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Wandering the desolate world with poems popping up like intrusive thoughts eventually felt like finding water in the desert. Your ability to write words both painful yet healing is the most breathtaking part of this game poem.

Thank you for creating something so raw & honest...I’ve talked to fellow creators about this fear we sometimes have about being punished or vilified for simply being honest in our work...exploring themes that either get watered down or ignored altogether. Thank you for reminding us we can express even the hardest & heaviest of things. This game now has a special place in my heart.

Beautiful, eye-catching art and design! The story was interesting and revealed in a way that felt smooth and easy to follow along. Zehir's duality (going from hateful to soft/clingy) made me so curious about his backstory to make him like that. It was very intriguing, some of the dialogue broke my heart, and the amazing voice acting made it so immersive. All in all, I had a lot of fun, thank you! Best of luck on this and/or any future games!

Awesome, thank you so much! And thanks for creating this jam, appreciate ya!

Hello! I saw that pre-existing projects are accepted and just wanted to double check this included games published prior to the jam (and not just a pre-existing project we've been working on). I’d love to submit a previously published game that I updated earlier this month, but wanted to make sure it was okay. Thank you!

Yay! Thank you for showing Ellis some love! Only 3 endings are currently available right now (2 main route, and 1 stranger route), so you're probably not missing anything,  but please let me know if you ever have any questions. Thank you SO much for playing and the kind words, btw :)

I LOVE walls of text, so no worries there. And as you can see, I’m prone to writing them myself.

Glad you like mc’s agency! This game is essentially a character study, so I wanted choices that build (or even regress) character. We’re human, change our minds, or have lapses in judgment, so I also wanted to give chances to take things back, too.

Now, onto your questions! I plan to continue weaving bits of backstory, but happy to expand here as well. Benji became a parentified child early on, taking care of the house and mom's emotional needs (his first codependent relationship). This doesn't mean his behavior is excused by family trauma (we should still hold him accountable), but he’s definitely repeating patterns. 

I’d say Benji’s always been a caretaker in mc's life, but in smaller, subtler ways. Mc was his consistent source of attention, so there was likely some possessiveness. But after what happened, his guilt/fear exacerbated his tendencies. Mc was in and out of depression, so they didn’t have energy to stop him from taking the reins…might’ve even felt like a relief. Eventually, mc realized it wasn’t actually helping, and started to feel less like a person and more like a stove that needed constant checking.

Lastly, I think Benji’s ideal situation can shift depending on his development, but ultimately, he wants to be mc’s one and only. Platonic, romantic, doesn’t matter, as long as they need him and ONLY him. He would burn the world down for mc, but he also wants that in return. He’s not at the world-burning desperation yet, so right now, he just wants old mc back. But if continually pushed, who knows?

Hope that answers your questions! And please don’t worry, I enjoy these discussions so much! Also, I totally understand, most social media stuff scares me, too. 

You're not being pestering at all, happy to help! I'm still writing the endings, so if a guide were made, it'd be best to wait until the game's finished to avoid any confusion. Since the story is still ongoing, there aren't many endings yet! So far, you can only get three: two for main route, and one for Stranger (which is the one you already got). 

Hope that helps! Please don't hesitate if you have any other questions :)

Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed the visuals/atmosphere as well as the mc! I wrote the first two acts to be slow-building and more subtle (aside from a few select scenes) in terms of horror, so I'm glad it still comes across as scary. Thanks again for playing!

Hi, thank you so much, and I'm honored you want to follow along! Other than itchio, my only other online presence at the moment is Reddit (u/take-a-memo). It doesn't come off as weird, at all! Thank you for asking :)

Firstly, thank you SO much. Reading this felt like a warm hug. 

So, so grateful that the protag resonates. I wanted to write a protag and characters who were complex and flawed. There’s no message or moral of the story. Just an exploration of human relationships and what they’re capable of. For better or worse. Oh, who am I kidding. It's for worse or worse. This is a horror story.

Honestly, I wrote Benji thinking people would hate him. He feels the most loved when people cling to and need him, so that's how he shows his love (and wishes protag would show it that way, too). He’s horrible for sure, but like you said, that yearning desperation is weirdly refreshing in a world that feels detached and indifferent. I think that’s why these dynamics get explored in fiction and scratch that itch so well. 

Protag and Benji are avoidant and anxious, respectively. They are oil and water, but they also have their own guilt and trauma that binds them. Benji’s trying to be the friend he believes he should’ve been. Protag is trying to be the person they think they should be. These things conflict constantly, and I think it could become a love/hate dynamic (if it isn’t already). 

Ellis reads a lot of old books, so the way he talks and behaves is informed by them. He was a sheltered kid, so books were his window to the world. I’d say his parents were pretty old-fashioned and eclectic as well. Despite his stoic countenance, he has big emotions that he doesn’t know how to express, so they kinda explode. Not as much now, but it still happens, as you saw at the end of Act 2. Thank you for inviting me to the wedding, btw! Wouldn’t miss it for the world!

Love your visual of Benji as the dog and Ellis as the stray cat. Spot on in so many ways! I have a rough outline of the endings, but there's one that may involve all three, though I can’t say more than that. While developing the characters, I actually had a thought that Benji and Ellis would probably be pretty compatible. I could see Ellis’s desire to preserve/protect being received well by Benji. I think Ellis would be more open to polyamory than our super jealous/possessive Benji, though. 

You seem to have a good understanding of these characters! I honestly love when people have their own theories and head canons, so please always feel free to share or ask questions! I will never tire of them, honest. And I think it’s probably every developer’s dream when fanart and fanfics get made. There’s already some amazing fanart of Benji and Ellis out there that I still cannot believe exists. But yes, if you ever create something, please feel free to share (only if you’re comfortable, that is). I would LOVE IT!

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed all the elements and that they came together for a fun experience. That's really all that matters to me in the end.

Hehe, and I'm sure Ellis would love to hang out in your pocket, especially if it contained all of his favorite things (and most importantly, because it's YOUR pocket).

 I'm so excited to get started on Act 3, and I truly appreciate your thoughtful encouragement! I'll definitely remember to have fun and try not to rush the process.

P.S. Winter is a great name, and I'll bet Ellis thinks so as well. Maybe I'll add a fun little easter egg for it in the next update :)

Hi! Thank you for playing! Haha, and yes, Benji definitely won that round. Poor Ellis T_T

I'm so glad the game felt balanced and that you had fun! Hope you continue to enjoy future updates :)

Thank you!!! That means the world to me!

Wow, thank you so much! That's such a relief to hear, because I'm constantly picking it apart in my brain.

The protag was written as a recovering people pleaser, amongst other things, and unfortunately, Benji knows that. But hey, he knows best, and it's "for your own good," right?

Thanks again for playing and for the kind words :)

Thank you, Raine! It means a lot when people take chances on lesser known games as there’s already tons of amazing ones out there! I’m so happy you like Benji!

I’m also grateful you found the mental health issues honest and relatable. This is so important to me, especially when writing about experiences that are often invalidated in real life.

Anyway, thanks again for playing and sharing your thoughts! Hope you continue to enjoy the game :)

Oh, I see Ellis is growing on you, eh? Shitty Benji vs Sweet Ellis is kinda funny!

Discord makes me nervous as I don't know much about it, and I wouldn't wanna do a bad job. I've heard about devs/artists getting destroyed due to stuff that occurred in their discords and honestly, that kinda scares me. But I'll look into it for sure.

Hi Sandwich (great name btw)! Thank you so much for the kind words about the writing! Expression through the written word brings me so much joy :)

I feel like we don't always get to choose our comfort characters. They kind of just...speak to us? So I'm honored that Ellis speaks to you in that way, and I think he'd be very happy to be compared to a cup of tea on a winter's night. Two of his favorite things! 

He's good at inference, but he still might ask you to confirm what "down bad" meant, lol!

Hey, Scarscarow, good to see you again!!! I’m still walking on clouds from your beautiful fanart, and stare at it when I need a pick-me-up!

Knowing how much you liked Benji, it means SO much you still approve! Writing him is tough since he’s been protag’s friend for so long, he’d have to get really desperate to go full mask off. For example, doing mostly pushing back/pulling away will lead to more aggressive interactions towards end of Act 2. I’ve been slow-burning it for now, but Act 3 will have more mask-off moments if the player goes that route. It’s possible to have a fluffy playthrough where protag never realizes...the TRUE horror, in my opinion!

So glad you enjoy the player! Their development is central to the story. Endings will be determined by Benji, Ellis, AND protag's trajectory, which includes staying the same, too.

THANK YOU for pointing out that error! It helps so much to have other eyes! Feel free to let me know if you find others. I’ll compile a list and fix them all at once in the near future, that way I can put out a revised update instead of flooding you all with multiple ones.

Thank you again for coming back to play, and you always have such fantastic feedback! I’m always down for a chat, so if you ever have any more thoughts/questions, you know where to find me :D

Ahh, I'm so happy you liked it! Thanks for playing and showing your support!!

Thank you so much! I also love the friends to lovers trope, it's such a classic. I spent so much time on the art, and kept thinking, "is anyone even gonna care?" so your feedback means a lot, thank you again! Hope you continue to enjoy the game :)

Haha, YES! Thank you for noticing! I tried my best to give them distinct feels: warm vs cold, but comforting in their own ways. Thank you so, so much for playing and for the kind words. It's always scary to put your art out into the world, and I'm so incredibly grateful for the encouragement <3

This was such a moving, beautifully-subtle story that made me want to cry and warmed my heart at the same time. It was short and sweet while evoking such powerful emotions. Truly a work of art!

Hi! I will most definitely continue, and I'm working on it as we speak! Thank you so much for this feedback and for supporting small indie devs/games <3

I'm so happy you enjoyed the story and characters! Thank you for taking the time to play. I will pass on the message to Benji, he will be thrilled to have a fan, haha. Thank you again, and I hope you continue to enjoy the next acts!

Thank you! Currently working on the next act and can't wait to share it with you all :)

I'm so glad you think so! Thank you so much for playing and commenting, it means so much! Hehe, and I'm glad you liked some of the small details in the story, too ;)

I truly appreciate this in-depth and thoughtful feedback, thank you so much! The writing is such an important aspect for immersive gaming for me, so I wanted to give it my all. I also wanted to give the player as much autonomy as possible in shaping the story and characters, so I’m so happy you enjoyed that.

Haha, I’m sure Benji would be thrilled to hear people think he is sweet. I was a little worried people might be annoyed or turned off by his clingy nature, so I'm glad you enjoyed his character! I really wanted to explore a deeper, complicated dynamic with him and the player. He’s your best friend, but there’s a lot of layers to that, and it is by no means a perfect relationship even on a wholesome run. As for the stranger, depending on your choices, you may or may not get his route. I wasn’t sure if it would be too difficult, so let me know if it is. If you do unlock him, there’s a chance for a little more interaction and backstory!

It seems a lot of people are wanting updates in parts, so that will be the route I’ll likely go in! I feel so energized and motivated by all of your lovely feedback, so thank you again! I’m currently working on Act 2, which will start exploring more darker aspects of the story if the player chooses to go that route. Very excited to share that with you all as soon as it’s completed :)

Thank you so much! I'll do my best to continue to deliver!

Thank you for your input! That sounds like the best idea :)

Haha, I don't blame you! Thanks for playing!

Thank you! I did a lot of late night/early morning coding, so that's perfect ;)

No worries! And thanks for the tip; maybe I'll try uploading in parts and see how that goes! In terms of supporting the game, you've already done so much, and I'm super grateful. Playing, rating, and leaving feedback helps so much! But yes, if you have the time and willingness, spreading word about the game would also help with visibility (and hopefully getting indexed on this site, heh). 

Thank you so much again, and I hope you enjoy the next installment!

Thank you so much for playing, you have no idea how much that means to me! I’m so happy you liked the characters, but also, if you hated them, that'd be valid, too! I didn’t want them to be just romantic interests, but characters that made you reflect on/question relational dynamics. Also, I saw your feedback on a line, and I’m always open to improvements, if you’re open to sharing!

As for timeline, I honestly had no idea if people were going to like this game. If I upload in increments, the updates will be sooner, but uploading the finished game is an option, too. I’m hoping to get more feedback on this, so if you have thoughts, feel free. 

Current plans are: 5 acts per route with 10 possible endings total. Even though each route focuses on a certain character, both will be featured. I’m currently deciding if player can switch routes at some point depending on choices they make. If you have any other questions or are curious about something specific, let me know!

Thank you so much! Yes, I used stock images in Photoshop to create the effect and color them.