ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY POST ~ NIKI NAKAYAMA ANNOUNCEMENT (Patreon)

One year ago today, I grabbed fate by its fucking scrotum and finally, after years and years of doubting if I'd ever amount to anything, I changed my life.

Or, rather, you changed my life.

On March 17, 2020, Lessons in Love Version 0.1.0 launched with around 55k words and a total of 25 events. 

Today, the game is over 10 times that size and is still barely getting started.

When the game first launched and I started talking about the scope and plans I had for it, a lot of people thought I was insane. And, in many regards, they were correct.

But what they did *not* take into consideration is that I am fueled by that insanity. 

It wakes me up in the morning and follows me to bed at night.

And it's also precisely why after just one year, Lessons in Love is already one of the longest and most successful games inside of the weird niche market in which it resides.

It means more than anything to me that I was able to find a community of players who wanted something different- a community of players who didn't mind peering into the darker sides of life and how trauma and hardship can shape who we are as people.

And, sometimes, as that insanity creeps under the covers with me, I forget that it's a community that would have never existed if I didn't say, "Fuck it. I'm going to make what I want and I don't care what anyone has to say about it."

Tens, if not hundreds of other developers in this industry and others turned me down before Lessons in Love- and look where we've gotten without them.

It's true that doing all of this alone can be stressful at times, but I would not have it any other way.

And I can promise you now, on the one-year anniversary of the game, that this aspect of Lessons in Love will never change.

I will continue to pump out an absurd amount of content not because I have to, but because I want to. 

Because telling the stories of all of these girls is what gets me out of bed in the morning.

And the fact that I can focus on this full-time thanks to all of you is something I don't think I'll ever truly be able to properly show my appreciation for. 

All I can do is write.

And all I ask is that you continue to read.

The only goal for 2021 is to continue growing the game and meet the final stretch goal of $10k.

Thank you all, once again, for everything you've done for me.

I hope I can continue to [non-sexually] touch you for much, much longer.

Lessons in Love 0.14.0 Launches for all $5 patrons on 4/1 and comes with two brand new characters.

It is my pleasure to reveal the last new character until 2022 right now- Niki Nakayama.