#romance game

[qkayoostudio]

OUT NOW! A Tavern at Night: Firelight

Past, present, or future. What fate will the cards uncover?

After striking up conversation with a wandering terrifying mercenary in a remote tavern, he's agreed to travel together for a while before you go your separate ways. 

That separation is approaching soon.  To commemorate your final night together you suggest reading him his fortune; might be useful for the road ahead, right?

Except neither of you are particularly looking forward to saying goodbye..

PLAY IT HERE!

features:

♡ a cosy campfire

♡ chooseable pronouns

♡ a variety of fantasy-tarot readings

♡ multiple endings

[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!

[sableunavailable]

I like the silly death game a lot

[larkingame]

DOCTOR CYRUS SOKOLOV & WYATT ABRAMS GAME PORTRAITS by @tapeworrmart

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles—Update 29/March/2024

Very much a same-thing kind-of week! Writing and getting prepped towards the demo.

I mentioned before about having a different system in place for Book Four when it comes to editing and testing. The plan is to write one chapter, completely do all my own editing and testing on it, then move onto writing the next chapter. Whilst I then write the next chapter, the previous one can go to the editor before then going to the readers and testers.

Hopefully completely finishing up one chapter at a time will make things much easier than overwhelming my poor editor and readers with lots of chapters in one go, especially with there being so many more branches and variations that all weave in and out and together at this point in the series! It wasn’t as necessary for Book One and Two, but I definitely came to realise that things needed a more thorough go over by Book Three when it was all more intricate to work all the scenes and branches around each other!

But you know I LOVE my variations and branching, so I don’t want to compromise on writing those, it just meant a different process was needed.

It does mean I have to take more time between chapters, but in the end it should save time towards the end parts of the book when I usually save up a lot of my testing for then.

It’s all kind of an experiment, but I really think it will take the pressure off for a lot of the process!

Saying that, I already kind of got off plan because I started writing on Chapter Two because I hadn’t decided where Chapter One was ending, lol! :D

But I’m back to Chapter One and working my way through that, as well as dipping back into the character creator when needed as I go through it.

It’s a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, so we'll be back to it on Tuesday instead of Monday! (I do realise today is a bank holiday as well, but I really wanted to get just a bit more done on the editing!).

Hope you all have the most wonderful weekend! I’ll update you all again next Friday <3

[moiraimyths]

FEB 1, 2023: KICKSTARTER FOR THE GOOD PEOPLE (NA DAOINE MAITHE) HAS ENDED!

Thank you to our 776 backers for allowing us to bring this project to life, and reach our side stories stretch goal! We hope that you love what we have in store! Stay tuned, fateful friends!

The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) is a lore-rich, choice-driven visual novel inspired by Irish mythology and Celtic folklore. 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?

Our Full Game will Feature:

Six Character Routes: There will be six character routes in total, each one exploring the individual stories of our diverse cast of Love Interests (LIs)! There are two men, two women, and two non-binary folk to choose from. Half of our cast is aspec, as well!

Secret Story Route: If you play through all six character routes, you'll unlock the secret story route! It's designed to tie up the broader narrative aspects of the game, and you can choose which character route is "canon" to your play through!

Flexible MC: Choose your preferred name and pronouns (including neo pronouns) and romance whomever you please! (We even have a stretch goal to customize MC's sprite appearance, too!)

Platonic Options: Not into romance, or don't want to romance them all? Not to worry! All routes can be played platonically.

Multiple Endings: Each route has two endings based on the health of your relationship with the LI, regardless of whether it's romantic or platonic.

English-Gaeilge Lexicon: Our game features translatable Gaeilge (Irish) words and phrases, and in the full game, translations will be voiced for ease of pronunciation!

Voice Acting: The main cast will have limited voice acting in the full game. Check our Kickstarter page periodically for voice actor reveals and samples!

Other Features (Stretch Goals): Side stories in-between route releases.

While we develop the full game, be sure to try out our FREE DEMO out now on Steam and Itch.io! Make sure to Wishlist our game on Steam as well!

[blerdyotome]

Romance Visual Novels with Black Heroines

Happy Monday and Happy New Year! Let’s kick off 2024 with some melanin friendly games! As a Black woman and a gamer, I love seeing characters that look like me in the games I play. But, a lot of the time, finding representation in games can be a daunting task. The indie scene has helped fill the gap. The rise of the “amare” genre has created even more opportunities for diverse romance stories and…

[gleafer]

GUYS.

My niece made a game. It’s SO FREAKING CUTE AND FUN! Romance game where you go to a bookshop, pick a genre and the hero pops out of the book to take you on a “choose your own adventure” trip!

The art is spectacular and the concept fresh! And AND AND it’s no set cost, you pay what you can and it’s YOURS!

It’s already got over 3000+ players! (Including me!)

[tricitymonsters]

Itch.io \\ Steam \\ KS

▶️KICKSTARTER ENDS REAL SOON!◀️

Please consider helping me continue making this game! The first three character concepts are free to play on Itch and I am currently developing three complete character routes!

[eeveseeve]

i'm gonna accept this tiger, use it to k!ll every single British colonizer and marry Ram, thank you very much

[bitemedatingsim]

DO YOU..

Long for a world filled with dark and twisted vampires?

Want a glimpse of our alluring POC, Queer, and Trans characters?

Crave a story with world-ending passion, wild love, and a touch of gore?

THEN THIS GAME IS FOR YOU!

In an alternate-universe Iran, you are invited to an elegant Yalda-Night party at the Kymiagar family mansion. This is where you meet your charming and elegant hosts:

Faranak, Jadu, Maader, Hayat, Shirin, Shayan, and Telesm.

All seems well- until they start slaughtering everyone in the house to feed to their Mother. Will you be lucky enough to win their hearts and convince them to spare your life?

Meet and pursue one of the siblings, and carefully select your conversation choices to ensure your safety at the end of the night. 

Visual Novel with 5 romance options (6th coming in 2024)

Click and point interactive story

Unique voice acting

2 endings per character route

Pronoun customization options

Massive re-playability

Read our Content Warning list before playing: https://bit.ly/BiteMecwlist

[acecroft]

OLIVIA SCOTT WELCH and RAY NICHOLSON as Heather Nill & Ray Hall in Panic (2021)

[amaregames]

Announcing the Amare Games Festival 2024

Amare Games Festival 2024

Join us in April for the 2024 Amare Games Festival, a celebration of love and diversity in story-focused games!

For this festival we invite you to create or update a game that you believe falls under the Amare Genre tag!

What is Amare?

Why a festival?

Jams are an awesome way to get the creative juices flowing and challenge yourself to create a game in a short amount of time. However, there are already a lot of amazing projects in progress, so it's important to celebrate those and give people the opportunity to focus on setting and achieving goals with their existing projects as well.

Examples of Submissions

A new game.

A new demo or Vertical slice.

A new chapter update to an existing game.

Adding new features or content to an existing game.

The festival has fairly relaxed rules, but in general, we would like all participants to keep these in mind:

Rules:

You must Release or Update during the festival period. Work can be commenced before the start of the festival.

Please clearly label demos or first episodes as such. - This is to help us organise the entries

Please clearly state the exact update or new content that was added during the festival.

Submissions can be Free or Commercial.

NSFW must be properly labelled, but is fine as long as it adheres to Itch.io's TOS

No hate speech, (i.e. speech that promotes hatred, violence or discrimination against groups of people based on ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation.) or content that is patently offensive or intended to shock or disgust viewers.

Content Warnings are needed (Here is a link to help you with those if you need it!)

We currently do not support AI-generated games or games that make use of generative AI writing and art. Until legislation is put in place to ensure ethical training models that respect artist and creator copyright and regulate transparency on the use of AI in creative content, we will not allow the submission of games that utilise generative AI.

We kindly ask that you tag your game with the 'Amare' tag here on itch.io. This will ensure people who are watching the tag instead of just the jam page will see your game.

Join the discord to find others who are looking for festival partners, and to talk with other Amare Devs!

Sign up for the Festival on the Amare Games Festival Itch Page.

[larkingame]

Play as Preacher Abrams, prolific vampire hunter (and pathetic preacher) in Larkin! Episode One out June 14th!

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles—Update 05/April/2023

So it's not Friday obviously! :D

But I wanted to get the update out early this week as we'll be releasing post-release content on Friday that I didn't want to disturb with the update.

I sent the final-final files back to Hosted Games!! Oh man, it took a lot to stop myself looking at them but it had to happen at some point. But from this process I am pleased that I already have a new editing plan in place for Book Four. Definitely want it with how big these games are now!

Obviously we'll let you know as soon as the game is released tomorrow! We'll be checking all day for when it releases on the different platforms (hopefully they'll all release at the same time but I'm not sure if that will happen) so as we can let you guys know!

It's hard to work out how I feel at the moment. It almost doesn't feel real that we're finally here after I poured so much of myself into it for so long! But at the same time, my body is just a rush of emotions from intense excitement to extreme nerves which makes for quite the rollercoaster, hehe! Doubt I'll be getting much sleep tonight :D

So this is really it! The final countdown is pretty much in hours now :D

I'll talk to you all after Book Three is out!!! Thank you so much for all being here with me through this immense journey!

I truly, truly hope you enjoy the continuation of the story as well as (more importantly, hehe) delving deeper into the romances with the vampires of Unit Bravo! ;D

[moiraimyths]

Howdy, fateful friends! Are you an artist or illustrator with an interest in visual novels?

If so: Moirai Myths, creators of the visual novel The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe), are in need of guest artists! More specifically, we're looking for up to two artists to help us with the content graphics ("CGs") for Maeve and Shae's upcoming routes. All of the details will be listed on our application form (linked below), but here is the gist:

This is paid work with 20-30 business day deadlines per piece!

Complicated revisions in the post-sketch phase are compensated!

You will be prioritized for future guest artist opportunities!

You will be featured/credited on Moirai Myths' website and in the game itself!

Sound interesting? If so, apply here:

Click under the cut for some F&Q 👇

Who are you? (I'm new here!)

Hi! We're Moirai Myths: a small, newish visual novel company based out of Canada. We're making a game inspired by mostly Irish mythology, which was funded on Kickstarter in 2023! Our game's got fairy politics, a diverse cast, a Gaeilge-to-English translation tool, and routes that can be played either romantically or platonically! Also horses. An ungodly amount of horses, really.

If that odd pitch sounded intriguing, perhaps you'd like to play our demo! It's free on Steam & Itch.io.

Why are you looking for guest artists?

When we originally launched our Kickstarter, the plan was to have our three in-house artists collaborate on the CGs in the same way our header image was. However, we quickly realized that adding CGs, even if they're done collaboratively, onto the existing duties of our artists was a tall order. Add to that the departure of our original sprite artist (who has since been replaced by our graphic designer), and we determined that having our in-house team work on CGs was simply not possible if we still wanted our first release to happen in 2024. So, rather than omitting CGs or adding them in at a later time, we came up with the idea of hiring guest artists. Overall this means our CGs will be a bit more varied in terms of art style, but we like to think of this as a positive! NDM's development will take a number of years to complete in full, so we hope our CGs will allow us to feature a lot of artists either within the VN/indie dev community already, or artists who aspire to work in gaming and are looking for entry positions.

How long will applications remain open for?

This application will be open until Sunday, March 24 at midnight (EST)! If we intend to extend past that deadline, we'll make an announcement about it.

I can't apply right now. Will you look for more CG guest artists in the future?

Definitely! As mentioned, NDM will take a while to develop in full, so this is by no means your only opportunity to apply. That being said, we suspect we're going to end up shortlisting a number of artists over the course of this application period, and we intend to keep a list of all the runners-up. So, even if you won't be able to participate this time, it might be a good idea to apply anyway just to remain in our contacts! Either way, this will not be the last time we have apps.

Will you be looking for guest artists outside of CGs?

Maybe! We already have two guest artists (Nefukurou and Madi Funk) working on sprites and CGs respectively, so it's always possible that we'll have other artistic needs later down the line. Likewise, we may also reach out to past guest artists for future work with us, whether it's on this game or something else!

You say we need to sign an NDA. What does that entail?

The non-disclosure agreement essentially means you will be legally unable to publicly disclose any confidential information you become privy to as a result of working with us. This would include personal information about the developers, as well as spoilers from the game itself. In addition do this, you will be expected to sign over the IP and copyright of any artworks you produce for us.

Can I still use my artworks in portfolios, even if I don't own the copyright?

Yes! We'd only ask, if your portfolio is a website, that you wait to do so until after your art has been made public by us, either on our social media or via the publication of the game. Our first release is anticipated to happen later this year, most likely mid-autumn.

How do you guys feel about AI? Do you intend to use it, or would you ever train an AI off of the artworks whose copyright you own?

No.

Making a game is expensive and time-consuming, but AI is no replacement for human artistry. We fundamentally believe that any advancements in AI should be used for the purpose of giving people more time to make art, not take away opportunities for it. Moirai Myths will never, ever use AI or train an AI off your work.

***

If you've got any more questions for us that we didn't think to include here, feel free to send us an ask!