#indie otome

[windchimesgames]

It's been a long time since we've introduced the characters. So here is a re-introduction for the folks new to my otome visual novel!

Meet Aldrias, the gentle nerdy childhood best friend! He's smart as hell, but maybe a little scatterbrained and naive. Will your lifelong friendship finally blossom into something more romantic after all these years? 👀

Full character bio:

[unseelie-grimalkin]

I'm going for gold, lads, lasses, and other gendered classes!

Do you like visual novels? Do you like stories about the fey? Do you like your entertainment as EDUTAINMENT?

IF SO, BOY HOWDY DO I HAVE A VISUAL NOVEL PROJECT FOR YOU.

The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) is a lore-rich and choice-driven romantic visual novel inspired by Irish mythology. Play as an Irish tenant farmer from the mid-19th century, whose path becomes inexplicably entwined with fairy affairs after getting robbed by the roadside and lured into the mythic and war-torn world of Tír na nÓg: A once unified land, now divided into the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Will you escape with your stolen belongings? Or does fate have something else in mind?

OKAY, BUT WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU, SEEKER OF SEROTONIN?

6 wonderful romantic/PLATONIC options (each love interest can be pursued entirely platonically)

a visual novel whose philosophy is less on anxiety-inducing, arbitrary choices to get a good or bad ending, but instead focuses on if you, the player, are interacting with a character in a healthy or unhealthy manner, leading to player freedom and choice

intelligent and reflective writing that is reflected within character moments and dialogue

and MORE! (so much more!)

WHERE CAN I FIND MORE OUT ABOUT THIS GAME?

Here is the bio link, which has links for the indie developers' social media accounts (Tumblr, Twitter, Discord Server) along with the link to their official website, which has a deep dive into every main NPC and the philosophy of the game. The demo is out now and free on both Steam and Itch.io

(As an official statement: I am in no way employed or affiliated with Moirai Myths and I was not approached in any way to make this post. This is me being a feral fan on main, blazing this post)

EDIT:

HELLO EVERYONE! DID YALL KNOW THE KICKSTARTER FOR THIS GAME JUST LAUNCHED TODAY? NOW YOU DO! MORE DETAILS AND MORE FUN TO BE HAD!

They’re doing voice acting reveals this month, along with an early bird special to see blushing/flirty emotes!

EDIT THE SECOND:

WE HAVE REACHED FULL FUNDING WITH THE GAME! Which is excellent, because it means that my little hyperfixation is gonna be made!

However!

It would be very nice if we could reach some of the stretch goals (which go into depth here: x). Not only are they fun (MC customization, a switch port, expanded voice-over work, more sprites, mini-games, side stories), but I think they'd spark a lot of serotonin for folks playing (myself included).

If this post has interested you at all, please, please, please check out the Kickstarter above! Thank you!

EDIT THE THIRD

Since this is still getting notes beyond my wildest dreams:

Hello! It's been a while! The Kickstarter ended a bit ago (I did not update this post when it did end, due to being ecstatic to how much the project managed to get: 130% funding!), but development is ongoing and strong! The first two routes are in development right now. Please keep tuned at @moiraimyths for official development updates!

[herotome]

Herotome Super Demo

SHE's OUT. She is HERE.

FINALLY

I've been working on this damned update since march 2021 I really hope yall like it 😭

Herotome (hero-otome) is a superhero dating sim: romance optional, ✨aroace-friendly.✨

You can now meet ALL five love interests in this first official 'episode' of the game and there's

50,000+  words. (It. is. massive.)

180+ dialogue choice trees.

Animated CGs.

You can even get achievements for petting your cat.

Do you want to save the day and impress everyone with your might and wit and skill? Or do you prefer being an absolute menace who fist fights their mentor in his office and sets fire to fan mail? Why not both?

I been solo funding this project out of pocket for half a decade and I'm not going anywhere until its DONE; if you like the game, pls consider sharing with your friends, hyping it up on social media, or supporting me on Ko-Fi~

Herotome is completely free to play. It comes with a walkthrough if you tip (or have ever spent) 2.99$ or more on the itch.io page, but you shouldn't need a walkthrough to beat the game.

Have fun!!!

Proper link to the demo will be in a reblog so tumblr doesnt nuke this post from search engines XOXO

[vanade]

IT IS DONE 📢

The Dawning may be over but it's still on in my heart...

Spend a few days with my guardian Ceph, helping him figure out cookie recipes with Eva's 1st gen oven. Will you befriend him? Spend every moment flirting?? Will you EAT THE FORBIDDEN DOUGH?

Features:

10.7k of text (10-15 min per playthrough)

lots of dialogue choices

customizable player name (pronouns are unspecified/gender-neutral throughout the game)

be a human, awoken or exo (changes some flavour text)

original OST by my sister

too many cookies

Play it for free over on itch.io ! Windows, Linux, OSX and Web-Playable! (download recommended though) Also if you enjoy it I would really appreciate if you could leave a rating!! This was a solo project for #WinterVNJam2023 and it was a work of love (and insanity)

[endys]

The demo for Snow White Ashes, a dark, romantic fairy tale VN, is out now!

One winter night, you meet a hunter in the woods: A man so warm and gentle you feel as if you've known him all your life.

But appearances can be deceiving. 

You'd know that well, wouldn't you?

Snow White Ashes is a romance visual novel (GxB) made for a couple of end of year game jams, and playable now on itch.io!

The demo includes:

6k words

1 ending with 2 variants*

Hand drawn artwork (5 CGs)

An original piano-based soundtrack

One charming, not at all bloodthirsty love interest

You, a completely innocent and guileless heroine.

Game link (itch.io)

(For long time friends: Yes, this is a reboot of some very, very old OCs in the Mistwalker verse. I hope you'll enjoy what their new story has to offer!)

[otomedev]

Otome Jam 2024 jam page is finally up and along with it, we are continuing last year's Josei Jam!

Join now to be notified when it starts and go ahead and prepare yourself for the start OtoMay (and June)! As always please be sure to read the rules as we have made some updates again and this time provided more international support by adding translations (currently French, with German coming up) for Otome Jam! Even if your game is not in English, you can submit it to both jams, but as a disclaimer, the two hosts mainly speak English. If you would to submit a translation for either jam, feel free to contact us on Discord!

Likewise, we are still updating and getting some things ready, for any more questions our Discord server is available!

Logo & Thumbnail Art by @akuakourin

Banner Art by Everium

[zephyo]

STOP BURYING ME ALIVE, BEAUTIFUL🩸

Made for Ludum Dare 54.

You're between a rock, a hard place, and a lot of rats.

Play it here: https://zephyo.itch.io/stop-burying-me-alive-beautiful

[twincovesgame]

Romance in Twin Coves

Something I've been thinking about while working on the script for Twin Coves is how the romance works. I think I've talked before about how the romance in the game isn't just about flirting with the ROs enough. It's about who the MC is as a person, and thus not all ROs are going to fall for every MC. (You will know about halfway though the game if your MC has caught your desired RO's eye.)

I read an article awhile ago about treating romance in games like kindness coins vs a house of cards. (The article was here, but it now directs to a 404 page sadly.) With kindness coins... you just say the "right" thing the correct amount of times and voila romance unlocked. And that's a fine way to do romance. Certainly makes it easier on the writer. But that's not really how romance... works.

Saying the "right" thing to someone 15 times in real life doesn't equal romance. What about who you are as a person? What about who they are? Do you have things in common? How do you treat other people? Just complimenting someone, saying flirty things, and giving them a gift isn't how real love works.

Something I'm trying (emphasis on trying) to do in Twin Coves is have the romances be based on more then just saying a nice thing to get a point towards winning over the RO of your choice. The choices the MC makes throughout the game outside of the romance also effect the romance. Even little things like the song they pick in the car.

Of course, some ROs are easier to woo than others. That's true to life as well. Some ROs already have feelings for the MC, so there is probably very little the MC could do to ruin that. Some ROs are quite determined to keep their feelings out of it, and will take more effort. Not just flirting, but getting to know them and them getting to know the main character back. Building up a sense of trust. There is one RO who is very difficult to romance. I think it may even make some players mad as there is a very strict requirement for entering into a romance with him I don't think some players will want to make. (Actually, there's probably a couple that fit this description.) However, that's also true to life. Some things are deal breakers, for either the MC or the RO. Good news: there's eight other routes to pick from!

And, in a similar vein, not every route is going to appeal to everyone. You may have thought Eli was hot, for example, only to realize he's not for you once you get to know him. Or maybe a route you thought you'd hate will surprise you. That's definitely happened to me a few times. I put off a route thinking I wouldn't like the RO... only for that route to become my favorite.

This is also why there are no flirt indicators in the game. Because there are no kindness coins. I don't want players to think about choices as right or wrong - only as what's true to their MC. You may be surprised as to who you attract. Also, any option that is romantic is going to be pretty obvious. I also don’t want players to feel they have to make a certain romantic choice to win their RO over. Whether you go in for a kiss or feel it’s more true to the MC to wait… the RO isn’t going to be secretly keeping score on you.

(I am keeping score though. Just don’t look too far behind the curtain. Point systems are the only way I know how to program. I just don’t want it to feel like a point system, ya know?)

And for those who just wanna kiss everyone, goddamnit!! There is always the walkthrough 💙

[fuckentoastybitch]

[danyxhz]

Ren fanart from 14 days with you

I really like how Ren turned out. I’m getting better and better. This novel inspired me a lot.

I don’t know it its a good idea to start my own novel tho. I’m too broke. Would you like it if I tried?

Reply if you see this :’). I’d really appreciate it. Also repost pls.

[sparkofthemachine]

Happy new year y'all! I spent new year's eve finishing the demo for my dawning dating/friendship sim, and it's out on itch.io if you wanna give it a spin! The demo contains the first 20% ish of the game, and I plan to release the full game on Jan 3rd. A current playthrough of the demo takes about 5-10 minutes but there's a bunch of dialogue options to choose from.

customizable player name (pronouns are unspecified/gender-neutral throughout the game)

you can choose from human, awoken or exo at the start (limited dialogue changes atm)

original OST

I'll make another post when the final game is out.

[windchimesgames]

Round 2 of the love interests re-introduction: meet the second love interest, Lord Kierdan Waven!

As the eldest son of the House of Waven and a high-ranked officer of the Authority, Kierdan is nothing short of intimidating to most people. His commanding presence and stand-offish aura do not help matters either.

But is there more than meets the eye beneath the earl's icy mask?

Full character bio:

[husbandogoddess]

Fling with a Tiefling

Story

Tomorrow's the big day. Tomorrow is when you and your team will slay the evil entity that's posing a danger to all of Utril. With such a menacing foe lying in wait, you should be fast asleep. However, thoughts and pesky feelings keep flooding your mind, rendering you unable to sleep. Leaving your tent, you go sit by the campfire alone to stew in your thoughts.

You're then quickly joined by Karrus, a handsome Tiefling who you harbor feelings for. With this potentially being your last night with Karrus, how will you spend it?

This game was brought to you by Baldur's Gate 3 brainrot, thank you Larian Studios.

Features

A short 4k+ word story about meddling feelings and the future

Nameable, gender-neutral protagonist

Accessibility Options

Sound and Image captions

Self-Voicing (Press the V key to enable or enable in accessibility menu)

Font Options (Default, OpenDyslexic, or Atkinson Hyperlegible)

3 CGs

An original soundtrack

Two endings (Fluff, ace-friendly or light smut)

The result of Baldur's Gate 3 brainrot (Gale, I love you)

Download the game FOR FREE NOW!

[herotome]

Do you bleed? You will.

coughcoughahem-- another beautiful piece by my lovely REMNANTATION <-(website with glorious portfolio and commission info) @remnantation

Fun fact this was actually part of an art trade >:)

Warden can't wait to get a hot nosebleed in

Two Days

when the Super Demo comes out!!!

[mylonelyart]

Remnant of the Fallen Demo is now available! My visual novel demo is fully voiced and contains violence and mature themes. https://alightgames.itch.io/remnant-of-the-fallen

[vanade]

Made some big progress on my dawning dating/friendship sim by the way! If you're still on the hellsite known as twitter, I'm posting regular updates on my development process in this thread. The aim is to be done and submitted to wintervnjam ideally by Dec 31st 11:59PM but it depends how the next few days go.