Oh man, this is such an honor to have such a nice review from you! I absolutely fell in love with your games when I first discovered yours back when you posted The Sakabashira Game! I'm so glad you liked my little game! I'm definitely still new and an amateur when it comes to game development, (most of my games are really more like stories with minimal "gameplay" aspects) so making a game for a gamejam was a challenge for me that I wanted to run with in my own way.
As for the monster design- I didn't have a clear idea in mind for whatever type of "creature" it was supposed to be- I just wanted it to be something you couldn't easily comprehend; something abstract and eerie. I first thought of something like a misshapen hand one would draw if they traced over their hand with a marker (eg: hand drawings made to look like turkeys or chickens), but also something deformed and warped. I was originally going to go for a more gore-y/trypophobia-esque design, but since me and my husband have that particular phobia, I figured it was best to leave it with just enough "holes" to identify a "face".
I absolutely agree with the notion of dark endings- they're really some of my favorite in horror films/media too! I wanted the ending to be dark and show that the monster/"bad luck" that befalls these victims is one of an ongoing loop- like it happens to random people of all walks of life, all throughout different places in time. I knew from the beginning of development that I wanted the ending to be a sad/not happy one. I'm glad to know people enjoy that aspect! Aah, it's such a pleasure to know that my tiny entry could inspire you to do something similar with the ending- it's really touching coming from a popular developer, so thank you for saying that!
Thank you so much for all your kind words! I had a lot of fun working on this in the end, and I'd like to think I've learned some when it comes to development- I'm not that great at game-mechanics, but I'd like to give it a shot with something else in the future! (Ah a series would be really interesting!) You're an incredible inspiration, and I thank you again for playing my game :>!