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The fact that you're keeping it in mind means a lot! 😭 And I'm sure it does to any other aromantics that aren't asexual, too. Seriously. Thank you. That's all I could ever hope for with any developer! You rock! 💚

Oh, I hope it'll also be aroallo friendly! So many visual novel games let you only romance the characters if you want any "fade to black" scenes. And while all of those games I love to death, I'd like to play a visual novel that would let you grow close as friends, who ocasionally kiss and/or do further stuff with. It was a breath of fresh air to have no romantic undertones (from what I picked up), yet still be able to choose the "spicy" decision in the first game.

Even if that ends up not being the case, though, I can't wait for the release and will thoroughly enjoy it. Thank you so much for giving all of us this!

I'm gonna be honest, knowing my picky ass, I had low expectations for this game at face-value. Usually, heavily anime style based games not only have little to none POC rep―but have dialogue that I'm just... not a personal fan of. Wattpad worthy.

I was expecting to go into this visual novel knowing you can style your avatar with black skin (judging by the video on the homepage), but have no curly/coily hairstyles. Or just one.

That was my first mistake. You don't know the amount of surprise and sheer happiness I felt at seeing some actual curly/coily hairstyle options!

My second mistake was the expectation on dialogue. Instead of cringing at writing that my thirteen year old self would've wrote―I got dialogue that had me grinning and laughing throughout my entire first gameplay.

I adored bullying messing with Grim. While I was a little careful not to genuinely upset him, I teased him to hell and back (look, Grim, I'm not ready to be a mother and never want to be. But that soul-baby joke will live on).

The MC is fucking hilarious. Sarcastic and witty without seeming... edgy? Is that the right word? Please tell me you know what I'm talking about. Either way, that was done super well too.

And the chemistry between them and Grim becomes obviously strong. In fact, I'd even say you can tell they click―that their personalities match really well―at first meeting.

I was a little turned-off by the whole "I strive to maim mortals you're attracted to" at first, but I actually laughed and enjoyed that dialogue there as well. I've never been a fan of the "possessive" trope, but it was done super well in this visual novel, in my opinion. Awesome job!

In short, you got a new fan of your game, and I might end up buying the DLC. I know that I definitely strive to get that plush toy, though.

I will get that plush.

Okay, but seriously: I am boo, boo the fool, for my assumptions first downloading the game. I'd say what I love even most is you can tell how much fun you had writing the dialogue, and how much love and care you put into the game in general.

By the way, I got the "Mine" ending on my first playthrough! Haven't tried to get the rest yet, but we'll see.

Awesome! Thank you so much for everything you've created and the amount of hard work, yet much love, put in this game. Baxter is my favorite, and I've been on his route, though was so confused when I didn't get his end scene in Episode 7. I was aiming for the spicy scene as well, yet that just didn't work.

Thought I did something wrong and was tempted to go back on my saves and re-do some choices (even though I kissed him at every chance I got originally, and was overall very physically affectionate whenever I had the option to and chose to spend time/chat with him when I could), though I'm happy to know I don't have to do that.

Bugs happen. Again, I'm relieved to know it was just a bug and not any choices I was making, though. "Phew" for real!

Oh, I hope that we get more adventures with him! I loved the MC being cocky, as well. That was a nice touch. Thank you for making this game for all of  us to enjoy!

I absolutely love this! The writing, the pace, the art, all of it is beautifully well done. I've played all of the routes! Well, I personally couldn't make it through Cirrus's due to past and sometimes current bad religious memories/experiences in reality. I expected it though considering the tags, haha; but I wanna mention that I really appreciate the safe word option. Now, that, I didn't expect. It was a nice surprise and refresher. 

I finished everyone else's route, however! Keir is hands down my favorite.

I can't wait to continue his route in the next chapter. In my opinion, I feel he and Vesper have more chemistry and neutral, healthy connection. I love their banter too and, really, I have far more sympathy and understanding for Keir out of the other characters.

I also enjoy how mouthy Vesper is, but it's not an "edgy, loud, not-like-everyone-else" type of snark to me. More like, simply, not a pushover. Which is tough to achieve. At least, in my experience. I'm a fictional writer myself, and even I have trouble with properly writing such a personality in a character.

Now, being a pushover definitely seems like something you should never be in the mountains if you want to survive. This game got that message across real well too. It also seems like something a person (being Vesper) with enough guts to go into the mountains so they could gain what they need for such an awful curse would turn out to, inevitably, be like. Understanding and kind, but knows how to stand their ground and give some snark when they feel is necessary.

Speaking of which, their slightly snarky comments are all around funny and clever; you really hit the nail on the head with making a loveable, inclusive MC that doesn't sit silent on the sidelines and has strong ambition to achieve their goal. I'm a sucker for "I'll do absolutely anything to get what I need" protagonists. Even when they're very well aware that they'll most likely have to tackle the most unfortunate obstacles and circumstances along the way.

I also absolutely adore the idea of a masked and cloaked MC. The mask I chose was the white floral one. Adore the mask theme in general; I'll be recommending this to a close friend of mine who is a bigger fan of the concept of masks than me. I'm sure that she'll be over the moon and excited for this game just as I am.

Seriously, what an awesome, unique, and incredibly intriguing story. I don't know how I can express how much of a fan I've become of it any better; and it's only the first chapter! You gained a new follower on tumblr, and I'll be keeping up with updates as best I can. Five stars!

Yeah, that was my issue with it too. Alongside a few personal grammatical pet peeves of mine, haha, but I could easily brush over that. It was fun at least, but I do agree that how the MC feels about Alan feels set in stone and out of our control.

Haha, it's no problem at all!~ Great to see another Our Life fan, as well. 😉

Oh, I forgot to mention that Twisted Wonderland also has you, the player, as the MC―all of my recommended in there do.

I'm so happy that I helped you out. Hope you have fun! 💕

Well, I'd highly suggest "Our Life: Beginnings and Always." I played it on Steam! I think you could download it on here if you prefer, though. It's such a breathtaking game. Not only is it LGBTQ+ friendly (well, your only love interest is a male, but you are allowed to choose your own gender/pronouns). There's so, so many other features to it as well that just make it perfect for me. The DLCs are also so heartwarming, everything is just chefs kiss worthy!

They're also coming out with a second game. Our Life: Now and Forever. You can play the Demo on Steam or on here. It's hinted that the full game might be coming out in the fall.

Our Life: Beginnings and Always is based in the summer, this new game is based in the fall. They said it'll come out "when the season is right". I might be wrong, but I took it as a hint nevertheless.

I'd also suggest Saint Spell, which is here on itch.io. And then there's the game When The Night Comes. None of these are internet chatroom based, but they're all LGBTQ+ friendly and interesting in their own ways! I very much favor Our Life more, however. So I'd highly, highly suggest playing that one first if you haven't already.

Of course, this game is old, so you've most likely already played it―but there's Mystic Messenger, which is a chatroom based game that you can only download on your phone. It used to be incredibly popular. And while the fandom is long dead by now, there are a few remaining who are very much alive. Like me.

Mystic Messenger is... debatable on LGBTQ+ elements, but it still has its great moments and storyline. Then again, there is one woman (other than you in the game) named Jaehee! But while she does have her own route, it's a platonic one. I think? That's why I said it's debatable. Her route confuses me to no end. I just headcanon her as "she has feelings for the MC but she's stuck in the closet". 

In Blooming Panic, I did notice that "xyx" has a similar personality and role in the story to a character in Mystic Messenger, named "707". While "nightowl" is also similar to a character in Mystic Messenger, named "Yoosung". Of course, they're all still very different characters with their own good and bad attributes! But if you haven't played Mystic Messenger yet, you might enjoy the similarities in these characters.

Here are two others I'll quickly mention: The Arcana, which you can download on your phone. My opinion on this game is rocky. While I appreciate the artstyle and storyline, there are often (far too often, in my opinion) options where you have to pay. And they're always the most interesting options. It sucks, and I haven't finished the game due to that.

There's also Twisted Wonderland. Which isn't a dating game nor chatroom based, and whoo boy do I have my own strong critiques on the game, but I still love so many of the characters, storyline, and artstyle.

Well, I hope I helped you out! All of these besides Mystic Messenger aren't similar to Blooming Panic at all. So I'm sorry for that, but I do hope I still helped somewhat. I also want to note that The Arcana is the only game I listed with paid options, so no need to worry with the others.