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Oh man, how do I even begin talking about this one?

For one, the art is absolutely incredible. I already knew to expect fantastic stuff from the art given what I've seen of the author's previous work, but it still managed to blow me away - the sprites are wonderfully dynamic and expressive (especially Wolf! I was consistently blown away by just how expressive his sprites are!), and in general it feels like this visual novel has a really solid and consistent visual style - it's a perfect blend of detail and abstraction that really helped pull me into the story.

As for the story... I'm definitely gonna have to give this a reread once the full version is out - both to see the other ending, and to try and better understand what goes on, because damn this story can get confusing at times. This isn't necessarily bad, though - there's a fantastic matter-of-factness to many of the details in the story that helps solidify a sense of place, in spite of how fantastical the VN's setting is. 

In addition that, I don't think the confusion kept me from seeing and engaging with the main themes of the work (or, what I saw as the main themes of the work) - while the specifics of what happens in the story get murky at times, the feelings of the characters are very much felt, and this story was absolutely a rollercoaster in that department. 

I'm waiting on the full version of the VN to be released before I feel like a reread is definitely going to clear some things up, but there's already so many interesting ideas explored here - in particular, the comparison of indulging in the sand with 'perversion' (in particular of the furry kind), and how it shows itself in all the characters. It's interesting that the 'My Wolf' of the game is the most perverted of the bunch, and the one who engages the most heavily with fetishistic ideas (and in musk, no less - a fetish which is particularly prevalent in furry spaces.). On the opposite end of things, you have the owl, who uses the sand (via the artistic medium of the torch) in order to present as her preferred gender, and as her only means of properly communicating with others - it really goes to show both how it can both be used for ill and for good.

Fantastic job! I can't wait for the full version to come out!

Sorry for doing bad stuff to your comfort character (but also not sorry because there is no greater joy as an author than to elicit emotions in one's readership, whether they be good or bad).

In spite of that, I'm glad you enjoyed the story!

Thank you!!! Given the (sort of) slice of life nature of the story, I really wanted to make sure the characters resonated with people, so I'm glad that you liked them!

Thank you so much!!! This is the type of review that makes working on these stories worth it!

Thank you for the feedback! I definitely agree that some of the exposition near the start could have been improved - it definitely comes off as a bit blunt at times, and balancing the desire for ambiguity and for people to know what the hell is going on is a tricky task that I've got room to improve in. 

Still, I'm glad you enjoyed the story in spite of that! I'm especially glad the details and stylization of the art stood out, since that was something I put a lot of effort into! 

Thank you! I really enjoyed getting to take risks with the presentation and style of the art for this jam, and I'm glad it resonated with you! Honestly the paper outline was a choice I was also not too sure about, but I ultimately decided to keep it in because I liked the idea of having the paper deteriorate over the course of the story. 

Thank you!!! I'm glad you enjoyed the story!!!

(Yeah, the exposed nipples are very, very important. I'd even say they're the real light in the dark, tbh.)

Thank you for the review - I'm glad you enjoyed it!

As for the allegory, I'd say my goal here was ultimately to present the importance of routine and a sense of normalcy in the face of looming disaster - climate change is certainly something I had in mind while working on this, but in reality, there's no shortage of things looming in the future to be scared of these days...

Something I also tried to convey was that, in spite of it all, life does go on, in one way or another - the infected are still 'conscious' in one way or another, and though even I don't know what's in store for the characters after the ending, what's for sure is that they're going to face it together.

It's easy to give up in the face of these looming threats and decide that there's no point in going on, that the looming disaster is far more than you could ever take - Birch and Judah both face those exact feelings in the story - but ultimately I wanted the story to show that there's value in going on, and that even when the worst does happen, it isn't necessarily the end - life goes on, after all.

Copying my comment from the jam page:

I respect the shit out of this game, but it's not really for me, unfortunately (and that's alright!).

The fact that the VN has a functional maze and sliding puzzle system within it in spite of being made in renpy is incredibly cool and a very impressive feat, but I think there's definitely some jank that comes across as a result of how it's made - especially when it comes to the maze minigame. Even after gaining the ability to keep track of rooms I've already been in (which, let me just say - absolutely diabolical move to hide that in the middle of the first maze instead of just handing it out at the start), the mazes were too difficult for me - the rooms are all too similar to each other, especially in the first maze, and the fact that Gabe's perspective is accounted for when you turn back around (meaning that controls are reversed) is definitely cool, but it led to me getting lost significantly more than I would have were it consistent. Because of that, I had to give up on the mazes partway through - even if I gave each of them a try at first.

Unfortunately, this also meant that I missed a lot of the plot, making it feel way more disconnected than I assume it would otherwise be. This fits perfectly with the game's plot, given how Gabe's memories are scrambled and how hard he has to work to gain them, so I'm not complaining - but it is a bit of a bummer, as someone who enjoyed what I saw of the plot but couldn't really do the maze puzzles.

On some level, I wonder if making this game in an engine that's more fit for games with 3d graphics, or adding an optional map or other form of "easy mode" could have made it more approachable and let me enjoy it more, but at the same time I understand that this game just isn't really for me, and that's alright - ultimately game jams are great precisely because they encourage this sort of experimentation, and I think this game is incredibly impressive as a result of its otherwise uncompromising nature and how difficult to approach it is for someone like me with awful spatial awareness.

I respect the shit out of this game, but it's not really for me, unfortunately (and that's alright!).

The fact that the VN has a functional maze and sliding puzzle system within it in spite of being made in renpy is incredibly cool and a very impressive feat, but I think there's definitely some jank that comes across as a result of how it's made - especially when it comes to the maze minigame. Even after gaining the ability to keep track of rooms I've already been in (which, let me just say - absolutely diabolical move to hide that in the middle of the first maze instead of just handing it out at the start), the mazes were too difficult for me - the rooms are all too similar to each other, especially in the first maze, and the fact that Gabe's perspective is accounted for when you turn back around (meaning that controls are reversed) is definitely cool, but it led to me getting lost significantly more than I would have were it consistent. Because of that, I had to give up on the mazes partway through - even if I gave each of them a try at first.

Unfortunately, this also meant that I missed a lot of the plot, making it feel way more disconnected than I assume it would otherwise be. This fits perfectly with the game's plot, given how Gabe's memories are scrambled and how hard he has to work to gain them, so I'm not complaining - but it is a bit of a bummer, as someone who enjoyed what I saw of the plot but couldn't really do the maze puzzles.

On some level, I wonder if making this game in an engine that's more fit for games with 3d graphics, or adding an optional map or other form of "easy mode" could have made it more approachable and let me enjoy it more, but at the same time I understand that this game just isn't really for me, and that's alright - ultimately game jams are great precisely because they encourage this sort of experimentation, and I think this game is incredibly impressive as a result of its otherwise uncompromising nature and how difficult to approach it is for someone like me with awful spatial awareness.

Man this was an incredible experience. Even if these are just 5 short snippets from the past, and they aren't even necessarily sad per se, they give off such a strong nostalgic and melancholic feeling!

The unique aesthetic and form factor of it all really elevated the experience - hell, I even had a ton of fun just browsing the menus and seeing the full extent to which the computer desktop was recreated here!

Great job! This was a really fun and creative read! 

I feel like visual novels frequently treat the presentation as an afterthought - they focus on having aesthetically appealing sprites but have them stay still the whole time,  or they simply focus on writing, but I feel like the presentation here really took things up a notch!  It's rare to see a visual novel feel properly animated, even if (most of) the sprites didn't actually move around - they were just so incredibly expressive and dynamic, which made this a joy to get through!

Great job! This was a really fun and creative read! 

I feel like visual novels frequently treat the presentation as an afterthought - they focus on having aesthetically appealing sprites but have them stay still the whole time,  or they simply focus on writing, but I feel like the presentation here really took things up a notch!  It's rare to see a visual novel feel properlyanimated, even if (most of) the sprites didn't actually move around - they were just so incredibly expressive and dynamic, which made this a joy to get through!

A nice, uplifting story! In a jam full of stories of apocalypse and other such things, I like how low-key this one is, and how it manages to tug at the heartstrings in spite of that!

Also, Ridge :)

Dang, this story's cool. I love how abstract it is - everything about it gives this sort of otherworldly feeling that perfectly encapsulates... some sort of feeling. That of working at a shitty, demeaning job that slowly eats at your sanity, probably. To be honest, I feel like I haven't fully parsed what it's about yet - but that certainly doesn't mean that I didn't feel it while reading, and I'd say that's what matters most.

I'll also shout out the sprites and the general style of the story - you wouldn't think the sprites fit with the bgs, but I think they work together to emphasize that dream-like feeling which is so present in this story and which gives it those all-too-important vibes.

Good job, this was a fun one to read!

I'm very glad you enjoyed it in spite of (or maybe because of 🤔) the depressing bits!

When making the story, I decided that the runes would simply be gibberish - at the end of the day, I didn't really want to shed light on the experiences of those who've been taken by the infection - only to show that there's something there beyond what ordinary humans can comprehend.

And thank you for reading it and commenting! It's always very uplifting to hear that people enjoy and resonate with what I've written!

Thank you!!! 

I'm glad those feelings came across well in the writing (though they aren't exactly positive ones 😅)

Thank you so much! 

However brief it was, I'm glad you enjoyed and connected to the relationship between Birch and Judah!

Yeah, the sex scenes turned off by default, so they can't be turned on for old saves (since they're made after the point of the choice to turn them on). That said, I'm glad you enjoyed it! 

Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

From my (totally not biased) position as the person who made both of them, I also think they are very cool people.

I'm very glad to hear that, because that was something that I was very excited to get to do after the first build! 

Thank you! Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to be a bit of a tease here - In spite of the characters occasionally getting up to steamy stuff, I'm currently not planning on including anything beyond a fade to black here and there.

They definitely have their place in some stories, but full blown sex scenes are less of a fit for my current vision for Solstice Eve 😅

EDIT: Well nevermind lmao. After thinking about it, I've expanded the ending for day 7 in build 2, adding a proper sex scene lol.

The worldbuilding and magic were certainly a big focus of mine working on this, so I'm glad those stood out!