Your characters often carry great sweetness, and Var is no exception. The mountain, both symbolically and literally, represents the point where social masks are no longer needed. It is also the place where one's true essence can emerge, overflowing with unresolved issues. Bora acts as a mirror to Var’s needs, reflecting his most frustrated and disconnected self. Paradoxically, his basic needs — safety and sustenance — had been relatively successfully met. However, in the absence of fulfillment, stemming from a condition misaligned with his values, passions, and purpose, all his energy turned against himself. Thus emerged the bitterness of failing to meet expectations imposed by something he did not choose.

Var feels he cannot be fully accepted or loved, and his potential is redirected into becoming the ideal machine: productive, strong, and independent. But Var, at his core, is kind, communicative, and naturally dependent. When this nature emerges, not consciously, but as a genuine blossoming, suffering becomes inevitable due to the lack of empathy, acceptance, and understanding. Even so, and with Bora as an unattainable ideal, Var’s instinct is to engage, to speak, to bring what is foreign closer. Even though his awareness tells him he cannot; even though his memory reminds him he should not; even though his mission forbids it, this genuine desire, connected to his essence, drives him to accept, even if he is not accepted, and to share, even when he is alone. In front of Bora, in his most authentic state, they are just two people trying to make something simple, but with profound social implications, work.

Bora forces Var to confront his pain and return to fundamental questions: “Who am I?” In the absence of answers, Bora demonstrates he is not limited by labels or expectations, and Var begins to become what he genuinely desires: something that requires neither permission nor conformity to labels. The crisis accompanies this transformation process, as Bora represents the central challenge of change: to accept a position and fight for it, even if he dislikes it. There was nowhere left to run or ways to deviate — only the choice to become something new or reinforce the identity he had built.

On the other hand, Bora saw in Var the embodiment of repressed desires, something that transcended his quiet nature. Var was not merely an affectionate being but an individual willing to adapt, given the opportunity to grow from his imperfections and limitations. These same limitations also haunted Bora, restricting his humanity and identity. However, Var, as a figure of power — the "hunter," the one who decides who lives and who dies — chose to understand. When he understood and had to choose again, he wished to be understood. And, in being understood, Bora made the decision for Var. Otherwise, he would have remained forever bound to the same chains. Thus, a misunderstood sacrifice and avoidable suffering transformed Var into something different. He ceased to be the hunter and became just a person living on the mountain.

There's an old song that I really like that reminded me of Var's dilemmas. Thank you very much for sharing your game, it was a nice experience.

This was a cool one! I always enjoy seeing your art, and the character design did a lot for this one. I like the way Bora's design plays off of the sexual dimorphism in wild fowl.

There were a few bugs, or what I assume were bugs, when I played. The section when I was picking up twigs suddenly went completely black except for the light sources, so I had to use my mouse for navigation. You can also walk through the wall at both edges of the couch. There are a few spelling mistakes and misused words as well (the only one I wrote down was "triad" being used instead of "tirade"), but nothing was illegible or game-breaking.

The exposition did feel a little heavy in this one, with a lot of information being repeated just a few too many times, but I think you really thrive when you're leaning into visual storytelling. The lack of clarity as to who or what exactly the protagonist killed was incredibly interesting to me, and a lot of this was handled with the in-game graphics. Visually, it was clearly a pheasant, but the text descriptions very much felt like a human being was being killed and eaten. As mentioned, Bora's character designed also suggested the image of a pheasant without being 100% clear on why this was the case. I was glad that the game didn't really end with a blatant text explanation as to what happened; Bora's importance rested mostly in what he represented rather than who he was as a character. He could have been a person that literally transformed into a pheasant, he could have been a person that was mistakenly killed like a pheasant, he could have not been real at all, he could have been half real and half metaphor, or he could have been something else. I love this type of symbolic vagueness in emotional stories.

I do kind of wish there was either a more hopeful ending or less finality to Var's confrontation with his "father." It was hard for me to understand why a character arc about aggressive self-acceptance would be bookended with such a depressing turn. It almost felt like finales to two separate games.

Both of these finales have a lot of potential, though. If the confrontation with the father had less finality to it, I could see Bora's death as a metaphor for Var ultimately closing his heart to his true self because of his trauma. He would feel the need to kill and consume the pheasant just to sustain himself, even though it ultimately causes him grief.

On the opposite end, if Bora wasn't killed, even if he still "became" a pheasant and didn't see Var again, his presence would feel more impactful. He would have been a passing love or a surge of emotion that changed how Var felt about himself. Even if the game didn't end with a happily ever after, it would show that sometimes the most important people in your life don't always stay in it.

That could also just be a matter of personal taste, though! Regardless, there's a lot of potential in this little project. I would really like to see the characters and world expanded upon in the future.