Shattered Secrets: Unveiling the Darkness Within

Hello, future players and fellow visual novel enthusiasts! I'm thrilled to finally pull back the curtain on Shattered Secrets, a project born from a passion for deep narratives, complex characters, and the shadowy corners of the human psyche. I am a writer and this project  was literally created from this passion I have! I am working alongside with kavanel (artist who made the characters sprites, cover art, menu art and the first illustrations) and moody (the composer).

What is Shattered Secrets?

Shattered Secrets is a dark psychological visual novel that plunges you into a world where affection can become a weapon, and trust, the most dangerous choice of all. Set in the seemingly tranquil university town of Highshade, our story follows an aspiring writer, haunted by a past of loss and silence, as she seeks a new beginning. But beneath Highshade's calm surface, something is terribly wrong. As she crosses paths with three enigmatic men, each carrying their own fractured pasts, she'll discover that love can twist into obsession, and healing might be a path fraught with peril.

Dive into the Depths of Highshade

The narrative approach crafts a deeply emotional and dark experience, exploring themes of grief, depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behaviors. Each relationship you forge will offer unique challenges and the potential for both profound growth and unsettling darkness. Your choices will not only shape the protagonist's fate but also challenge your perception of love, control, and the consequences of every action.

Meet the Shadows: Our Love Interests

Prepare to encounter three distinct personalities, each with their own allure and hidden depths:

Nikifor Aleksandrov 

The charismatic and popular sports student, whose charm masks an obsessive and possessive nature. He desires to keep you always in his sight, blurring the line between devotion and control.

Cade Ashford

The calm and composed bodyguard, offering stability that slowly isolates. His affection is calculated, turning love into a psychological game where reality bends to his will.

Esteban Alcocer

The quiet music student, burdened by a traumatic past. He is protective and tender, yet his hidden darkness raises questions about what he's truly capable of to keep you safe and his.

Beyond Romance: The Friends

In the dark tapestry of Highshade, not all connections are fraught with romantic tension. Our protagonist will also find solace and challenges in her friendships:

Yasmine Brunet

A gentle and artistic music student, Yasmine embodies innocence and warmth. Her trusting nature, however, might make her vulnerable in a town where secrets lurk.

Michaela Caneva

Bold, outspoken, and fiercely loyal, Michaela is a writing student who isn't afraid to speak her mind. Her sharp intuition and protective nature make her a formidable ally, but her bravery could come at a cost.

Your Journey Begins Soon!

We're pouring our hearts into crafting an immersive experience with rich storylines and beautiful CGs. While we can't give you a definitive demo release date just yet, we're working to bring Highshade to life. Your interest and feedback are invaluable to me, so please, share your thoughts and join our community as we unveil the secrets of Highshade, one devlog at a time. Stay tuned for more updates!

Remember: actions have consequences.

This DevLog is a first draft. We welcome your feedback on its tone, content, and any suggestions you might have to make it even more engaging!

Hi! Do you do creative collaborations? (Unpaid). If yes, contact me! I’ll leave my discord here, I am really interested in that style! My discord is _.jeikei feel free to text me there! ^^

my discord is _.jeikei so maybe we can talk about it a little! ^^ I am making a Visual Novel and am searching for an artist who could do illustrations ^^

this seems interesting! I’ll leave here my discord so maybe we can talk about it! My discord is _.jeikei 

hi! Your offer seems interesting! I am working on a Psychological horror/ dark romance Visual Novel. You think that this could be interesting for you? I sent you a friend request. I’ll leave my discord here! ^^ _.jeikei

Hi! I want to know more about you! I am really interested, my discord is _.jeikei and I’ll send you a friend request!

Unpaid Collaboration

Artist Recruitment for Visual Novel Project

Hello everyone!

I'm currently developing a visual novel and am looking for a talented artist to join my team for an exciting creative collaboration. This is an unpaid project, driven by passion and a shared love for storytelling and art! 

Current Art status

An artist has already completed the following assets:

• Cover art
• Character designs
• Menu art
• One illustration for each Love Interest in Act 0 (when the MC first meets them)

This means you'll be building upon an established visual foundation, but with plenty of room to bring your own style and creativity to the new illustrations.

About the game

The game is set in Highshade, a place between a small town and a city, home to Shades University. The protagonist, an aspiring writer, moves to Highshade for a fresh start after experiencing significant trauma. The visual novel delves into a deeply emotional and dark narrative, exploring the protagonist's mental health profoundly influenced by their relationships with three troubled young men. Each relationship offers unique challenges and potential for both growth and darkness, ensuring a rich and engaging narrative experience. 

Trigger Warnings: Please be aware that the game contains themes of SA (background trauma), Bullying, Stalking, Yandere behaviors, Murder allusions, and Drug use. Suggestive content (And maybe NSFW content if I decide to make it!).

What I am looking for

I am seeking an artist to create CGs (Computer Graphics) and other illustrations for the game. I am open to both 2D and 3D art styles, so feel free to showcase your unique artistic vision.

Collaboration details

As mentioned, this is a creative, unpaid collaboration. I am looking for individuals who are passionate about visual novels and eager to contribute their skills to a meaningful project. While the exact number of illustrations is still being determined, there will be a significant amount of art needed to bring the story to life.

If you're interested!

If you are interested in contributing to this project and believe your art style aligns with this vision, please reply to this post with your discord user, I'll share mine too so if you think that messaging me first is better, you can do as you wish! Also, it would be great to have a link to your portfolio or examples of your work and a  brief introduction about yourself and why you're interested in this project :3.

My discord: _.jeikei

Thanks for your time!

Helloooooo!

Hi everyone! So, I am actually making a Visual novel!

It is a Dark Romance and psychological horror VN. It's a project that I really love with my whole heart and I always wanted to make it happen... Recently, thanks to the help of my artist and composer, this game is becoming true! And it's really amazing...

I have to say that I never coded but I am self-learning and it's going well, even with some difficulties. The game is made with Ren'Py. 

To get more into the details,  I’m currently working on a story-driven psychological visual novel, and before releasing the demo (planned in about 1–2 months), I’d really love to get some early feedback from the community.

The game explores dark themes such as obsession, manipulation, trauma, and the consequences of unhealthy relationships. It’s very narrative-focused, choice-driven, and emotionally intense... definitely not a light or cozy experience. Think slow-burn tension, morally gray characters, and endings that depend heavily on player choices! (that could be bad, neutral or even good ending). Consequences exist across good / neutral / bad endings and “Good” doesn’t mean perfect. It means hard-earned and fragile. The player is never fully absolved and choices matter, and safety is not guaranteed. Actions have consequences.

I’ve put a lot of care into the characters, trigger warnings, and overall tone, and I want to make sure the itch.io page clearly communicates what kind of experience this game is  and whether it reaches the right audience.

If you enjoy:

• psychological / dark visual novels

• complex characters and heavy themes

• choice-based stories with multiple endings

…I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Any feedback on the itch.io page itself (clarity, tone, interest level, presentation) would mean a lot. ^^

Here’s the game page if you’d like to check it out: Shattered Secrets

Thank you so much for your time :333

I'll attach some screens of the game that I made (who are also on the page).

Here they are:

I’ll get back to you shortly! 

Thank you very much! I’ll get back to you shortly !

Hello! If you are interested, I’m a writer who is making a Visual Novel (Dark romance, Psychological horror). I am working with an artist but I have to do the code myself and I am 100% beginner (I am really not familiar with python. In my life, I mostly trained on HTML codes who are totally different). So a hand would be really good if you are interested in a creative collaboration !I’ll drop my discord here: _.jeikei 

Hello everyone, I made a similar post where I explained my game concept, so I’ll be pasting it here BUT this time I’m searching for someone else. The collab details at the end of the page! Comment if you’re interested (with you discord)

Working Title: Shattered Secrets 

Genre: Dark Romance / Yandere / Psychological Horror / Visual Novel 

Before going any further, I want to clarify that the worldbuilding, main plot, characters, and routes are already written or outlined. Also, English is not my first language, so I apologize in advance for any grammatical mistakes.

Shattered Secrets is a dark romance psychological horror visual novel set in the quiet town of Highshade, a seemingly peaceful city with a beach hiding obsession, and psychological decay beneath its surface.

The player takes the role of the main character (all main characters are 18+), a young writer who moves to Highshade to escape a traumatic past and start over. She starts the University at the Shades University. Through daily life, friendships, and chance encounters, the MC becomes involved with men whose affection slowly turns into obsession.

Player choices shape not only the romantic routes, but also the protagonist’s mental health, perception of reality, and survival.

TWs!

Here are the TW's for my game: Bullying, cyber-bullying (background story), severe obsessive and yandere behaviours, murder allusions, , stalking and (for NSFW If i decide to make it) suggestive content.

 Love Interests

 Cade Ashford — Manipulation / Gaslighting / Psychological Control

Cold, intelligent, and emotionally distant, Cade is deeply perceptive and highly manipulative. He uses charm, psychological insight, and emotional pressure to destabilize the protagonist, slowly making her question her memories, emotions, and sanity. His route focuses on gaslighting, dominance, emotional dependency, and loss of control, with extremely dark endings if the protagonist resists or tries to escape.

 Esteban Alcocer — Yandere / Possessive Devotion

Quiet, intense, and seemingly gentle, Esteban hides violent impulses beneath a calm exterior. His love is absolute, obsessive, and lethal. Anyone who threatens his relationship with the protagonist becomes a target. His route explores protective violence, moral corruption, bloodshed, and the normalization of murder in the name of love. Choosing Esteban leads to a path stained with blood — including people close to the protagonist.

 Nikifor Aleksandrov — Stalking / Obsession / Loss of Boundaries

Charismatic, athletic, and outwardly friendly, Nikifor harbors long-standing obsessive tendencies. He watches, follows, and memorizes the protagonist’s habits under the guise of affection. His route focuses on surveillance, invasive devotion, jealousy, and the gradual erosion of personal boundaries, blurring the line between protection and captivity.

(Mc will have friends, Yasmine and Michaela that have a background story too and will be also a lot in the story. But you will know more about them if you are interested in this project, because it's not relevant to place them here)

Themes & Gameplay

• Dark romance
• Psychological horror
• Slow-burn tension rather than jumpscares
• Moral dilemmas
• Multiple endings, including bad endings and irreversible consequences but also good endings
• Friendships that can be damaged, destroyed, or turn fatal depending on player choices
• Immersive storylines and illustrations
• CG's !
• Story-Driven
• Animations (I hope I can make them)
• 3 Love Interest 
• Namable MC
• You can choose your pronouns (She/her, He/Him, They/Them)

This is an 18+ project containing heavy themes (there will be others TWs in the full story) such as obsession, violence, psychological abuse, and trauma.

Collaboration Details

I am the writer and creator of the universe. I am working with an artist who is in charge of the Character Designs/sprites etc…

I am currently looking for someone for the music part, and a hand with coding ( because I’m a beginner and I’m using Ren’Py) interested in a creative collaboration. This might sound silly but I want to share my project with someone who will be interested in creating together more than juste the money of the project (if it will make money). Someone who wants to enjoy creating together to release an UNIQUE game ^^.

This would be a non-paid/unpaid collaboration, with profit-sharing if the project generates revenue, similar to indie visual novel teams.

If you are interested, I would be happy to share:

• the complete story and routes
• detailed character backstories
• dark paths and endings
• visual references and atmosphere

If this project resonates with you, feel free to reach out. I would love to bring this dark universe to life together. I'm really looking forward to do a collab and share this with someone who's as passionate as me and the artist who’s working with me! <3

Discord username: _.jeikei

I am OBSESSED, this one got me craving for more and replay it 500 times until the next update. This game's amazing!! ILOVE IT. I WANT PIERROT so bad😭😭😭 I want to tattoo all the cg's in my brain  

Thank you for your reply and your time! <3

Hi! Are you still open to collab? I'm making a Visual Novel in a Dark romance and Psychological Horror style! I would love to share my project with you if you want! My discord is  _.jeikei  and you can send me a DM if you're interested! ^^

Hey! I'm Currently writing a Visual Novel that is in a Dark Romance and Psychological Horror genre. Do you think this could be interesting for you? Like voicing  a character once I have all the designs ready? <

Hi!  I've been working on this project for a lot and I hope someone will enjoy it (I'm still learning to code so I'm not the fastest person :,)). I'm a writer who enjoys making stories and books. I wanted to do a collab with someone who will be interested to share this project together ! 

For further information on the collab type and Discord , it is detailed in the end of this post! :3

Working Title: Shattered Secrets 

Genre: Dark Romance / Yandere / Psychological Horror / Visual Novel 

Before going any further, I want to clarify that the worldbuilding, main plot, characters, and routes are already written or outlined. Also, English is not my first language, so I apologize in advance for any grammatical mistakes.

Shattered Secrets is a dark romance psychological horror visual novel set in the quiet town of Highshade, a seemingly peaceful place hiding obsession, and psychological decay beneath its surface.

The player takes the role of the main character (all main characters are 18+), a young writer who moves to Highshade to escape a traumatic past and start over. Through daily life, friendships, and chance encounters, the MC becomes involved with men whose affection slowly turns into obsession.

Player choices shape not only the romantic routes, but also the protagonist’s mental health, perception of reality, and survival.

TWs!

Here are the TW's for my game: Bullying, cyber-bullying (background story), severe obsessive and yandere behaviours, murder allusions, , stalking, use of drugs, weapons, swear words and dirty words, adult content (for NSFW If i decide to make it), suggestive content.

 Love Interests

 Cade Ashford — Manipulation / Gaslighting / Psychological Control

Cold, intelligent, and emotionally distant, Cade is deeply perceptive and highly manipulative. He uses charm, psychological insight, and emotional pressure to destabilize the protagonist, slowly making her question her memories, emotions, and sanity. His route focuses on gaslighting, dominance, emotional dependency, and loss of control, with extremely dark endings if the protagonist resists or tries to escape.

 Esteban Alcocer — Yandere / Possessive Devotion

Quiet, intense, and seemingly gentle, Esteban hides violent impulses beneath a calm exterior. His love is absolute, obsessive, and lethal. Anyone who threatens his relationship with the protagonist becomes a target. His route explores protective violence, moral corruption, bloodshed, and the normalization of murder in the name of love. Choosing Esteban leads to a path stained with blood — including people close to the protagonist.

 Nikifor Aleksandrov — Stalking / Obsession / Loss of Boundaries

Charismatic, athletic, and outwardly friendly, Nikifor harbors long-standing obsessive tendencies. He watches, follows, and memorizes the protagonist’s habits under the guise of affection. His route focuses on surveillance, invasive devotion, jealousy, and the gradual erosion of personal boundaries, blurring the line between protection and captivity.

(Mc will have friends, Yasmine and Michaela that have a background story too and will be also a lot in the story. But you will know more about them if you are interested in this project, because it's not relevant to place them here)

Themes & Gameplay

• Dark romance and obsessive relationships
• Psychological horror and emotional manipulation
• Slow-burn tension rather than jumpscares
• Stalking, yandere behavior, and moral dilemmas
• Multiple endings, including bad endings and irreversible consequences
• Friendships that can be damaged, destroyed, or turn fatal depending on player choices
• Immersive storylines and illustrations
• CG's !
• Story-Driven
• Animations (I hope I can make them)
• 3/4 Love Interest (1 is hidden)
• Namable MC
• You can choose your pronouns (She/her, He/Him, They/Them)

This is an 18+ project containing heavy themes (there will be multiple TWs in the full story) such as obsession, violence, psychological abuse, and trauma.

Collaboration Details

I am the writer and creator of the universe, and I am currently looking for an artist (character sprites/design/poses, BG's, CGs, character design, possibly UI), someone for the music part, and maybe a little help with coding ( because I’m a beginner and I’m using Ren’Py) interested in a creative collaboration. This might sound silly but I want to share my project with someone who will be interested in creating together more than juste the money of the project (if it will make money). Someone who wants to enjoy creating together to release an UNIQUE game ^^.

This would be a non-paid/unpaid collaboration, with profit-sharing if the project generates revenue, similar to indie visual novel teams.

If you are interested, I would be happy to share:

• the complete story and routes
• detailed character backstories
• dark paths and endings
• visual references and atmosphere

If this project resonates with you, feel free to reach out. I would love to bring this dark universe to life together. I'm really looking forward to do a collab and share this with someone who's as passionate as me! <3

Discord username: _.jeikei