Alpha Preview Update (February) (Patreon)

Play the alpha here

Password: marchcomesinlikealion ⬅ ❗️

Report bugs here

View bug reports here

Incomplete routes guide ⬅ ❗️please check if you suspect your game ended early :)

What's New:

• Over 17,000 words of new content to Chapter 8
• The third and last trial of the Crystal Tournament
• Riddles! Puzzles! Brainteasers!
• Chandry got choked out
• The ending of what could have been a wonderful love story?

Developer's Notes

EDIT: Sorry, I had to reupload because I forgot to add in some text reflecting what happens if [SPOILERS] Shikokami tricks you in Trial #2! [/SPOILERS] 😳 Fixed now!

Hi everybody, I hope you're all doing great! In last month's update, I was all chipper about February, like "oooh I love Valentine's Day, my anniversary is the week after ❤️" completely forgetting that February is typically 3 whole days shorter than what I'm used to, forcing me into a crunch culture of my own making 😂😂 The shortened month--paired with some unexpected things cropping up, like a sudden leak in our roof/attic as a result of unusual spring storms--had me feeling like a zombie as I was writing this update, and there were definitely times where I felt like I wasn't going to make it! But I'm proud to say that that's Trial #3 of the Crystal Labyrinth, done and dusted! All that's left is to do now is to wrap up this mission and its aftermath, get these goons back home, and immediately head into the next mission (which will take place in the second half of this chapter, not its own chapter), featuring Lavinet, Tallys, and Halek (I'm pretty sure)!

This update was funny because [SPOILERS] I definitely knew the third trial was going to involve riddles and a cypher of some kind, but I was always like, "I'll figure it out," and then when I finally arrived at the critical moment, my brain was like static on a TV... It turns out that thinking of puzzles and riddles in a game sense is quite difficult, and very different from writing a mystery, which I usually think I'm quite good at! So I'm not entirely happy/confident with how these puzzles are presented for now, but it's a first draft and I'll definitely be polishing and tweaking things as the alpha build goes on. I'm curious if people will find the cypher easier or more difficult than I expected! And it's pretty rough trying to incorporate images in ChoiceScript, so I'm hoping to make things a bit more accessible as well as interactive and dynamic in the Twine version. [/SPOILERS]

As for other ShoH updates: all is pretty much quiet and in its own groove for now! We had to push back UI development on the Twine version for a few weeks and are just cleaning things up with the interactive maps (which should be mobile compatible) and other small to-dos that need addressing, and then that will be finally done! The first five songs of the original soundtrack by Ivan Duch have also been completed, and we're also in a pause for a few weeks before we start up work on the next batch. We have only three character cards left to produce--Shery, Riel, and Lavinet--with Riel and Lavinet's underway and Shery's set to begin production later this year. cutetanuki-chan has been sent the details of Shery's character sheet, so we may be seeing that soon!

Ummm that's pretty much all I have for right now! My birthday is this Thursday, and I already know that I'll be receiving one of those three-tiered afternoon tea trays because I'm obsessed with them (just like Shery and to an extent Riel)! For the last few months, I've been experimenting with baking more when time allows, having been intimidated and disheartened by disastrous attempts in the past because I find it much less 'intuitive' than cooking; at least when you're cooking, you can taste and adjust things as you go along, but baking is more like a science and I haven't gotten enough experience yet to gain the kind of confidence and intuition to eyeball stuff and get a sense if it's going well or poorly while I'm making it! All this to say that I've recently tried to break through this hesitancy by baking more bread (dutch oven, no-knead, lol) and even mastering "the perfect chocolate chip cookie", but with the imminent arrival of this tea tray, I'm turning my sights to other baked goods! Has anyone made scones before?? Are they hard?? Whenever a recipe tells me I have to tip something out onto a "floured surface" and use my hands to knead it, I want to cry 😭

Anyway, that's all for now: I hope you guys are enjoying the end of your February, and let's look forward to the arrival of spring! 💐🌷

Total wordcount: 932,148 words without code

What's Next

The finale to this mission and the trials of the labyrinth, and then it's straight on to the next... The reappearance of Guard-kun (I'm going to have to start remembering the name you guys voted on for him) draws ever closer!

I hope you enjoy! 💝