the last update was august last year, is the game dead?

Oh my god, I put the prototype on itch and I didn't expect that a year later it would suddenly get some attention despite the lack of updates.

I've frozen the project, but I have plans to develop it further. In the coming days, I may upload a new working prototype and start creating the game.

Awesome! I just came across this while browsing and thought it had so much potential to be cancelled, glad to hear that potential is being realized!