Towayami
https://approductions.itch.io/towayami
A loud noise came from the sky.
Our town was swallowed up by a thick and engulfing darkness.
We are afraid to step outside our homes.
No place is safe anymore.
Especially when night arrives...
A veil of darkness falls over a quiet town in eastern Japan.
Fear and horror are freely wandering through its empty streets.
Find out what's behind this curse while trying to escape from it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q - First of all: all your other games are free. Why this one costs money?
A - After over 40 games released for free, I decided to pursue my indiedev career and make it a steady source of income.
But it's hard to estimate an income based only on voluntary donations.
So, even if it took me a really long time to make this choice, I think that if I want to keep making what I love... while still being able to eat and pay bills, this was a natural and inevitable step to take.
We all grow up, get older, and feel the burdens of responsibilities getting bigger day after day.
I hope one day I'll be able to make games and make a living through that, without wasting time and resources on jobs that, at the end of the day, don't make me happy.
I started developing interactive experiences back in 2009. It's been ten years. Ten years of free games. But the love and passion I put in each and every one of them never changed.
With Towayami I raised the bar in almost every aspect concerning the quality of the final product, and with that in mind, I calculated its price from the average donations my most polished games got.
Q - Alright. So, what this game is about?
A - Towayami is essentially a horror adventure game.
I won't spoil too much about its story, but you'll have to explore, find and use items, solve puzzles... and survive.
And you'll have to do all those things completely in the dark.
Q - I got it. It's as if I'm playing through the eyes of a blind person. Do I have any visual clues to help me out?
A - No, you don't. It's pitch black, so you'll have to make use of the four other senses available to the main character.
Mainly touch and sound, but you'll also get to know when something smells or tastes "different".
Anyway, your brain will soon get used to this condition and will start filling the gaps by creating visual references where, in fact, there are none.
Just like when you happen to wander in the dark in real life.
Q - Do I at least get a tutorial?
A - During the first part of the game, even if you won't find any "hand in hand" guide in it, you'll have all the time and relatively safe areas to learn how to play.
At first you'll be confused about who you are and what you have to do, but by just touching and examining your surroundings, you'll soon get enough information to understand all the important bits of the story.
Q - Hey, what's the deal with that black screenshot?
A - You know, taking meaningful screenshots from a game where the main feature is the absence of any graphics... was quite challenging.
Q - What was your inspiration to make this game?
A - After I made "Five minutes a day", I kept thinking about how that short "graphicless" experience could've been expanded into a proper adventure game.
Coming up with a good story and a smooth gameplay wasn't a quick and easy task, so this game became a sort of "secret project" I kept working on in between my other releases.
Obviously, as stated in my other works, like "The hair in the wall", one of my biggest ispirations is Junji Ito.
Many of his stories resonate really strong with Towayami.
Q - One last advice?
A - Only one? I'll give you three: keep your ears open, touch everything, and remember to use the "light touch" (right click) to examine things in a safe way.