Hello everyone,

Happy 2025! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday, and may the new year bring you lots of cheer and good fortune 😊 Since it's another new year, I thought that I would chat a bit about what I accomplished last year, and the games that I hope to make this year!

Last year, I released four games!

My first release of the year was the demo of The Deepwater Witch, a dystopian romance game where a mysterious girl teaches a cynical scavenger how to find beauty, even in a ruined world. This was my first release after swapping from Unity to Godot, but I was very happy with the change (if nothing else, Godot is much less bloated than Unity for my needs!) As a result, making the game was a lot of experimentation 😅 and the code was a bit rough around the edges. In terms of visuals, TDW also remains my favorite title to date (I'm not sure how I made some of those backgrounds... but I made them!)

My second release was Kanau, the prequel to Karamu and a direct follow-up to that game, about the first time Raku met Nelli. It was my first time working with such a stylized color palette; even though it was actually a lot easier working in black and white, Kanau has some of my favorite CGs that I made this year (that, alas, I couldn't post anywhere... because of spoilers...) It was also my first time writing a kinetic story, which ended up being a lot easier/faster to write 😂 A lot of people who played Karamu picked up Kanau too and seemed to enjoy it, which made me feel very warm inside 😭💦

My third release was MindMindMind, a psychological romance game about a mysterious man who has followed you since you were a child, who starts to interfere when you get close to a new boy at school. This was my first time participating in NanoRenO, the annual visual novel jam where you make a game in a month! It was a lot of fun making a game alongside so many talented developers. It was also my first time making a game so fast 😂 rather than hand-making the backgrounds, I used filtered photos, and I also kept the planned amount of CGs pretty slim, so I finished the game with plenty of time to spare. I... probably should have used that as a sign that I should "slim" down my games some so that I can release them faster, but alas, my overly ambitious side keeps adding CGs to the games that I make 😂 This game was pretty personal, as I based it on my experiences in middle/high school, and I was really touched to see the comments from people who said that they felt that it was relatable. It made me feel very happy (and fortunate) to be able to share my stories as a developer 😊

And lastly, my fourth release was The Perfect Woman, a short psychological horror title! In it, you play as an AI girlfriend trapped by your creator, who wants to carve you into his perfect woman. It's a somewhat "modern/sci-fi" reimagining of the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea. This was my most experimental game to date, both in terms of visuals and code. I typically write fairly straightforward visual novels, where points garnered over the course of the playthrough lead to a number of different endings. Here I incorporated a chatsim interface, completely full voice acting (including the narration), and a "game loop" mechanic as opposed to a mainly linear format. I think that in the end I could have done a bit more to make the loop more fun 😅 but overall I was very proud with how it turned out! It was also my first attempt at making Android builds again after swapping to Godot, and it seemed to go well, so I hope to make more Android builds in the future!

Overall, I wish I could have put out more games this year 😂 but looking back, I think that I grew a lot as a developer, and I received a lot of kind feedback! I would like to extend a special thank you to everyone who supported me this year: the talented voice actors that I worked with, the generous friends who beta read and beta tested my games, the fantastic artists that I commissioned, and everyone who very kindly reached into their wallets to help me fund development. I would also like, of course, to thank everyone who took the time to play my games, and especially to everyone who left a comment or a rating. When I released my first game a couple of years ago, I remember being fairly happy whenever a new person downloaded it 😂 so having so many people try out my recent titles is very mind-boggling to me! I'm very fortunate, and thank you for giving me the privilege of your time 🙇‍♀️

Every time I finish a game, another idea seems to pop up 😂 Like weeds! Currently, I have 6 projects on my docket for 2025.

First is The Deepwater Witch! I already had the script finished all the way back in 2023, and I really only had CGs left to finish. However, since releasing TDW’s demo, I did make quite a few changes to my code, so I’ll have to refactor it.

Second is, of course, Hanasu (the last part of the Karamu trilogy). After the events of Karamu, Nelli has been sucked back into a relationship with her ex-boyfriend… What will happen to her and this “monstrous” relationship? The script is finalized, and the voice acting is almost complete. I plan to actually release this as part of a bundled game that contains Karamu and Kanau as well, so everyone can play all three games in one place.

Third is “My Husband is a Stranger,” the project that I announced most recently! You're trapped on a remote island with your perfect, doting husband... who isn't the man that you married. This is a romance/mystery game with a little bit of thriller, a little bit of psychological horror, and a few twists and turns involving a truly nightmarish marriage. The demo script is complete and finalized at 24k words. I’ve also finished the sprites, and I’ve been hard at work on the CGs and BGs. Like MMM, this one will have a customizable protagonist.

Fourth is a project that I’ll affectionately refer to as Project R. Your loyal knight and trustworthy childhood friend has become your ruthless captor. You have seven days to escape. This is a dark fairytale/fantasy project with a hero-to-villain/friends-to-enemies twist… featuring my first female yandere! I also love a lady in a nice suit of armor 🤗 so I’m very excited for this one! The demo script is complete and finalized at 24k words, and I’ve also finished the character designs. Like MHIAS, this one will have a customizable protagonist akin to MMM.

Fifth is Actala: The Hero’s Shadow, my first game and my largest! It’s an expansive mystery/fantasy romance title that takes place after the end of the “hero’s journey,” when dangers emerge that threaten the life of the kingdom’s strongest man. I worked on it a bit for Otome Jam last year, but it ended up being too big to finish the demo in that time frame. It’s a huge project, and quite a bit needs to be redone, so I’ll be working on it gradually this year.

Sixth is a project that I will call Project Y! It’s a Karamu spinoff set in a period inspired by Edo-era Japan. After Nelli sees her best friend beaten half to death by her husband, she decides to do anything to save her… even if it means marrying a demon. This is my first planned NSFW project! I’m a bit nervous 😭 but hopefully it’s fun! Nelli and Raku are some of my fondest characters, and so I’m pretty happy to continue being able to write about them 🥹 The script is currently in progress, but at 29k words, I’d say it’s not even close to half done 😅

I won’t announce release dates for any of these projects, since, as you know, solo development inevitably hits snags. But with my current scheduling, I hope to release something every two months or so. My first priorities for the year will be demoes for “My Husband is a Stranger” and Project R, followed by Hanasu/the complete Karamu trilogy.

First... I would like to be a little more active on social media 😂 If you follow me there you can probably tell that I am notoriously bad at this... in addition to being more responsible about supporting my fellow developers 💪, I would also like to keep anyone interested in my games more up to date (and maybe do some more of this "marketing" thing that people talk about...) 

Second, I'd like to add a bit more "flavor" to my games! This includes things like MC customization, more endings, more choices, etc. I'd also like to release games that are a bit longer in general, so you can really sink your teeth into them! 

Third, I would like to experiment with monetization this year. While I'm primarily a solo developer, I understand that I am a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none 😅 As a result, I have been commissioning out certain things, like logos and GUI, where I know I'm a particularly weak, in addition to hiring people such as editors and beta readers, so that there are a few more quality checkers than... just me 😂 And while there are many generous people in the community who will work on a volunteer basis, I would like to pay everyone at least a bit of money for their time (and preferably a decent amount). So far I've mainly been paying out of pocket (with some help from very kind people on my Ko-fi and Patreon), but I would like this to be a bit more sustainable, haha! However, at the same time, I understand that not everyone has the money to pay for games, and I'd like my games to be available to as many people as possible. 

As a result, you'll be seeing me experiment a bit with monetization this year. Currently I plan to release a couple games that are primarily free (MHIAS and Project R), with bonus content and endings available as a paid DLC (similar to the Our Life DLCs). Hopefully this is a good compromise between giving everyone a satisfying free experience while also offering something worthwhile to people who choose to help me out. If it works out, I'd like to look into hiring artists for backgrounds and sprites/CGs! Hopefully this would help me release games faster (and also enable me to release games that have… art that is a bit nicer 😭 I think I’ve grown as an artist, but I have a long way to go…)

To anyone who’s still here, thank you for reading! 🥂 May we both have a happy and productive 2025!

Chattercap