We all wish that we could stay one step ahead, especially in high school. I think both parties communicated better differently. It's good to know the truth, but now I'm sad.
i love the idea of exploring mind reading as a concept and how, whether a real ability julius has or not, it is so incredibly capable of ruining relationships when used to jump to assumptions that ultimately evade a healthy dose of much-needed context.
the snippets of mark's thoughts capture this perfectly, and given the words julius mind reads, it puts the audience in a really interesting limbo left to figure out whether he truly is listening in on mark's thoughts or if they're his own projected thoughts based on past shared experiences. that's great writing. :- )
i loved too that each ending explores this on a sort of sliding scale, with 1 being a really positive conversational experience for the pair of characters whereas ending 5 is drastically more intense. i think it really serves to drive home the degree to which mind reading can serve to sabotage our relationships based on a sliver of a bigger picture.
Thanks so much for playing our game! For clarification, Julius is meant to be an actual mindreader, but his abilities only give him back limited info on what the other person (Mark) is thinking.
Absolutely love the music, vibes, writing, artwork <3 The mindreading was utilized well both as a game mechanic (don’t think I’ve ever seen it used in a VN before) and as a way to flesh out the MC, his insecurities, and his relationship with Mark.
This was a really cool experience to play through. I started with not mind-reading and of course it's clear from the start that there's more going on, but even if it hadn't been presented like that, there's a couple weird things in the conversation that hint that things aren't quite that simple. Julius saying "I haven't had a conversation like that in years" had me going "what sort of social life do you have that you never have to do awkward catchup smalltalk with old classmates?". And then you get to find out what that statement actually signifies.
You could probably make some deep (tm) analysis of how we as the player only find out what was going on through the mind-reading mechanic and things remain opaque if we don't make use of it. But for the characters, it's clear what's going on and the route without mind-reading represents something for them that the player will only fully appreciate after playing through all the other possibilities.
I'm hoping Julius and Mark can manage to reconnect in the future, but the good ending works really well as an open-ended positive moment between them that might either be closure or the possibility of things developing further from there.
Seeing how differently two people may experience the same situation is my jam, and so is getting to gradually piece together what's going on, so I really enjoyed this. I'd definitely be interested in a prequel or expanded version that delves more deeply into their relationship. Julius's overthinking was really well-presented (it's the sort of thing that can easily end up feeling tedious or repetitive, but it definitely didn't in this case) and I'd love to look more into his mind and relationships.
Thank you for such an in-depth comment! Happy to hear that the way the different endings came together worked out well. We did want to leave things open-ended in some way because we do want to revisit this game/these characters and want to expand on their relationship in the future.
Really neat concept! I managed to get all the endings except 4 (could not figure that one out for the life of me). I'm impressed by how much you were able to accomplish characterization-wise within the word limit; you can really understand Mark and Julius' characters and their past relationship from their brief conversation. The mind-reading concept is really well executed. I really like how Julius only gets ambiguous snippets of Mark's thoughts and how you get choices whether to mind-read at all and also whether to act on the results of the mind-reading. There's a good variety of endings, and the art is, needless to say, absolutely gorgeous! Great work!
Thanks so much for playing! And yes, we kept the mind-reading statements ambiguous on purpose - we were thinking about the kinds of conclusions someone like Julius would jump to when he's given so little information from his powers, lol. Glad you liked the art, LadyM is incredibly talented!
Hey! I played the game and reached the five endings!
So, in the first place, I really loved the cozy overall feel: I really dig the music track!The colour scheme felt like a warm coffee, and I think it's worth mentioning the art is magnificient: I particularly love the main menu!
Now, for the story, it was very interesting because, despite mind-reading, I love how this story was more about trust and how doubts can challenge it. I think, the interpretation Julius has of "annoying" shows pretty well how important trust is to avoid getting wrong ideas and uselessly decaying our relationship with others. And the fifth ending, of course, is the climax of it, and it was even a bit spooky, haha!
I also liked how the dialogue suggests what their previous relationship was like, and how it sadly ended. It just makes the characters more true, you know?
So, I really enjoyed this game!! Congrats on releasing it in such a short amount of time!!
Thank you for playing our game, and happy you enjoyed the atmosphere! You're on the nose with the theme - the goal with this game was to use mindreading as a way to explore ideas of anxiety/making assumptions about what others think of us, and how getting in your own head can ruin otherwise good relationships and hurt well-meaning people.
We had to cut a lot of dialogue (the script was originally double the length!) but thankfully were able to keep the most important hints in. We were actually thinking of making a prequel game with the two of them to dive even deeper into their relationship!
I get you, conveying everything you have to say in less than 1,000 words can be tough, but you really managed to do so wonderfully! I'd be more than excited to play the prequel!
This was so good!! First of all, the art is just so pretty, I loved it!! The music was also really nice and fitting for the cafe meet up!!
Now, the story... HOLY MOLY!!!!
I was not expecting Julius to be an actual mindreader, that was so interesting!! The 5th ending broke my heart a little but gosh it's so well done, really makes you think why mind reading has such a negative connotation for people (I'm always reminded of the anime Kotoura!). Thoughts are private and we don't always think of good things even if we are a good person, cause we're human! So for someone to invade such a private part of ourselves, it's no wonder Mark was MAD!!
I'm happy there was an ending were Julius was mature and decided not to read Mark's mind, even if he was curious about what he was thinking.
Really good game, looking forward to more of your works!! <3
hi the game was simple and fun ,great work i made new game (bvb-guess ) too if want check my game and tell any bug or new things that i can add to it ,thank you
This seems like a pretty chill VN, and i really liked the art. I can't help but get stressed out while playing it though (it's a good thing i enjoyed it very much heh). Hoping to see more from you guys!
I played through, for lack of a better word, the "normal" way first -- as in, without doing any of the mind-reading options. And actually that made me forget entirely for a moment that they were even an option and there was something deeper going on here and so it just felt like a little chance, fleeting convo between them and then I restarted it to try other options and I was like OH YEAH I CAN MIND READ LMAO.
So then I started playing with those, and that's when it went from cute and soft and sweet to HELP MY HEART. Because gosh was I not expecting the sudden incoming dark vibes and outburst of truth from Mark lkdajfldskf. I just want to say first off that it was brilliant how you handled that -- that you can take this on-the-outside chance meeting but then twist it on its head based on the options you choose. It really makes for a fun twist 🤭💕
BUT ON TO THE STORY ITSELF. I've always thought the idea of mind-reading would be super interesting to dive into in a story -- particularly in a VN format since it allows for so many types of player interaction, etc. So it was really neat getting to read a story that dives into this and what it might look like. I also loved the idea of meeting up with an ex -- someone you as the MC have a history with but that you as the player don't know all the history behind -- and getting to learn bits and pieces of their backstory and relationship through the dialogue. It was quite enjoyable getting to learn about the little various moments that happened between them in the past and form an image of what their relationship must have been like as I read. I went from chuckling at their past antics to feeling miserable for them to smiling at the cuteness, especially when Mark started blushing. I also like that there were little hints about what might have been actually going on that you could only really pick up on after you got the fifth ending ldakjflsdf When I was going back and choosing a variety of options to get the in-between endings, I enjoyed picking up on some of them. GOD THOUGH IN THE FIFTH ENDING WHEN IT GOT ALL DARK AND THEN MARK WAS YELLING AT US IN HIS MIND THAT WAS SO SO GOOD. I ACTUALLY SAT BACK IN MY CHAIR A LITTLE BIT AND WAS FREAKING OUT ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN ASLDKJFASLD
The art is GORGEOUSSSSSSSSSSSSS GOD. Mark's sprite? HELLO??????? And the BG with the soft blur?? Making it feel like walking straight into a photograph or something? SO GOOD. And I'm in love with the title menu art AHHHH!! The design and composition of it is so good, and the logo, and the UI, GOD JUST EVERYTHING ALKDJFALDSK. Also Julius is very cute OHHHHH! Makes me want to see more art of him in the future too dlkafdsf
GUH. AT ANY RATE. I enjoyed this so so much! I was able to finally get all the endings after playing around with the different options. It was fun to see how different combos led to subtle changes, particularly in Julius's suspicion. Overall just super great and polished and beautifulllll and with a really interesting (and shocking!!) story that made me want to know so much more -- not only about Mark and Julius but also just like, Julius in general and why?? He can read minds??? And how??? Mark was able to guess???? ldkfajldskf I want to know more plz thank you yes.
Tbh when we outlined the story we thought people would go straight for the mindread option out of curiosity but surprisingly a lot of people found it disrespectful and usually go through the game "normally!" We culled so much of the story to fit within the jam parameters so I'm really glad the little hints came through when you replayed the story ;_;
I'm so happy you took the time to describe your experience, that really was the whole gamut of emotions we were hoping for :'^) Walt and I were actually thinking of making a prequel game of sorts to explore Julius's mindreading and relationship with Mark so those questions might actually be answered in the future?? Omg I'd love to see your take on mindreading, I have the same thoughts about the concept! And hopefully in the future we'll be able to explore it beyond Julius getting caught up in his insecurities LOL
Anyways, we're really glad you enjoyed the story!! All of this is such high praise and I'm very thankful for your support!!
I was able to get through all the endings by skipping one or two mindreads, or acting on one or two of them. I think it's easier if you memorize how many mindreads you need to do. If you're specifically talking about Ending 5, just act on every single mindread option :))
I rly enjoyed this little story. I loved how each choice seriously fleshed out each character and gave us more background to the rise and fall of their relationship. (I too was hoping Mark was single lmao but I understand it's in their best interest.) I loved the art and the music fit so well. Amazing work <33
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Amazing, I have no words. Everybody should check this one out. And try to get various endings because that really brings out the theme.
this was SO good!! i'm in love with the concept and the way it was executed was amazing <3
i really really liked it.
We a need a college romance nowwwww!!!!!!!
I NEED A FULL STORY- NOW! I WOULD PAY FOR THAT SHIT!!!
We all wish that we could stay one step ahead, especially in high school. I think both parties communicated better differently. It's good to know the truth, but now I'm sad.
just writing this comment to know that i got endings 2, 1 and 5 so i can remember which ones I missed so i can get them when i play again
nice game btw :)
this was super cool. really enjoyed this concept
tbh 5 didnt hurt that much cause ive dated a few people who felt nothing for me. but dang its hard getting the 3rd ending-
1,4,3,5,2 amazing experience!
34125 WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKK :((((((( THAT WAS SO SAD. I STARTED CRYING. MT THERAPIST WILL HEAR ABOUT RTHIS
21345... yeah i knew i was gonna feel worse the more i did... great game :)
the 5th one was the first i got. im crying rn.
ik right
24315
51243 God getting the 5th one the first try scared me so bad i jumped
We loved this game so much, the writing, music, and art was awesome!!! Super fun experience thankyou so much! - Applecats 🍎
I lovd the concept
It was fun, finished the ending in this order: 1, 5, 4, 2, 3
i love the idea of exploring mind reading as a concept and how
, whether a real ability julius has or not,it is so incredibly capable of ruining relationships when used to jump to assumptions that ultimately evade a healthy dose of much-needed context.the snippets of mark's thoughts capture this perfectly, and given the words julius mind reads, it puts the audience in a really interesting limbo left to figure out whether he truly is listening in on mark's thoughts or if they're his own projected thoughts based on past shared experiences. that's great writing. :- )
i loved too that each ending explores this on a sort of sliding scale, with 1 being a really positive conversational experience for the pair of characters whereas ending 5 is drastically more intense. i think it really serves to drive home the degree to which mind reading can serve to sabotage our relationships based on a sliver of a bigger picture.
great job all around! ☕️
Nice game ^^
I also loved the character designs of them :D
Also i wasn't sure if we actually can mind read or if that is kinda inside our head. Like that he is being paranoid and/or delusional.
Thanks so much for playing our game! For clarification, Julius is meant to be an actual mindreader, but his abilities only give him back limited info on what the other person (Mark) is thinking.
- Walt
I see thanks for the information!
feels good about myself because i didnt mindread until i wanted to see the different ending
i'm in love with mark now godamn
that makes 2 of us
i just need ending 4 hehehehe
woah wait i got it
Absolutely love the music, vibes, writing, artwork <3 The mindreading was utilized well both as a game mechanic (don’t think I’ve ever seen it used in a VN before) and as a way to flesh out the MC, his insecurities, and his relationship with Mark.
I'm glad you enjoyed the ambience, thank you for playing our game!
- Walt
AHH YES I GOT ALL 5 ENDINGS this was super fun!! i love julius and marks characters :-)
This was a really cool experience to play through. I started with not mind-reading and of course it's clear from the start that there's more going on, but even if it hadn't been presented like that, there's a couple weird things in the conversation that hint that things aren't quite that simple. Julius saying "I haven't had a conversation like that in years" had me going "what sort of social life do you have that you never have to do awkward catchup smalltalk with old classmates?". And then you get to find out what that statement actually signifies.
You could probably make some deep (tm) analysis of how we as the player only find out what was going on through the mind-reading mechanic and things remain opaque if we don't make use of it. But for the characters, it's clear what's going on and the route without mind-reading represents something for them that the player will only fully appreciate after playing through all the other possibilities.
I'm hoping Julius and Mark can manage to reconnect in the future, but the good ending works really well as an open-ended positive moment between them that might either be closure or the possibility of things developing further from there.
Seeing how differently two people may experience the same situation is my jam, and so is getting to gradually piece together what's going on, so I really enjoyed this. I'd definitely be interested in a prequel or expanded version that delves more deeply into their relationship. Julius's overthinking was really well-presented (it's the sort of thing that can easily end up feeling tedious or repetitive, but it definitely didn't in this case) and I'd love to look more into his mind and relationships.
Thank you for such an in-depth comment! Happy to hear that the way the different endings came together worked out well. We did want to leave things open-ended in some way because we do want to revisit this game/these characters and want to expand on their relationship in the future.
- Walt
Lovely mechanic, gorgeous art, super nice dialogue. Amazing job y'all, this was super fun to play through. :)
Really neat concept! I managed to get all the endings except 4 (could not figure that one out for the life of me). I'm impressed by how much you were able to accomplish characterization-wise within the word limit; you can really understand Mark and Julius' characters and their past relationship from their brief conversation. The mind-reading concept is really well executed. I really like how Julius only gets ambiguous snippets of Mark's thoughts and how you get choices whether to mind-read at all and also whether to act on the results of the mind-reading. There's a good variety of endings, and the art is, needless to say, absolutely gorgeous! Great work!
Thanks so much for playing! And yes, we kept the mind-reading statements ambiguous on purpose - we were thinking about the kinds of conclusions someone like Julius would jump to when he's given so little information from his powers, lol. Glad you liked the art, LadyM is incredibly talented!
- Walt
Omg, I love it!
I loved this!! got endings 1, 3 and 5 so far and trying to figure out 2 and 4! I love the story and kinda wanna draw fan art for it now
So glad you enjoyed our game! We would be so excited to see any fanart you create!
- Walt
Awesome story, I managed to get 4 of 5 endings I believe. 10/10
Wow, this is super cool!! Thank you for taking the time to make this vid, I enjoyed your read-through of the dialogue and seeing your reaction!
- Walt
You're welcome, I thought the story was a cool concept. :)
Hey! I played the game and reached the five endings!
So, in the first place, I really loved the cozy overall feel: I really dig the music track!The colour scheme felt like a warm coffee, and I think it's worth mentioning the art is magnificient: I particularly love the main menu!
Now, for the story, it was very interesting because, despite mind-reading, I love how this story was more about trust and how doubts can challenge it. I think, the interpretation Julius has of "annoying" shows pretty well how important trust is to avoid getting wrong ideas and uselessly decaying our relationship with others. And the fifth ending, of course, is the climax of it, and it was even a bit spooky, haha!
I also liked how the dialogue suggests what their previous relationship was like, and how it sadly ended. It just makes the characters more true, you know?
So, I really enjoyed this game!! Congrats on releasing it in such a short amount of time!!
Thank you for playing our game, and happy you enjoyed the atmosphere! You're on the nose with the theme - the goal with this game was to use mindreading as a way to explore ideas of anxiety/making assumptions about what others think of us, and how getting in your own head can ruin otherwise good relationships and hurt well-meaning people.
We had to cut a lot of dialogue (the script was originally double the length!) but thankfully were able to keep the most important hints in. We were actually thinking of making a prequel game with the two of them to dive even deeper into their relationship!
- Walt
I get you, conveying everything you have to say in less than 1,000 words can be tough, but you really managed to do so wonderfully! I'd be more than excited to play the prequel!
This was so good!! First of all, the art is just so pretty, I loved it!! The music was also really nice and fitting for the cafe meet up!!
Now, the story... HOLY MOLY!!!!
I was not expecting Julius to be an actual mindreader, that was so interesting!! The 5th ending broke my heart a little but gosh it's so well done, really makes you think why mind reading has such a negative connotation for people (I'm always reminded of the anime Kotoura!). Thoughts are private and we don't always think of good things even if we are a good person, cause we're human! So for someone to invade such a private part of ourselves, it's no wonder Mark was MAD!!
I'm happy there was an ending were Julius was mature and decided not to read Mark's mind, even if he was curious about what he was thinking.
Really good game, looking forward to more of your works!! <3
the art is gorgeous but i just cant seem to get the 4th ending for the life of me so if someone figures it out pleaseeeee tell me
NVM I GOT IT IM SO STUPID LMAOO
HOW
Oof I need a guide. I can only find ending 1 2 3 and 5. Btw this VN is really fun.
hi the game was simple and fun ,great work i made new game (bvb-guess ) too if want check my game and tell any bug or new things that i can add to it ,thank you
This seems like a pretty chill VN, and i really liked the art. I can't help but get stressed out while playing it though (it's a good thing i enjoyed it very much heh). Hoping to see more from you guys!
Thanks for checking out the game! It's always cool to hear it got a reaction out of people haha :^)
OHHHHHHH THIS WAS SO DELIGHTFULLY INTERESTING.
I played through, for lack of a better word, the "normal" way first -- as in, without doing any of the mind-reading options. And actually that made me forget entirely for a moment that they were even an option and there was something deeper going on here and so it just felt like a little chance, fleeting convo between them and then I restarted it to try other options and I was like OH YEAH I CAN MIND READ LMAO.
So then I started playing with those, and that's when it went from cute and soft and sweet to HELP MY HEART. Because gosh was I not expecting the sudden incoming dark vibes and outburst of truth from Mark lkdajfldskf. I just want to say first off that it was brilliant how you handled that -- that you can take this on-the-outside chance meeting but then twist it on its head based on the options you choose. It really makes for a fun twist 🤭💕
BUT ON TO THE STORY ITSELF. I've always thought the idea of mind-reading would be super interesting to dive into in a story -- particularly in a VN format since it allows for so many types of player interaction, etc. So it was really neat getting to read a story that dives into this and what it might look like. I also loved the idea of meeting up with an ex -- someone you as the MC have a history with but that you as the player don't know all the history behind -- and getting to learn bits and pieces of their backstory and relationship through the dialogue. It was quite enjoyable getting to learn about the little various moments that happened between them in the past and form an image of what their relationship must have been like as I read. I went from chuckling at their past antics to feeling miserable for them to smiling at the cuteness, especially when Mark started blushing. I also like that there were little hints about what might have been actually going on that you could only really pick up on after you got the fifth ending ldakjflsdf When I was going back and choosing a variety of options to get the in-between endings, I enjoyed picking up on some of them. GOD THOUGH IN THE FIFTH ENDING WHEN IT GOT ALL DARK AND THEN MARK WAS YELLING AT US IN HIS MIND THAT WAS SO SO GOOD. I ACTUALLY SAT BACK IN MY CHAIR A LITTLE BIT AND WAS FREAKING OUT ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN ASLDKJFASLD
The art is GORGEOUSSSSSSSSSSSSS GOD. Mark's sprite? HELLO??????? And the BG with the soft blur?? Making it feel like walking straight into a photograph or something? SO GOOD. And I'm in love with the title menu art AHHHH!! The design and composition of it is so good, and the logo, and the UI, GOD JUST EVERYTHING ALKDJFALDSK. Also Julius is very cute OHHHHH! Makes me want to see more art of him in the future too dlkafdsf
GUH. AT ANY RATE. I enjoyed this so so much! I was able to finally get all the endings after playing around with the different options. It was fun to see how different combos led to subtle changes, particularly in Julius's suspicion. Overall just super great and polished and beautifulllll and with a really interesting (and shocking!!) story that made me want to know so much more -- not only about Mark and Julius but also just like, Julius in general and why?? He can read minds??? And how??? Mark was able to guess???? ldkfajldskf I want to know more plz thank you yes.
CARROT IM ASKJHDHSK THANK U FOR YOUR THOUGHTS!!
Tbh when we outlined the story we thought people would go straight for the mindread option out of curiosity but surprisingly a lot of people found it disrespectful and usually go through the game "normally!" We culled so much of the story to fit within the jam parameters so I'm really glad the little hints came through when you replayed the story ;_;
I'm so happy you took the time to describe your experience, that really was the whole gamut of emotions we were hoping for :'^) Walt and I were actually thinking of making a prequel game of sorts to explore Julius's mindreading and relationship with Mark so those questions might actually be answered in the future?? Omg I'd love to see your take on mindreading, I have the same thoughts about the concept! And hopefully in the future we'll be able to explore it beyond Julius getting caught up in his insecurities LOL
Anyways, we're really glad you enjoyed the story!! All of this is such high praise and I'm very thankful for your support!!
Super fun! Couldn't figure out how to get the 5th ending (I tried for a while but alas) but it was cool playing with the options! Really neat concept.
Hi !! Here's the hint if you want them vv
I was able to get through all the endings by skipping one or two mindreads, or acting on one or two of them. I think it's easier if you memorize how many mindreads you need to do. If you're specifically talking about Ending 5, just act on every single mindread option :))
I rly enjoyed this little story. I loved how each choice seriously fleshed out each character and gave us more background to the rise and fall of their relationship. (I too was hoping Mark was single lmao but I understand it's in their best interest.) I loved the art and the music fit so well. Amazing work <33
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!! I'm happy those notes came across and we had the same thoughts when we wrote Mark lol