JUNE 10
After making weekend plans to visit the mall, Margo notices a message from an unknown woman asking about her father. How would they know each other?
One Nice Bug Per Day

Andulka
styofa doing anything

if i look back, i am lost
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
NASA

@theartofmadeline
hello vonnie
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸

Kiana Khansmith
Xuebing Du

★

Kaledo Art

Discoholic 🪩
h
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
dirt enthusiast
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Origami Around
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
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@gaiascope
JUNE 10
After making weekend plans to visit the mall, Margo notices a message from an unknown woman asking about her father. How would they know each other?
JUNE 9 A major theme is lucid dreaming as a way of recovering lost memories, and as a permeable state that others can enter. When Margo talks to Bec, she’s stricken with deja vu. That night, she talks to Clara in a lucid dream. What are these events dredging up from Margo’s past?
JUNE 8
The love interests, Bec and Clara, are introduced! Was it coincidence that she bumped into either of them?
Margo starts a government summer job, due to period-accurate economic downturn. ✨
Fun fact: The cat is based off my old tortie! In every way, identical situation.
Quick reminder about Studio Interlude's discord server! Join for the DEVIL'S LIMINAL updates, stay for the hairless cat photos.
We also have arguably the best Server Tag on all of discord.
discord.gg/aFFccYTtFq
JUNE 7
Now the story begins in a rural border town in Arizona in the 2000s. Margo, the protagonist, gets a text from an old friend.
When I was a teen, the night before a big event was usually marked by a message from a friend.
PROLOGUE
I want to post daily about DEVIL'S LIMINAL, for every in-game date, seeing as the game starts June 7th (tomorrow!) and the Full Release is coming up!
Today is the prologue, where we see a mystery man in 1950s New York City ponder Gounod's Faust opera. Foreshadowing? 🤔
May update! Upcoming sales and ending progress
This update does not include any new days, but has a couple of new features! Behind the scenes I've been working on some things for the 1.0 release.
The full game will continue to September 1st. This will be available when I post the full 1.0 release.
The update is available on Steam and itch.
Sales and Events!
The Power of Pride Bundle 2026 — $60 Edition The Power of Pride Bundle 2026 — $10 PWYC Edition itch from June 1st to July 6th This sale features nearly 400 games by queer creators for Pride season! There's the $60 version and $10+ version.
World Ocean Day Sale Steam from June 4th to June 11th Studio Interlude will donate 10% of net revenue of all Steam sales generated during the event to WDC. WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation is the leading charity dedicated to the protection of whales and dolphins. Their vision is a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free. You can learn more at whales.org
Games for Pride Sale Steam from June 19th to June 26th This month, AAPI in Gaming is hosting the Games for Pride Sale! Lots of great games by queer creators will be discounted.
Early Access v0.93 Changelog
Implemented 3 new tracks by The Scuba Divers! These can be heard when listening to the CD with Bec and at the concert on any route.
Added an option to disable The Scuba Divers tracks in case of content creation issues.
Added an option in the UI to always see the in-game date in the top right corner. This is on by default and can be turned off.
Behind the Scenes
Making a document of new voice acting requests for June 7th to August 27th.
Half the writing for August 28th to August 31st is complete.
1/4th of the writing for September 1st is complete.
April Update: The end approaches
Uploaded just in time for Walpurgis Night, this update features the last available in-game days for Early Access! New content includes August 24th to 27th. For the next couple of months, the focus will be on polish, including more art, voice acting, and music. I will also, of course, be busy writing August 28 to September 1st.
The full game will continue to September 1st. This will be available when I post the full 1.0 release.
The update is available on Steam and itch.
Reminder - Join the Discord!
Studio Interlude now has a Discord. Anyone can see posts, but you'll need to post a quick introduction in order to chat. Join here!
IRL Events
Debug Games Festival - April 25 in Norwich, UK Now in the past, I'm happy to say the event was a success! For this one we experimented with handing out more goodies, such as stickers and zines. The crowd was super positive and enthusiastic.
I'm thinking about doing a longer post with a printable file of the zine and some games that looked interesting. That'll be another day, because I'm fried from doing the update.
itch Bundles
Queerly Beloved Bundle - Starts May 3rd, $10 with 32 items A bundle of books, comics, and games featuring queer romance.
Early Access v0.92 Changelog
Added in-game days August 24th to August 27th. This includes a pass on story branches, conditions, writing, backgrounds, music, and voice adlibs.
Corrected some minor typos and greyscale issues on a few backgrounds.
6 new backgrounds. Some are currently in sketch stage.
3 new music tracks (not implemented, yet).
​Unfortunately this is a very small game update, with only August 23rd. However, there have also been some general quality-of-life updates AND I have studio announcements!
The update is available on Steam and itch.
Join the Discord!
Studio Interlude now has a Discord. Anyone can see posts, but you'll need to post a quick introduction in order to chat. Join here!
IRL Events
Indie in de Bunker - March 28th in Amsterdam, Netherlands I went from initially planning on doing nothing Saturday night, to a friend suggesting I check out this event, to finding out another friend was running this event and insisted I show DEVIL'S LIMINAL on his spare computer. Fortunately I am ALWAYS prepared, with business cards on hand and the convention build available to download. Ended up being a great night of catching up with friends and meeting some more local indie devs. A dark nuclear bunker is the ideal place to showcase the game, second only to being in the middle of the Sonoran Desert.
Debug Games Festival - April 25 in Norwich, UK I'll be at the Debug Games Festival to show DEVIL'S LIMINAL! If you're in the UK, swing by to say hi! I'm currently working on getting some stickers and mini-zines printed to hand out at the table. I've never been to the UK, so I'm also excited to do a little sightseeing.
itch Bundles
Queer Bundles Bazaar The Second Edition - Now to April 11th, $6 with 11 items A bundle of games by queer creators on itch. This bundle includes SFW and NSFW games.
Ghost Stories - April 3rd to 24th, $10 with 19 items Ghost story themed bundle of primarily books, with a few games and TTRPGs thrown in.
Steam Sales
Women's Day Sale - now over This sale included games by gender marginalized devs (not just women)! For this event I recorded a Steam broadcast of myself playing through the super-short convention demo; felt a little silly but was fun to do. This was the game's most successful event so far!
IGDA Foundation "Download for Charity" - now to April 6th DEVIL'S LIMINAL is part of the event, but not currently discounted. This event directly supports IGDAF with each sale. They've been a huge help to my career, so I try to support them whenever possible.
Early Access v0.91 Changelog
Added in-game day August 23rd. This includes a pass on story branches, conditions, writing, backgrounds, music, and voice adlibs.
Fixed text size issue on dyslexia friendly font.
Fixed auto play timing on text messages, should now display for the expected duration.
Added red accent color customization, can now be lighter/darker to suite the chosen color and opacity of the text box.
It's a short month, so the focus has been entirely on content with very little time for bug fixing. I included some known issues in this log to keep track. Please don't hesitate to let me know about any issues you find! The update is available on Steam and itch.
This update features: A party that goes sour! Someone goes missing!
Early Access v0.9 Changelog
Added in-game days August 17th to August 22th. This includes a pass on story branches, conditions, writing, backgrounds, music, and voice adlibs.
Made the dyslexia-friendly font slightly smaller to reduce instances of text overflow.
Added more backgrounds: 2Â building exteriors, 1 interior, 8 interior variations
Added more sprites: 8 sprite variations
Known issues
When using non-default fonts, there may be some overflow text. Please report any instances that you find so I can fix them. There are plans to debug this more thoroughly before release.
When using auto-play, text messages are quickly skipped over. This will be investigated soon.
Because of the change to the big ghost events no longer looping under some conditions, there is some discrepancy between events and what characters talk about after. These will be cleaned up soon.
We are getting CLOSE to the ending! I expect it'll take another 2-3 months to finish the writing, and then another 2-3 to get final edits, art, music, and voice acting requested, implemented, and cleaned up. The update is available on Steam and itch.
This update features: Jade's house! A terrible day for Bec! An uneventful medical appointment! Lovely trips down memory lane!
Early Access v0.8 Changelog
Added in-game days August 11th to August 16th. This includes a pass on story branches, conditions, writing, backgrounds, music, and voice adlibs.
Changed how the big dream events on June 28th and July 23rd work. Got rid of the loop so the player will always complete it on their first attempt, with variable outcome. Players seemed to pick at random after the first attempt, so I think this will narratively work better.
Added a new content warning.
Moved the medical appointed to Thursday the 13th.
New backgrounds: 3 new locations, 2 variants, 2 placeholder.
New sprites: 2 variants, 1 animated event.
Fixed a bug on the demon's sprite.
In the last island memory, updated to specify what Margarida did and where she was.
Happy New Year! The December update is up on on Steam and itch! This update is a relatively short one, but does include quite a bit of plot. We see the final island memory, and have some intense moments with Bec and Clara.
Early Access v0.7 Changelog
Added in-game days August 9th to August 10th.
On July 4th, added a new opportunity to start dating a character. Jade asks who the player is interested in.
Bec's mom has a name now, Ms. Kim! Since she frequently comes up on Bec's route, she is now "Ms. Kim".
On June 10th, added a new conversation with Clara.
Fixed a potential crash on July 5th.
Updated the sprites for Alejandra, Karina, Francisca, Margarida, and Siebel.
Added 2 new sprites.
Added 4 new backgrounds
New sound preference to change the volume or mute the "clicking" UI sound effect.
Fixed CG Gallery display when using non-default font options.
On June 11th, provided more information on what the player would do if they do not hang out with Bec.
Fixed particles.
In the next few days I will update the demo as well, so that it contains the new early game scenes, preferences, and content warnings.
2025 Retrospective
Found this, from July 2020. Kept these designs until the week before releasing the demo. Margo is no longer this happy.
It's been a big year for DEVIL'S LIMINAL, as well as for me personally! So, I wanted to share a retrospective about how 2025 has been.
But first, if you haven't already: Please consider leaving a review on the DEVIL'S LIMINAL Steam page. Reviews and wishlists tangibly help boost games! This is my first indie game, so every little bit makes an impact.
I also have a Patreon, with a free tier! There are some member-only posts, and there will be more to come.
And the tldr: Made a lot of progress in 2025, on track to finish the game in 2026, self-promotion is hard, but people like the game so far! Please consider leaving a review.
Some Background
I first started brainstorming the game in 2018/2019, and during lockdown in 2020 finally had the time and energy to start working on it. At the end of 2022 I had the demo ready to share and a rough draft of the entire game: friends playtested, wife and I made a ton of art, and I commissioned music. Soon after, voice acting was added.
In 2023/2024, with return to office, increasing work responsibilities, and changing jobs, I didn't have the time or energy to seriously commit to the game. Finally, in October 2024 I pushed to increase the length of the demo as a challenge to myself to make sure the project didn't wither away.
At the end of 2024 I had surgery that rendered me couch locked, playing a lot of Infinity Nikki, with a lot of time to think. My day job was in a game studio, but the most fun I had in a long while was finishing up the October 2024 update. I started to dread the idea of recovering and returning to work, and not being able to update my game again for another 1-2 years.
In March 2025 I left my job and created my own studio: Studio Interlude. My goal since grad school was to eventually have my own studio, and I felt I was finally in a position to make this a reality.
In June I released the game in Early Access! Maybe it wasn't the smartest marketing decision ever made, but I have made MUCH more progress on the game this way. I'm something of a high-functioning procrastinator, so having a monthly deadline for updates is crucial for me.
Generally, I've been struggling with getting in the mindset for promoting my game. I just feel incredibly goofy talking about any in-progress work or myself. So, a big goal for 2026 is figuring that out and, of course, finishing the game.
Progress
Since the game is organized into days, here's an overview of what "days" have been finished (well, mostly finished).
Full Game (???) (for reference): June 7th to September 1st
Update history:
First Demo (December 2022) (still available, with updates): June 7th to June 20th
Extended Demo (October 2024) (no longer available): June 7th to July 4th
Early Access June 2025: June 7th to July 18th
EA July update: June 7th to July 23rd
EA August update: June 7th to July 27th
EA September update: June 7th to August 1st
EA October update: June 7th to August 4th
EA November update: June 7th to August 8th
Progress has slowed down now that the game is in August due to being a much rougher outline, but I'm still really happy with how far I've gotten this year! I'm quite proud and terrified that I ended up writing over 150k words and making 10+ hours of gameplay. A few people have played the entire thing in pretty short order; I'm not sure what that does to a person.
Getting the Word Out
I wanted to share what sort of promotional progress I've made.
Steam Festivals
Hungry Ghost Festival
Debut Festival
Fall in Love Festival
Choose Wisely Festival
itch Bundles
Citrus Con Summer Festival Bundle
Queer Games Bundle
Indie Allies for Impact Bundle
IRL Events
The Queerness and Games Conference - Arcade
Interviews and Articles
Otome - Devil’s Liminal: When Love Haunts You Back
Interactive Fictions - Pride Month Feature #4: Devil's Liminal
Yuri Kissaten - Lesbian Games Galore in the Summer 2025 Yuri Kissaten Espresso Showcase
Streamers
Here is a breakdown of how many streamers played the game, and how they found out about it:
2 reached out to stream via Bluesky
9 reached out to stream via Partnier
4 streamers I reached out to for Hungry Ghost Festival
8 streamers I reached out to for Fall in Love Festival
4 streamers I reached out to for Choose Wisely Festival
27 streamers total (at least that I was able to catch)!
Goals Reached
Nothing record breaking, but I'm really proud! It took a lot of pep talks from my wife to get this far.
4000+ Steam wishlists!
15+ Steam reviews (so far all positive, yippeeee)!
3000+ itch browser demo plays!
1500+ itch downloads (demo + EA)!
10+ itch reviews (also all positive)!
Thank You for Your Support!!
Seriously, at the end of the day (year) I want to thank everyone who's supported me along the way. Very few things are truly made solo, and it's taken help from artists, photographers, musicians, voice actors, helpful programmers in forums, font designers, Wikipedia, books, and especially my very patient friends and family to make this game. I honestly find it shocking that strangers on the internet have spent time and money on my game, and shared such kind words about it. While in the thick of working on something, it's impossible to know if you're making anything that would resonate with someone else, so I'm glad it has.
Looking forward to next year, and finishing this thing! Thanks, all!
The DEVIL'S LIMINAL November update is up on Steam and itch!
This month's update:
🖤 Blow up your life and kiss a secret, third girl!
🖤 Things are not going well in the 1500s!
🖤 Save the hometown you hate!
🖤Clara's tragic and/or horrifying backstory reveal!
I'm a day late, but I needed a bit more time to play through the update. A lot of variations in this batch! There were a few outstanding bugs I still need to address, that will be mentioned at the end of the changelog.
This update includes some of my favorite scenes, so I hope you enjoy them too!
Early Access v0.6 Changelog
Added in-game days August 5th to August 8th. This includes a pass on story branches, conditions, writing, backgrounds, music, and voice adlibs.
Added a new content warning.
4 new backgrounds.
Updated Bec's sitting sprite to look less stiff.
Updated Clara's pajama sprite to have bonnet and hair down variations. Hair down version implemented on July 11, 23, 25, and 26.
Text Preferences updates. In most places, text will resize itself to fit the displayable area. Now displays what the text box will look like during CG events. Slider to pick the opacity of the CG event text box.
Bug Fixes
Fixed arrows on the "Skipping" UI.
August 4: Bec/Clara correctly mentions if you talked about the dream or not.
June 29: Fixed a condition in a conversation with Clara about Margo's soul.
July 29: Clara's bedroom is now upstairs in her childhood home.
Known Issues
Need a separate option to turn off UI clicking sounds. Currently their volume is controlled on the general Sound Effects slider.
Need polish and expressions on new character sprites that appear in the islands memories.
Some of the font options can break the formatting of the CG Gallery.
Particle effects in some of the dreams no longer work with the newest Ren'Py update.
Need to update Bec's mom character information to include her name.
The October update has been posted on ​Steam​ and ​itch​!
Compared to last month, October has been much quieter with a smaller update as I had some more classes and exams to study for. My wife helped a LOT with this update, bringing some new character sprites and text options!
As a quick reminder: I have a Patreon! There's a few exclusive posts there, and I hope to start adding more. Maybe some posts about the references and themes in the game?
Early Access v0.5 Changelog
Added in-game days August 2nd to August 4th.
Added new font and color options for the text
Adjusted the requirements for Clara's route, so it should be easier to start.
2 new first pass versions of sprites: Karina and Alejandra.
2 new background: 1 dream with animation, 1 island memory
Adjustments to Clara's sprite.
Bug fixes.
General aesthetic improvements to the menu.
It's International Lesbian Day! Please consider celebrating today by playing my visual novel ft two lesbians that you could date and Halloween-appropriate creepiness. There is a demo!
A demon's pact, a final summer. Yuri horror visual novel inspired by Azores folklore.
The September update has been posted on Steam and itch!
This last month has been BUSY, both online and in person!
Game Updates
We made it to in-game August!! The game is now 2/3 complete, with the September Early Access update adding July 28 to August 1.
Early Access v0.4 Changelog
Added in-game days July 25th to August 1st.
This includes a pass on story branches, conditions, writing, backgrounds, music, and voice adlibs.
8 new backgrounds: 8 dream scenes.
3 new characters and a rough sketch of their sprites.
More voice lines! From July 5th to July 23rd.
Added dust particle VFX for some of the dreams.
Updated the content warnings to be a bit more specific.
June 28th: If the dream is repeated, it starts after the second "wake up" so it's less long and repetitive.
July 11th to July 26th: Adjusted the relationship pacing.
July 26th and 27th: Updated expressions and adlibs.
UI: Semi-opaque text box on in-game gallery image moments is now the default.
The Queerness and Games Conference
This month, my wife and I went to Canada for QGCon! DEVIL'S LIMINAL was part of the arcade, alongside a ton of other amazing games. Unfortunately I didn't have time to attend any talks, but I did get to play some of the featured games and chat with attendees!
Seeing the game played in person and talking with other devs was extremely rewarding and just the morale boost we needed.
Cool games!
​Check out the games that were in the arcade here!​ ​Links to the games collected here!​
I only had time to play a few games, so I wanted to share them!
​Love in the Time of Spellphage ​Super cute story, and I love Dustin.
​Parfum Nostalgique ​The art and characters are SO charming.
​Psychroma ​It's been a minute since I played this type of adventure game, and the atmosphere is very intriguing.
​Skate and Date ​Clever premise and adorable characters.
Steam Festivals
DEVIL'S LIMINAL was part of two Steam festivals last month: The Hungry Ghost Festival hosted by South East Asia Game Aesthetic, and the Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival hosted by Studio Élan.
Both of these were pretty fun! Lots of wishlists and new players, and I reached out to several streamers to cover the game. I'm very thankful for the support and coverage from them. On my Bluesky I've tried to repost each one as they post about it.
New Streams
Here's a few of the new streams.
Twitch VOD's
​ThatOneComicGuy​
​Birbzilla with KyeLaris​
YouTube
DEVIL'S LIMINAL July Early Access v0.2 is up on Steam and itch.io! This update adds the events for July 19th to July 23rd.
In this update:
A very strange board game night.
More moral dilemmas.
Things come to a head at Margo's home.
A demon's pact, a final summer. Yuri horror visual novel inspired by Azores folklore.
This update comes at a pretty poor time with the recent removal of mature games from Steam and itch.io. Luckily none of my games have been affected (knock on wood). Please please please help fight censorship of games! There are a few ways and guides out there, here is one place to start: