermarket scene 😳. 
• I love that she's a bit of a menace and always shouting out inappropriate stuff, lol, really putting Jayce through it.
• It's kind of funny that Jayce has been carefully planning how this all turns out, but the MC is an unpredictable element that keeps throwing him off his game. 
• The size...rip to MC’s vagina 😭. 
• Really interested to see where the Blake storyline goes (and his mindset/opinion of the MC)…I wonder how Jayce would have reacted if that was actually her ex though, or at least someone she kissed/slept with at a party or prom or something (especially since Jayce was bullied at school & Blake is like the stereotypical popular jock).

“And a devastating secret is revealed.” - I have a theory what it is 👀

Sorry this is so long, I don't normally buy games this early in development, but I had to buy this right after the demo ended & it was worth it for all the MC/Jayce scenes! I can't wait for the next update 💖

Edit: I forgot to mention it before, but I played this on my Steam Deck and it works perfectly! Even the controls were mapped intuitively, which doesn't normally happen with itch.io VNs.

I can't think of any other band VNs (I love RockRobin too!), but if you're interested in interactive fiction games (text only, no art) then there are a few band game demos:

Scapegoated - set in the 70s, the MC is already part of a famous band that breaks up near the beginning of the game. The MC is set as a woman.

Infamous - the MC & their band goes on a music reality TV show (kind of like The X Factor/Pop Idol but for rock bands), their ex-friend/partner/bandmate is also on the same show. This is about to get an update with a new chapter soon, so I'd wait for that before playing.

Press Play - the story is told alternating between present time interviews and flashbacks to the past about MC & their band's rise to fame & all the problems that comes with.

Voulez-Vous? - set in 1970s Brazil, the (v messy) MC is in a disco band trio with lesbian love triangle drama lol. The MC is set as a woman (also wlw).

ST4RDOM - the MC is in a K-pop girlband about to go on their first world tour. The MC is set as a woman.

You can look through tags on this site, like interactive fiction games made with twine. 

Interact-if has collected interactive fiction games on this site, although I don't think it's been updated for a while.

I also have a interactive fiction collection on my profile of my favourite games if you want to take a look. 

Elsewhere, you can look up Choice of Games, Hosted Games, and Heart's Choice. They all have apps on the app store with completed IFs. They also have a forum that has WIPs/demos too.

You can also look at the #interactivefiction tag on Tumblr to find more games, although there's a lot without demos.

They're very different situations, but you might like: 

• The Bastard of Camelot
• God-Cursed
• Throne of Ashes
• The Sovereign's Ring
• Crown of Ashes and Flames
• The Brightest Stars

I still managed to play it on my Steam Deck. In desktop mode I downloaded the windows download via a browser (it wouldn't download through the itch.io app), and there was a .sh file that I added to Steam as a non-Steam game.

I've got an interactive fiction collection on my profile with my favourite itchio IFs if you want to take a look! Also if you want some supernatural IF recs specifically:

Ongoing series:

• The Wayhaven Chronicles
• Blood Moon

Standalone completed games:

• The Fog Knows Your Name
• The Passenger
• Donor

WIPs:

• Demonology: Incubus
• We Wretched Creatures
• The Second Sight
• God Cursed
• Corruptant
• Children of Cain
• Unsanctioned
• Within Your Eyes
• Disenchanted

You might like:

Scandal Notes - you play as a socialite in 1920s London, whose group of friends is being targeted by a Bridgerton style gossip column.

Oblivious Melodies - Regency inspired setting, you play as two siblings. This one is part of a series, and the 1st volume is completed along with the beginning of volume 2.

Affairs of the Court - you're pretty much playing as a fantasy version of Anne Boleyn (there's magic involved in this setting).

Crème de la Crème & Royal Affairs - setting is inspired by early 20th century & it takes place at a finishing school for socialites, nobles, & royalty (Royal Affairs has a royal MC).

If It Please The Court - you play as a court spy in 18th century Versailles, France. WLW romance only.

The Rose of Segunda & The Thorns of War (VN) - the MC travels to court for the Crown Prince's birthday & to compete to be chosen as his bride. The 1st game is completed but the 2nd is still ongoing, there are 4 routes done though.

Ambition: A Minuet in Power (VN) - you play as a woman trying to survive political turmoil in 18th Century Paris (during the French Revolution). It's also available on Steam & Nintendo Switch.

I also like The Lady's Choice (same author as Wayhaven Chronicles) and Regency Love that was already recommended too. They're both VNs.

Btw I don't think you only need to post in the self-promo threads if it's for a release day post, I think you're allowed to make your own post for that. You might need to double check the rules though.

Ooh which platforms did you have in mind (if you can say)?

Thanks for updating us, it's great to hear that you're doing better, and I hope things continue to improve for you. If IS does eventually get continued, I'm looking forward to seeing what the deal is with ???, and even though the old art style is distinctive, I love the new more realistic art style of Charles' sprite too (maybe even more??)! 😻 I also think Lord of the Wings is AMAZING, and I'm excited to hear it's being worked on. Please take as much time as you need though and take care <3

Hi, the same thing happened in my playthrough, with the 2nd darkest skintone (3rd option) and the female body type.

The new art looks great!

Sounds cool! Is the MC British too btw?

I've been doing the same, but I know I'll give in when Leopold's route is released, lol.

Happy New Year! Wow based on the Kickstarter updates 50k words in one month is impressive, you basically did your own nanowrimo! And Guillaume’s route is officially longer than the whole of the first game now :O

I've been following the updates on Kickstarter, but I just wanted to say here that each route is clearly ambitious & long, and the additional branching on Guillaume's route will complicate things too. So we understand that there will be delays, it's quite common for small indie teams! It can be quite stressful as well, so I hope you're taking care of yourself.

Out of curiosity, how many words were parts 1 and 2 each?

I like that both Robin and the MC(?) of your next project are "MCDONALDS! MCDONALDS! MCDONALDS!" characters :D

Sorry to hear that you've been feeling creatively drained, I hope you get to take a nice break soon!

Thanks for keeping us updated! Also the girl in the middle of the side character sprites is so cute, she would make a good VN protagonist.

I'm more interested in the story and characters, so I consider CGs a nice bonus, especially since I think this is a non-commercial game?

On the other hand, I do prefer to wait until a game is complete before playing to get the full experience, so I haven't actually played part 1 yet because I wanted to play parts 1+2 together. I'm really looking forward to it though because Fetch Quest was so much fun and the description for this game is 1000% up my alley!

Ooh thanks, can't wait! :D

Thanks for the reply! I'm guessing there isn't a more specific date than "soon", but I'm looking forward to trying out the updated demo :)

Hi, congrats on the release of the prologue! I haven't bought the game yet, but I was wondering if there's going to be an updated full demo? I got the impression from the description that the current mini demo is only temporary, but I might have misunderstood.

I voted for TTOW so I'll definitely be backing you! I had a look at the Kickstarter & I like that there's lots of screenshots, you mention the different MC personalities & the character bios look pretty. 

Some feedback:

-I think your backer rewards are good ideas (the love letters, copies of your previous games, beta access, designing an outfit, creating a character, creating a scene, etc). Another idea would be a short playable scene/scenario in between the first game & the sequel, since a lot happens in that time. It could be in the game itself, as DLC, or even a text game using Twine or Choicescript. You could also add the option to buy them as DLC when the game is released for anyone that didn't back the Kickstarter. It might be too late now to suggest something extra & I'm not sure if it would take too much time away from the main game, although it's something that'd only have to be done after the Kickstarter is finished, but I just wanted to throw it out there just in case. I think anything capitalising on the ROs in general will be popular.

-It might be a good idea to get someone who isn't familiar with either game to have a look over the Kickstarter draft. Everyone on this page has probably played TROS & is already planning to buy TTOW, which makes us a bit biased and we probably don't require as much info as someone brand new who comes across your Kickstarter.

-I think it'd be helpful to make it clearer that this is a sequel to TROS, an already published game. I know you mention it in the demo section (with a link to the itchio page), but it's a bit too easy to gloss over. You might also want to add the Steam page for TROS too.

-If you're worried about the tiers & rewards being confusing, I've seen other Kickstarters provide a breakdown grid diagram to show which rewards are available in which tiers, and I think that makes it as clear as possible. There's an example of this on this current VN Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lunarisgames/errant-kingdom

-Unless I've missed it, I think it'd be a good idea to provide links to your game dev social media accounts & a clear link to your itchio store page so people can browse your previous games.

-Make sure there aren't too many early bird backer spaces. I'm not an expert on this so I'm not sure what the right proportion should be, but most people who will back a game will pick whatever the cheapest tier is that includes the base game. So take into account how many of that tier you need to sell when deciding the number of early bird spaces.

-Other people have already mentioned that a trailer would be ideal (like the one on the TROS Steam page), and if you're releasing on Steam then you'd need to make one eventually right? If that's not possible, or in addition to this, it would be cool to include some GIFs in the campaign page, to show the gameplay (making choices, sprites changing expressions, etc).

-Mini bios of yourself & anyone else who works on the game (I think there's a separate artist?), your role in making the game, how long you've been making games, your background, any fun/silly facts about yourself, etc. may help people to see the person behind the Kickstarter.

I've only just seen this update and the previous one. I just wanted to echo some of the others in saying that your transparency is admirable! I think it helps us all understand the background process of what goes into making a game and appreciate how difficult it can be.

I definitely agree that marketing might be an issue. I personally found The Rose of Segunda by searching through one of the tags on itchio (it might have been female protagonist) & it immediately caught my eye because of the royal/historical setting (my personal favourite!), but I ended up buying on Steam because I like to keep my games together. I'm not sure how many people find games this way though.

Increasing your presence on social media could help a lot. Tumblr, lemmesoft forums, twitter, etc. Tumblr would be great for showing off artwork, answering asks from fans (usually stuff like mini scenarios for the ROs ("how would the ROs react if x happened, if Iolanthe did x" etc), in-character asks (people ask the characters qs & you answer how you think they'd respond),  or trivia about them (ideal first date, starsigns, nsfw facts, lol) are really popular, so it can be mostly text based), updates on the game & reblogging fanwork - this all helps keep potential customers engaged & coming back to your page regularly, keeping hype high for the next game. Check out the tumblrs of Seraphinite (currently doing COG/HG Wayhaven Chronicles but has done VNs too, has a v active tumblr) & Azalyne Studios (who did a successful kickstarter for Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem, but it was a few years ago so check newer Kickstarter campaigns too).

I'm not active on twitter but it would probably be a good place to give regular updates & network with other VN devs. Maybe offer to send free keys to VN lets play/review youtubers, VN tumblr bloggers, VN steam curators, VN twitch streamers, etc in exchange for a review? Or do some kind of key giveaway if people reblog you on tumblr/twitter? If you know any other VN devs you might be able to come up with an arrangement with them to both promote each others games (this can also work for the Kickstarter campaign). Make sure you promote other games/VN creators that you're a fan of too. You could do some cross promotion for your own games, like promoting HG on TROS pages on itchio, Steam, etc., nothing over the top but a simple update that you have another new game out for people that might enjoy it.

Kickstarter: I think this could work but it would require a lot of studying how other games did their marketing & what went right for them, comparing what went wrong with games that didn't reach their goal. Apparently the marketing for kickstarters can be time consuming so definitely be prepared to throw yourself into it. I think you have an advantage in that you're not a brand new random person, you have a proven track record of creating and finishing multiple games, so you should definitely highlight that because you'll be seen as more trustworthy. 

One thing is that even if life gets in the way or things are taking longer than you expected with the game development, it's still important to give regular updates, even if the content is just "I didn't get as much done as I wanted, but I'm still working on it". I've seen backers get frustrated when devs disappear for months because the game has gotten stuck & they feel too guilty to be upfront about it.

Anyway I'll do my best to spread the word a little & I'll definitely keep a closer eye on any future updates you have, we're all rooting for you & I hope everything works out!