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Very nice.  I love puzzle games and am always happy to see a new puzzle mechanic.  In this case the puzzles are also just the right level of hard, too.

Five stars.  Would be puzzled again. :)

I wouldn't go that far, but admittedly it does demand more skill to succeed with a bunch of small islands than with a few big ones.  Or at least that's how I see it.

This appears from the .zip contents to be Windows-only.  It'd be nice to be warned ahead of time so I can avoid downloading something I can't run.  (It'd be even nicer to have a Linux build, but absent that I'd at least like to know when it's not worth bothering to download.)

I just saw this actually happen.  I was playing Rus.  I left Nor barely alive - one island with population 1 - and focused on taking down Gothi.  Just before I conquered the last Gothi island, it emitted a flotilla aimed at that last Nor island.  I conquered the Gothi island with the Gothi flotilla still in transit and was told I had wiped out the Gothi.  Out of curiosity, I let the ship arrive and conquer the Nor island (I assume I could have forestalled it by conquering the Nor island myself and winning).  I then conquered that now-Gothi island and was told, again, that Gothi had been wiped out (and got the Victory screen).  Apparently it doesn't break anything, but it looks a bit odd.

I note that a tribe is considered wiped out once it no longer holds any islands.  This is usually accurate, but, in theory, if it still has any ships in transit, it could still conquer an island and come back.

Never mind - got it.  I'm now at 202%.

Jung guerj zr bss jnf gung V qvqa'g abgvpr gur anzr bs gur Yhpvq Qernz, fb jura V sbhaq zl svefg yhpvq qernz, V punyxrq vg hc gb n qvssrerag orq engure guna gb zl univat n xrl bowrpg va zl vairagbel.  Guvf gvzr nebhaq, V qvq abgvpr gur anzr, juvpu znqr vg nyy boivbhf.

Thank you for a very nice fever dream! :-)

Heh.  I'm going to do another playthrough from scratch, taking careful notes on everything.  Maybe I'll be able to make sense of it then.

Thank you very much.  I really like nonograms (this actually prompted me to write a solver).

I'm stuck at 196.  The missing ones are the whole second-to-bottom row of the 12x12 album, so I suspect there's just a class of interactable things I haven't noticed are interactable.  Can anyone think of a hint that isn't just a giveaway?

I just saw the "freeze at end of combat" bug.  I saw one of my islands at risk, so I sent a flotilla to it, not remembering that it was currently at max people; this resulted in me sending a zero-size flotilla (I've accidentally done this a few times before).  Before it arrived, the enemy got there and conquered it, but just barely (2 attackers survived).  My zero-size flotilla arrived, the combat screen popped up, one enemy was destroyed (I conjecture my flotilla was a siege flotilla; I can't seem to get any info about it now), and I'm now stuck at the combat screen with one enemy standing there and nothing happening.

Turn 254, all islands are mine, but I haven't been credited with a victory or with wiping out one of my opponents (was credited with doing away with the other one).  One of the unreachable islands someone mentioned?  Other bug?  Dunno.

There definitely are glitches; there are four flotillae on the map right next to their destinations (or presumed destination in one, enemy, case) but not moving.  The enemy flotilla that's frozen like that belongs to the enemy I did get credited with wiping out, so that's not what's behind that.

> When I download with Firefox and that download fails, with most download providers I can usually retry and it resumes the download where it left off.

I've never been able to make that do anything useful for me.  Wish I knew why.  But, of course, Firefox is a huge undocumented crawling horror....

> MEGA uses its very own downloading system [...]

I have various issues with this, which it would be rather getting into the weeds for me to go into here.  But see also below.

> You could consider renting a remote machine [...]

In a sense, this is what I'm doing.  My download workflow is thus.  (1) Start the download the usual way in Firefox.  (2) Right-click in Firefox's downloads tab and tell it to copy the download link.  (3) Paste that download link into a shell window, into a command which runs a script which connects to a (work) Linux machine that *isn't* behind a slow DSL link; it then does the fetch with curl.  That is then dumped over the (fast) network to a machine of my own co-loed in the same machine room.  That machine buffers it, starting trickling it over the (slow) link to home, using tools of my own, tools which aren't impatient about connections that spend a long time in CLOSE_WAIT.  (4) Right-click again on the download inFirefox; tell it to "Delete" and then, clicking again, "Delete from history" (to cancel the Firefox download).  (5) Wait for the trickle-over-slow-link to finish.

There is usually a time limit; if I take too long to get from step (1) to step (3), I typically get a failure telling me the link has expired.  Fortunately the time limits involved seem to be generous enough that I can usually get the "real" download going before it times out.

But this means that the hosting machine sees the download connection coming from a different IP from the browser which initiated the download.  I speculate that this is responsible for the Mediafire and Gofile failures.  (It's also got relatively high manularity, which is not great but is tolerable for relatively rare tasks, such as downloading game releases.)

Of course, the underlying problem here is that this is doing file transfer over a protocol designed for a different purpose.  But everyone seems to think that HTTPS is a suitable transport for every purpose, leading to no end of headaches.

Maybe it's just me, but I still don't see what sound had to be on for, unless you are somehow testing to see if the user has the tab muted.  (I'm using the in-browser version, which I assume is obvious in view of my speaking of muted tabs.)  I could have had the volume turned all the way down during that time and I can't figure any way it would have made any difference.

I can understand that flavour of tunnel vision.  I have it myself for my own software: what seems obvious to me often isn't to others.

Thanks again for a very enjoyable game!

Fragments of Euclid segfaults at, as far as I can tell, the same place in startup - I conjecture something in my setup is breaking their underlying game engine.  (This is not the first game I've had trouble with; I keep hoping to run into someone who is able-&-willing to help me figure out what I'm doing wrong.  I have lots of experience on other Unices but I do not know the Linux-specific details that would let me figure this out on my own.)

No, I'm not.  Indeed, one definite problem is that I'm on the wrong end of a slow DSL netlink.  That, interacting with the obnoxious way almost all itch downloads are hidden behind javascript "links" instead of just providing a link to download the file from, is why I do the downloads the way I do (which I can outline if you think it might be relevant).  I used to consistently get failures in the last few moments of multi-hour downloads, (quasi-)forcing me to develop alternatives.  It could well be that my workarounds are (partly?) responsible for the Mediafire and Gofile failures.  (I conjecture - and conjecture is all it is - that a server write()s the last bytes, then times out when it takes longer than it likes to drain buffered bytes, dropping the socket before it's finished draining.  It's the only theory I've come up with that explains the observed failures.)

OK, finished it.  I concur with the opinions below: this is a set of absolutely deliciously evilly meta puzzles, beautifully reminiscent of THERE IS NO GAME.

Nsgre jevgvat gur orybj, V gevrq gheavat ba fbhaq naq qbvat gur benatr-checyr-oyhr guvat ntnva.  Vg jbexrq svefg gvzr.  Hayrff lbh ner fbzrubj frafvat gung gur gno vf zhgrq, V unir ab vqrn jul vg arire jbexrq orsber.

I'm leaving the text below in case it helps you tune the game for future players.

V qvq gel hfvat gur B V erzbirq gb tvir "_ KL __ _____" cercnengbel gb KLYBCUBAR ba gur oynpx erpgnatyr; vg gura syvcf bire naq npdhver ahzoref 1 guebhtu 5 orgjrra xrlf.  Gur BKLPBQBAR fcrnxf bs "Urnevat n pbj fvat na benatr-checyr-oyhr abgr cebterffvba"; V unir gevrq pyvpxvat ba gung pbybhe frdhrapr bs klybcubar onef ercrngrqyl, ba obgu bs gur klybcubar fperraf V'ir sbhaq.  Vg nyfb tvirf n "cubar ahzore"; V unir gevrq pyvpxvat gur fznyy ahzorerq fdhnerf va gung frdhrapr, jvgu rirelguvat V'ir orra noyr gb guvax bs sbe gur 0 naq N.  Abar bs guvf unf cebqhprq nal cebterff.  Urapr zl jbaqrevat jurgure creuncf vg jnf cynlvat fbzr fbhaq ng zr juvpu V unq gb urne gb znxr frafr bs vg.

V'ir gevrq gb yrirentr gur "pbj" cneg gbb.  Gurer'f ab J nzbat gur yrggref ng gur obggbz bs gur fperra, abe gur yrggref gung fgnl chg.  Fb V fgnegrq gelvat gb fcryy bhg "zbb" va inevbhf jnlf, gb ab ninvy.

I've been tempted by the walkthrough; I dislike using them, because, well, why bother playing if I'm just going to give up and follow someone's instructions when it gets difficult?  Anpyhow, as what I wrote above implies, I'm now unstuck...at least for the moment!

Lovely meta-puzzles.  Thank you!

Currently stuck at the xylophone, wondering if I really have to have sound on, because I normally play everything without sound.

I'm getting a segfault early in startup (just after "Importing game controller configs" - using the Linux x86_64 version).  Presumably it's something in my setup; any idea how I might be able to track down what?

Gorgeous puzzle game.  Just...thank you.

Mediafire gives me an empty file.  Mega says it's too big for Firefox to buffer.  Google says it's been downloaded too often.  Gofile gives me a link back to gofile.  Is there some reason you don't export it from itch?

Wish I could play it, but I don't see any Linux build.

Yeah.  My brute-force program found an answer (not "the" answer; there are at least two) overnight, and, once I see it, it's obvious.

Oh, and, people, giving level numbers for the early levels is pointless.  Levels 1-5 are just five different impossibilities for the same position; you can permute those solutions arbitrarily within that set.  Similarly, 6 and 7 can be interchanged.

> So black must have just made a move that put the queen in that corner square.

True, but only because the position is such that none of black's other possible previous moves would have discovered check on white - well, without already having had white in check; black's bishop could have discovered check from the queen, but it would have had to itself had white in check to do so.  (I'm just trying to keep people from jumping to unwarrantedly general conclusions based on this special case.)

Since Black is in check, it obviously was White's move last, and, because the knight is pinnned by Black's queen, White must have been in check after Black's last move.  But in a legal game, White cannot have been in check _before_ that Black move.  Lbh arrq gb svaq cynprf sbe gur ebbx naq ovfubc fhpu gung, sbe nal bs Oynpx'f cbffvoyr cerivbhf zbirf, Juvgr jnf va purpx orsber gung zbir.  If you still have trouble, wait a day or two and I'll point out another consideration which might help.

I too am having trouble with level 12.  I'm about ready to try brute-forcing it (screen-scraping the display for output and generating artificial mouse events for input)....

I'm having trouble playing the webpage version.  Left and right arrows set the player sprite facing direction, so I know the keystrokes are making it through, but I've been unable to move.  Any ideas what I might have wrong?  Firefox  142.0.1 on Ubuntu 22.04.5 jammy.

Very nice.  I especially like the bookstore owner (Morgan, I think?); too many such VNs/games provide nothing but male protagonist in a world of females.  Not that that's _bad_, exactly, but it is nice to have some other options.  I really hope you develop him as thoroughly as you do the other NPCs.

And how well the personali...uh, anthroalities :-) are written.  Colour me impressed by...actually, just about everything.

Thank you.  I will be watching for updates when and as I have the time.

I like this.  The puzzles are cool even in the abstract, and the framing story makes it significantly better than, for example, just matching colours would.

It would be interesting to try to construct a level which has only one solution.  (Actually, that's trivial.  What would be interesting would be to find a level of reasonable complexity - on the order of the puzzle-game levels, say - but with only one solution.  Precisely what "only one solution" means also becomes relevant....)

Ummm...what platform?  I don't see a run-game button, so presumably not HTML5, but that leaves a lot of possibilities.

Rhavyc, I've been collecting such things myself.  I started a thread on the AHitR Discord help-and-bugs space for them.  Maybe add yours there, to make them easier for the devs to find?  (I *think* the ones you mention were on my list, but I don't for a minute think I didn't miss any; probably better to have a few dups than to miss some...).

I *thought* "jötnar" looked like a plausible plural of "jotun", but I was guessing about the "eld" part.  The only fire root I think I would recognize offhand from Norse would be one related to Muspelheim.  Or *maybe* Surtr, though I think of that as more an individual name.

Thanks for explaining!

Ah, so they're all already live references!  Cool.

Hmm...Eldjötnar..."old giants"?

Three small comments:

(1) I really like that Yona is *not* stupid.

(2) When etherwalking to MC's world, the list of business names visible just inside the building doors on the ground floor make me wonder if we're going to end up meeting characters named Jen, Viv, Eld, Yho, Oonur, or Gilviel!

(3) I find it amusing how often, when a random book is shown, it is identifiably an old Encyclopaedia Britannica volume.

Ah, the - versus x is very useful to know - thank you!

So now I need to try to find that missing villain (the last one on the list, unless the laptop always displays ??? villains last).  I have a fuzzy memory of my previous playthrough, on 0.24b, finding a villain I haven't found yet here.  Unfortunately I don't recall much; I need to see what I can find....

I'm wondering if I've reached the end of the available content, or perhaps I'm just missing things.  I'm playing 0.25p on Linux.

There are five big things which look to me like either indications of planned content that doesn't exist yet or things I've managed to miss the action to get past, or more if you count the nine empty ellipses on the maps (two on the first map, seven on the second) or the laptop stats (see below).  Trying to avoid getting spoilery here:

- The parrot (Iago?) at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad;

- The barking (hyenas?) at Enchanted Castle;

- The lion at The Land;

- Buying Jafar a drink (this one explicitly says end of content for this version);

- Belle's $5000 date (I've tried all eight combinations of the two answers to the first menu and four answers to the second and always get the same failure).

So, I'm wondering whether I've missed things or these are just lead-ins to planned but not yet implemented content...?

In particular, I have bought all upgrades the dwarfs have available and I've beat everyone in the tavern at the drinking minigame (except the Queen of Hearts, for whom the menu hasn't offered it to me), in many cases all in the same visit to the Tavern; I think I've reached the end of each of the available girls' stories; I've tried scheduling them all at once for Club 33; I've got over three million in available cash; my drawing skill long since maxed out; I've been keeping the park at or near max rating; I've completed all four events on the calendar.

According to the laptop in the workshop, I have drawn 41/41 attractions and 12/11 (huh?) girls, bought 123/123 upgrades, helped 13/14 villains, won 14/15 villain challenges, have 73/101 outfits available, and unlocked 122/185 scenes.

I have not solved Jafar or LeFou's problems (I haven't managed to find either one), haven't won the Queen of Hearts's challenge (haven't found it), and according to the laptop I haven't viewed the scene for eight of the villains I've found, there's one villain I haven't found at all (just ??? on the laptop's list), and similarly there's one girl I haven't found (??? again).

Hence wondering whether I've just missed things or whether these represent planned but only partially implemented content, especially in view of apparently having drawn one more girl than is available despite having missed one).

If I have just missed something, and someone can point me in a useful direction without getting too spoilery, I'd apprecate it.

Minor continuity issue in 0.25p (rot13 because it could be a bit of a spoiler): Jura ivfvgvat Nevry qhevat qnlgvzr naq cvpxvat "Unaqwbo", nsgre yrnivat ure va uhzna sbez, gur fprar fubjf ure fvggvat va uhzna sbez ohg jvgu grkg fnlvat fur'f "syvpxvat ure svaf rkpvgrqyl", naq (yngre) ure npgvbaf "ner uvqqra oruvaq ure ohyxl gnvy".

Ah!  Got it now.  Thank you!

Come to think of it, there are plenty of other games over a gig on itch (eg, A House in the Rift); might want to look into how they do it.

Um, you say "Download for FREE at our Patreon", but when I follow that link I don't see any download option, and I do see a line urging me to join "Starting at $8 CA/month".  That doesn't look very free to me; what am I doing wrong?