What you have ALL been waiting for! The full game is done, it's real, and it's right here!
I'm not sure what else there is to say besides that we're so, so excited for you all to play it. Omamori is 32k, features over 450 different character sprites, 8 achievements you can unlock, and a couple of fun surprises!
We've thoroughly play tested it and did our best to iron out any bugs, but if you happen to find one definitely leave a comment on the itch page or message on bsky and I can take a look!
In a few weeks we'll share a post mortem, discussing some of the behind the scenes work, what worked, what didn't, what got cut, what we learned, and what's next for the studio!
Thank you so much for your support, we hope you enjoy the game!
A serirei centered visual novel
Edit: Since we've had a couple people ask, there's now a ko-fi page! This game is FREE and we are not asking for any payment for it (cannot stress that enough lol), but if folks want to tip the studio they're more than welcome to!
Support Quiet Cabin On Ko-fi. Ko-fi lets you support the people and causes you love with small donations
‘Untitled Cat Game’ (name TBD) is a 2D topdown pixel art RPG game, with some monster collecting, puzzle and metroidvania aspects. You play as Snowball, a cat janitor trapped in Hell for eternity, as he explores strange, surreal and liminal environments in the underworld. Snowball must either cleanse or condemn escaped cat souls to fulfil his duty and satisfy his boss.
Inspirations
Yume Nikki
Earthbound / Mother
Undertale / Deltarune
OFF
Omori
Pokemon / Digimon
‘Snowball absorbs the spirit, and feels stronger! +EXP
. . . But Snowball feels a profound sadness inside him.'
Can you believe it's been one entire year since Omamori released? I can't. It both feels like longer and also like a month ago.
Now before you get too excited, there isn't any new Omamori content coming. This post is purely just to take a moment to celebrate how far this little game as come and to thank every one of you for your support. I had a secret hope that by the time the game reached its 1 year anniversary that it would also hit 1,000 downloads. I never really shared that because I wanted to see how it would do on its own y'know? Well... Omamori is currently sitting at 1,063 downloads!! That is for the full game alone! (If we count the downloads the demo got, then it's over1,800.) Absolutely bonkers to me that over 1,000 of you gave this game a chance. Not only that, but we have a 4.8 average rating. I think if we were on steam we'd have a very pretty Overwhelmingly Positive rating and I'm really, really proud of that. So thank you all 💜.
For anyone curious, the next project is officially underway! There was a little waffling about on which project I'd dive into next but I've finally settled on one and started writing! I'm not ready to give away too much yet but it's an otome with a twist and I'm really excited about it. I'm currently in talks with a character artist, have narrowed down a few options for background artists and a logo artist, 🌟Things Are Happening🌟. Also, sometime this summer I'm hoping to release a short in-browser text game as well! Just a little something I've been kicking around as a means of experimenting with the Twine engine. So, you'll definitely want to be sure you're following my accounts to hear when those new projects drop!
Well, that's everything! Again, thank you so, so much. I'm constantly amazed that people are still finding and trying this game! Maybe next year I'll do a stream of playing it, once I've forgotten all that I wrote lol
For now, Reigen is banished to gay baby jail.
okay okay fiiiine they can be in gay baby jail together I guess
I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a happy new year and to thank you all again for your continued support. Over the course of 2025 I would periodically take a peek at Omamori's stats and be shocked to see that people are still, somehow, finding it! It's been my secret hope that we would break 1k in downloads before Omamori's one year anniversary and I really think it's possible, since we're currently sitting at 906! Holy crap, thank you SO MUCH! 💜
I know it's been pretty quiet on this front. What can I say, life is HARD y'all and I'm still stuck in the hell that is retail full-time. But, I still have a lot of ideas and multiple projects I'm slowly (so slowly) but surely poking. I'm not at a point where I want to officially announce anything yet, I just wanted to say I'm still here and I still have so many hopes and plans.
For now, though, I'm wishing all of you a very, very happy 2026 that is full of laughter and joy and a deeply true satisfaction with every part of your life.
"How's the gamedev going, Jace?" you ask. "How's switching genres from visual novel to top-down horror going? Pretty smooth? All transferable skills probably, right?"
Initially I had no ideas for this prompt but after playing Omamori by @quiet-cabin & @crownorclover I knew I had to draw this scene from it. 1000% recommend checking it out there were tears in my eyes on multiple occasions!!!
LOOK AT THEM!!! that's right wawa, ✨FLUSTER THAT MAN!!✨
This is amazing, look at all the details!! Thank you so much!
some fun stats: the game has been out for a little less than 5 months and has 715 downloads! (Can we hit 1k by the end of the year??? 😲) Almost 20 five star ratings! (and really wonderful reviews and comments!) I think if we were on steam we'd be rated 'Overwhelmingly Positive' 😌 and I'm so grateful to everyone's continued enthusiasm! 🥰
So the new itch.io guidelines are out and they are both predictably bad and also quite unpredictably bad. There's so much to go over here but here are some of the highlights:
First we have the broadly worded content restrictions. So much of this is just strictly bad for several reasons (for example, you cannot have a NSFW game that doesn't even fetishize rape but has rape be an important thematic element under these new rules) but my personal favorite is that these are so broad that huge swaths of content are just banned from itch.io. You like VNs of monster girls having sex? Sorry, but your favorite spider girl VN is animal-related, we cannot prove that you don't want to fuck spiders so its gone.
(a real problem anyone thinks about??????)
Game where you can transformed by magical artifacts and sometimes fucked? Sorry, that's non-consensual content. Banned. You cannot be transformed into a maid against your will. You also cannot have your protagonist call an older woman "mommy" because likeeeee that's incestual right?
"Minor-presenting" what the fuck does this mean. Genuinely. If a grown woman wears a fetish uniform is that minor presenting??? What the fuck are you talking about.
Also by the way if they feel your content is "too bad" for their platform, which includes a list of conditions incredibly broad to contain things like "a woman who likes being gagged during sex", they will just steal your revenue. No no no not just the revenue from the work in question. All of it. This makes any NSFW work a ticking timebomb, especially since itch.io doesn't have the fucking staff to deal with all of this! There's no second chances. You are not protected against fraudulent report or our dumb as fuck employees.
itch.io right now is just not a safe platform for NSFW content, and honestly, it really should be said, a fair swath of SFW content too. Don't use it, find alternative ways to survive in the market right now.
It's not going to be easy, but it's necessary. Here's a link to an article going over some solutions. I cannot personally vouch for any of these in particular but you need to do what you gotta.
Also, harass VISA and Mastercard. Phone calls over emails. Ruin their workflow. Do it for weeks, don't give up.
At this point in time I'm unsure if my future paid projects will be available on itch. I have at least one in the works that will be free but the bigger ones will have a price tag and I can't use a site that engages in this kind of tomfoolery.
If/When (when, most likely) things change and I have a new place to publish them, I'll let y'all know!
Mastercard and visa have reported to a couple news outlets that they are currently being swamped with calls and complaints. Keep up the pressure and try to (politely) insist that you leave a complaint via phone instead of letting the rep direct you to emails. It's way easier to be overwhelmed by a much smaller number of calls so each one counts for a bit more!
Hey everyone, in case you weren't aware, both steam and now itch.io have removed a MASSIVE amount of games marked as NSFW from their platforms. Steam I believe has just wholesale removed things while itch.io is deindexing items while they review them.
It’s Tumblr all over again.
We have “deindexed” all adult NSFW content from our browse and search pages. We understand this action is sudden and disruptive, and we are
Yall this is unbelievably BAD news. While I don't have any immediate plans to make any sexually explicit games, I do have plans to make games about grief and depression, mental illness, what it means to be a monster, abandonment and survivor's guilt. And one day any one of those things could be labeled as 'inappropriate'. Not to mention every single game I make is going to have some aspect of queerness to it and I think we all know how quickly that gets labeled as inappropriate. When that happens a game like Omamori, that is sfw but features a trans lead and a gay romance would disappear.
(This doesn't even touch on how this is affecting creators outside of the games industry or sex workers.)
So if you think random religious extremist groups shouldn't get to decide what kind of art exists and pressure payment processors to censor things, consider reaching out to Visa and Mastercard.
This tumblr post includes all the numbers AND a script for what to say:
💬 72 🔁 19338 ❤️ 17087 · Here are some potentially more useful email addresses for Visa and MasterCard than the stock customer support:
Ma
(There is some concern that emails will be easier to ignore versus flooding their lines though.)
Not gonna lie, it's really disheartening and hard to keep pushing to be creative and to make things as stuff like this happens but we can't give up and we don't have to just accept this. I've also reblogged another post that has a LOT more information on actions we can take!
Steam, Itch.io and the banning of explicit and LGBT+ Content. What can we do?
[All images in this post have alt/id text if you need it or want to copy paste anything]
With no warning, Itch.io, a site where many host their indie games, comics, books and more, has started purging and shadowbanning explicit and LGBT+ works. Creators got no warning. And if they were still owed payouts from these works, Itch.io is saying they won't give them their money as they 'broke the rules'. Rules that were only just set in place, with no warning, and therefore no way for creators to try and draw out their money or delete these 'offending' works before they got banned under the new rules.
So Itch.io has been the most recent to fall to the demands of a group that's been contacting Visa and Mastercard and convincing them to threaten sites/businesses with 'stop selling what we consider to be explicit content on your sites of we'll stop allowing your site to have transactions with Visa and Mastercard'. Steam folded, and now Itchio has too. And a reminder earlier this year Gumroad also stopped allowing explicit content, further back than that Patreon banned some kinks and fetishes even if it's depicted in fiction not real life, and I don't have to explain to you guys the great Tumblr explicit content ban of 2018.
And as always remember this doesn't stop with sexually explicit work as LGBT+ stories and people are often labelled as explicit and already we're seeing works being taken off Itch.io that are about LGBT+ and especially trans stories. Other non-sexually explicit works I've seen already getting shadowbanned, delisted or deleted are SFW games featuring furries/anthros, SFW dress up games (because when you take the clothes the model is nude), and the aforementioned SFW games that include LGBT+ characters and stories.
I'm compiling here information I've seen around various social medias, mostly Bluesky, because I haven't seen all these things shared over here.
I don't personally have explicit content on itch, but I had been considering one day selling things on there and I do currently have explicit content on my Patreon, my main source of income, and am terrified that Patreon is going to fold next (if anyone knows alterative for hosting audio content behind a paid subscription service please let me know so I can start maybe making a back-up in case the worst happens). Because for me personally if Patreon goes next, it's not like I can go out and easily get another job. Not only because in general finding and getting a job is difficult enough, but I'm autistic and have chronic pain and have been constantly getting sick or new pains over the last few years and don't feel safe being trans in the UK right now and all of that combined rules me out of a lot of jobs and makes me feel unsafe to apply to any. I'm so grateful I've been able to make a community around my work, but if Patreon caves next and I just leave my SFW posts on Patreon... 10% of my Patreons are signed up to the SFW tier, 90% are signed up to the explicit tier... I know if Patreon caves I will go from someone living comfortably who's searching to move out of my parents so I can live in a safer environment to someone who can no longer even afford the rent I pay to my parents. I'll try and get an alterative found and set up in case that happens and I can only hope you guys will follow me to whatever other site I have to set up... but it feels unlikely that people will get a whole new account on a whole new payment provider just to support me on a website they might never have heard of...
But what can we do right now?
A petition you can sign (international but you do have to give your name, email, and postal/zip code):
Mastercard's new policy unfairly targets the adult content industry, making sex workers more vulnerable, especially Black trans women. It mu
Get calling:
Mastercard (US): 1-800-627-8372
MasterCard (UK): 0800 964 767
Mastercard (International.): +1-636-722-7111
Visa (US + Can): 1 800 847 2911 / 1-800-VISA-911
Visa (AUS): 1 800 125 440
Visa (UK) : 0800 891 725 or use their international call collect +1 303 967 1096
Visa (International): (call collect - it costs them $): +1-303-967-1096
PayPal (US): 1-888-221-1161
PayPal (UK): 0800 358 7911 from landline, +44 203 901 7000 mobile
PayPal (International): 1-402-935-2050
(numbers gathered from these posts X X X )
Don't know what to say on the phone? Here's a script written by timidtanuki:
Creators have had their work removed off Itch.io with no warning and since it's been removed for 'breaking the rules' (rules that were suddenly in place with no warning) they aren't entitled to get their payouts. Just like other sites such as Youtube and Twitch and Etsy, Itch.io hold onto money from their users in a wallet and then give them payouts. So there is money creators have made, are owed, that Itch.io is not giving to them.
People are recommending that if you still have works on Itch.io to turn down the revenue sharing to 0% so that Itch.io no longer takes a cut or your money if you no longer want to support Itchi.io finically but don't want to remove your works from their platform. X
Other Bluesky posts and calls to action I've seen:
radiantg.bsky.social is asking for anyone on Itch.io who got their game deindexed, removed , or payouts turned off to reach out to them (espeically if you make explicit and/or LGBT+ games) for a piece of journalism about what is happening.
sleepyhart.bsky.social is making a threat of all the games that Itch.io has censored/removed from their site search function. Obviously be aware this will include 18+ only games, games with sexual content and other dark or heavy themes.
thetransfemininereview.com wants you to reach out to them if you're a trans creator on Itch.io who is being affected by this so they can make an accurate report. they say 'authors' in their post and I'm unsure if they also want game devs to reach out.
dropdownbear.bsky.com wants you to reach out if you have purchased things on Itch.io that you can now no longer access because of this ban. they can include them in a report being filed with the Australian Consumer Commission as this may be a violation of Australian Consumer rights. If you are Australian you can no longer access things you purchased of Itch.io you can report directly with this guide.
It's a scary time for adult creators and sex workers. It's a scary time to be trans. Support creators. And if anyone knows of any alternate payment providers that allow explicit work, and/or alternate websites to Itch (and in case things get worse, also give me Patreon alternates please) where people can host, sell and/or offer paid subscriptions to writing, images, videos, audios, games and more please leave them in the replies. And please help share this post, the posts I'm linking too, and any other resources you can find.
Minors DNI. Ageless blogs DNI. I want resources and help but I don't reply to this post or follow this blog if you're under 18, this is an explicit blog and not for anyone under 18.
is this reigen trans or am i just reading too far into things ?
that is all
thanku bye
i finished the game it made me insane but i cant talk about it rn because this computer is at 2% battery and my mother has the only charger and shes out of the house rn
Hi! Omamori Reigen is 1000% trans! There are a few hints, he mentioned his tgel at one point, changing his uniform as a kid, I think there might be another moment? (But also I always write trans Reigen so I could be confusing it with moments in one of my fics lol)
I don't want to officially announce anything just yet but I AM working on the next projects. Yup, plural. One is a short interactive fiction that will be available on itch and the other is a the next Big Game which will hopefully have a steam release!
I should reiterate from the post-mortem, these will all be original IPs, I don't have any plans to make another fan game. But I hope my new stuff will still be of interest! ^-^
Don't want to make any promises but I miiiiight be looking at an announcement early July?? 👀
finished omamori by @quiet-cabin and AAAAAAH IT WAS SO GOOD!!! i highly recommend it to any and all who love mp100, serirei, and outsider povs. i can't say anything spoilery but just know that this game had me:
scream-laughing
on the verge of tears (and i never cry at ANYTHING so you know this is good)
giggling and kicking my feet and clapping and cheering irl
exclaiming "oh my god my SONS"
vibrating where i sat playing the game and liveblogging it to my friends on discord
celebrating the existence of kurata tome
smiling dumbly at how they referenced stuff from the source material that isn't obvious in the animanga or only stated in interviews/fanbook stuff
im. going to explode now. and probably try replaying it to figure out that one achievement i missed.
Here it is folks! The final Omamori devlog 🥹. In it we'll be taking a look at how everything began, some of the ups and downs we had along the way, including some looks at behind the scenes work, and finally, what's next for the studio!
I'm going to try something a little different here. Normally I link back to the devlog on itch so you can read it there, but I'm wondering if people might be more inclined to read the full thing if they don't have to leave to another tab lol (Although I also worry that tumblr just isn't really great for really long post reading..) But! I shall put the choice in your hands. Here's the link to it on itch.io! Or you can click the read more below to see it here!
I'd be really interested to know what Y'ALL are interested in seeing next 👀
Hello everyone!!
It’s been one month since Omamori released which sounds incredibly fake but here we are! As of posting this, Omamori is sitting at 454 downloads!! Which is really, REALLY exciting and so much more than I ever thought to hope for. Thank you so much!
Today we’re going to be talking a little bit about the process, how things went, what we learned, and what’s next! This is going to be a bit of a longer post but some of you have been with us since the very beginning, and it might be nice to look back, and some of you are new, and have no idea how it all went!
HOW IT STARTED
(The original mock up I made to help Rob visualize what I was thinking for the main menu screen.)
In the beginning of April 2023 I started telling Rob about a 'totally not real' idea I had for a serirei dating sim. It was very much in the 'haha jk wouldn't that be fun, but it'll totally never happen' category. Then I thought, since it won't ever happen, it could be fun to do a little mock-up. Just a fake screenshot of a character and some dialogue. Then I thought, maybe I could try to animate it to show some additional dialogue. THEN I thought, well if I'm going to do all of that, I might as well just put together a slice in a game engine and just do a screen recording.
So I sat down and installed an entire game engine, learned how to navigate its interface and how to use its visual scripting language, how to create & use variables so that you could enter your character name, how to put in a dialogue choice screen, even made a tiny pixel art takoyaki... all to create a 20 second screen recording of a game that was totally not going to exist.
Totally.
I even shared it on Tumblr! It uh, as of typing this, still only has 3 notes lol. You can see the original post here, but here's a screenshot of it.
I won't lie, it was actually really disheartening to see basically no engagement with it. I know there wasn't much info on the concept itself, since the game wasn't going to be real (I thought), and maybe that would have helped, but it definitely did a blow to the ol' self esteem. (Although I can say, looking at it now, I really like this! I'm really insecure about my visual art and style, but y'know what, this is pretty cool! )
I didn't let that deter me though. I was really excited about this game and the story, and at the end of the day, it was a silly little project with my silly little blorbos. So I kept thinking about it and poking the idea and pretty soon the fixation was churning full blast. I was developing the plot, I had snippets of dialogue in mind, I was thinking about GUI elements. And all the while I was yelling all of this at Rob. Eventually I worked up the courage to ask him if he wanted to do the art, only to discover he was working up the nerve to ask if he could help out! After that, it was just a lot of excited yelling about this project.
Looking back at this original mock-up, I think it's really great to see how Rob took my original concepts for layout and design and breathed some actual life into them. At some point I'd done some additional iterations on the dialogue boxes:
And from there we got:
Which ultimately gave us:
HOW IT WENT
There were definitely some ups and down on this, for sure. Getting the demo out was a huge accomplishment and we were both eager to just keep working on it. In fact, the original plan, after releasing the demo October 2023, had been to release the full game by the coming March, for Serizawa's birthday. Ambitious? Without a doubt lol. Obviously that didn't happen, and our next hope was to release it for Reigen's birthday 2024. This way it'd be full circle. Then we hoped to release it for Valentine's day maybe. (This is why we didn't announce a release date until it was well and truly DONE.)
Some of you may remember that Rob injured his hand in early 2024 and so we took quite a bit of time off to let him heal. We're not about that crunch life. Even if this wasn't entirely a passion project, there's absolutely no reason to crunch. So we took a step back so he could heal up. While that was happening.. we had the Great Engine Switch.
The demo for Omamori was originally made in GDevelop. An open-source, no-code engine. And it worked great for the demo! But once I started adding in features that people would come to expect in a visual novel, like saving and loading, or a history of the text, things got a little more complicated. It reached a point where I was essentially building a visual novel engine within the Gdevelop engine. Which, while incredibly fascinating and a great mental challenge, wasn't exactly the best use of my time. Not when there are engines specifically made for creating visual novels, like Ren'py. Which has things like saving & loading, dialogue history, text size options and dyslexic font options, all ready to go out of the box. So, I changed engines.
Changing engines was a long process, partly because it took me some time to finally come to terms with the fact that I just needed to do it, and partly because while some things did come out of the box, I did still have to re-do other things all over again, like entering all of the dialogue and choice options for the prologue and part of chapter one that was used for the demo. I was also learning a whole new engine, which isn't no-code (although it IS really streamlined), and I had to find my way around.
We had a lot of plans for some things that ultimately had to get cut. Early on we planned to have more splash screen images for pivotal moments, which would also be accessible from a Gallery page on the main menu. We even toyed with the idea of reaching out to other artists in the community to see if they would be interested in doing guest art to be featured in the gallery! But as we made progress we had to decide what was essential to the game, to telling the story, and what was a Nice To Have. Learning how to nip that scope creep early is an essential skill in gamedev!
Still, all things considered, as a team of two people we made an entire game in only two years, even with the obstacles we faced. And I think that's pretty damn impressive.
Q&A
What was your favorite part?
ROB:
Getting to work on a passion project with Jace! Getting to see this through to the end with them was very rewarding. Like, did you know you can just make cool things with your friends?? It's awesome and makes for a unique blend of cheerleading, flexing, and teamwork. Definitely recommended.
For the art, I got a kick out of trying to develop a visual identity that was as much our own game as it was a Mob Psycho fangame. The first season opening sequence was my main touchpoint. This poster was a source of inspiration too, notably for the paper cut out look for the sprites. It was fun and a nice way to appreciate the series from a different perspective.
JACE:
This is actually a tough one lol! Part of what I love about being an indie dev are all the different roles you play. Jumping from writing to programming to creating mockups to resource sourcing for background music or sound effects, I think that's the part I enjoy most. It's hard to get bored when you're wearing so many hats and that really appeals to me.
If I had to pick a favorite part, I would say sharing the original drafts of the script with Rob and getting to see his reactions to Reigen's impressive levels of fumbling was a lot of fun. Also, figuring out a piece of code that had me stumped for days is nothing short of euphoric.
What was the most challenging?
ROB:
Mostly mental hurdles. Like, accepting that “good enough” IS actually good enough was sometimes a challenge. On top of wanting to tweak old sprites (we started this two years ago after all!) I had wanted to make more splash art and character poses, and add silly details like giving the face on Reigen’s pj outfit different expressions. But as it turns out, if you want to finish something then at some point you have to stop working on it. Great lessons for battling perfectionism.
JACE:
Changing engines and learning an entire new one was definitely a challenge. I'd dabbled with Ren'py before so I wasn't completely in the dark, but I hadn't done more than dialogue and some choices. With this I had to learn how to navigate Ren'py's screen language so I could build my own screens, I had to learn how to create and manipulate variables in the engine, I watched a LOT of youtube tutorials and got real familiar with the Ren'py subreddit lol.
Something that was really, really challenging for me was learning, and re-learning, how to start. I would work on the game for weeks and be doing great, really have a nice groove, and then Life would happen and I wouldn't touch it for a little while and suddenly the thought of opening up the code was terrifying. I was convinced I couldn't do it, I had no idea what I was doing, and that I was going to get stuck. And it got harder and harder to just start. Even when all signs pointed to that I maybe DO know what I'm doing!
What helped a lot was that I kept a mini-devlog. Every day that I did gamedev work I journaled about what I worked on, how long I spent on it, and what my next steps were. This helped in SO many ways. For one, it was just really nice to see a calendar view of my productivity. Time is fake and its easy for me to think I haven't been productive "enough". Then I look at my calendar and see this:
Not every month looked like this of course. There's a couple where it's pretty damn barren. But that's where the other data points came to help. It was really helpful to see how long I worked on something as well. For example:
It took me literally twenty minutes to create all of the idle and hover images for the icons on the corkboard. I remember I did this quickly before running out to work. And this became a point of constant reference for me. Every time I felt myself getting caught in the swirl of, I can't do this, opening the engine feels scary and overwhelming, or I only have .. two hours... three hours... before I have to go to work or go to an appointment or go to bed, what could I get done in that time, I would think of how much I got done in just twenty minutes. Because ultimately, any time spent on the project is productive! But having these little reminders helped a lot. And each mini devlog also had a section for my reflections and what I hoped to work on next. So if it was a few days, or a month or two, before I was able to get back to it, I could reread the most recent devlog to see what Past Me was planning to do!
What might you do differently?
ROB:
Oh man. Organization. I frequently moved the working files between tablet and desktop and ended up with duplicates all over the place. It was a pain after we came back from that long break for my hand injury because I had different expressions and sprites spread over a mess of nearly identical files.
The worst part is this was not the first or last time this happened. Why? Don't live like me.
JACE:
Well, if we're talking about Omamori specifically, knowing what I know now, I'd of course just start working in Ren'py from the start. I'd had the thought that I could learn one engine (to rule them all). Because I have ideas and plans for other games, and had hoped to find one engine that could do everything, and I wouldn't have to jump around, potentially learning a bunch of different coding languages. But, there's something to be said for using the right tool for the job, and in this case it was definitely Ren'py.
If we're talking about future projects and what I might do differently, that's a toughie. I think every project is going to require different set up and preparation. If I were to do another visual novel, I think I'd start tackling any special screens or gameplay mechanics as early as possible. Writing is one of my strengths and I know I can do that. And I'm familiar enough with the engine that I know entering in my writing and dialogue is pretty straightforward. But making those custom screens and troubleshooting them always takes much longer than I think it will.
In terms of organization, I have a Notion template I created for my game projects, and Omamori largely served as the trial run for what I would and wouldn't need. The mini devlog calendar is absolutely a keeper. But the way I organized the programming vs writing task lists definitely got reworked in the final month of Omamori, and I've already started updating my template and other already existing projects to reflect the new workflow!
I think with every new project I'm going to do things a little differently and, for me, that's part of the fun!
Do you think you'd work on a game again?
ROB:
Yes! I'm currently taking time off from commission work, but I really enjoy creative collaboration in general, so I would definitely work on a game again in the future.
JACE:
Oh honey, I already am 😏.
What's next for you?
ROB:
I’m looking forward to diving in to some original work this summer. Not sure where it will take me yet, but I've been itching to get back into making comics, so that might be next! If you'd like to keep up with my work, I update my Tumblr most frequently.
JACE:
I'm so glad you asked! While Rob moves toward exploring comics, Quiet Cabin is also going to shift gears. I'm going to focus on games with original characters and stories. I don't have any plans to make another fangame but I do have a LOT of other ideas! (Some of which were hinted at in Omamori 👀 .)
So what can you expect? Stylistically, I've always had a love for pixel art so there will be some of that going forward. Depending on the project I might seek out another artist to collaborate with for things like backgrounds or character sprites, especially if I do another visual novel. So if you're an artist and have read this far and would be interested in collaborating on a future project, definitely reach out! I have a lot of ideas, a lot of different vibes and genres, so don't worry if your style is different from what you see in Omamori! And who knows, I'm finally reaching a point where I'm happier with my artistic abilities so maybe for one of these projects I'll attempt the art myself!
As far as genres go, I've got more romance, some horror, some fantasy, maybe some monsters you can date.. 👀
I know we all came here for the blorbos but I truly hope you'll stick around for my next projects, I've already started writing one of them and I'm really excited about it!
Up-Coming Projects include (in no particular order):
Garage Sale Skull: A short, in-browser text game where you find a weird skull at a garage sale. It’s fine, it’s not real, it’s just some weird art project.
…right? (Romance with a sprinkle of horror.)
Untitled Dating Sim(?): A visual novel dating sim. Maybe. The dating part is up in the air. It's VERY fresh conceptually and I'm still ironing things out so I don't want to say too much but I will say: time loops. Sorry. Wait. Maybe you didn't hear me. Time 👏🏾 Loop 👏🏾 Visual Novel👏🏾
Apartment 102 : There is something wrong with your apartment.. A very short top-down pixel horror game.
Reyna's Remedies: As a young potion and remedy maker, you open up a new shop on the side of a busy road in the kingdom. There's a lot going on, there's a monster in the Deep Woods, a monster the Princess went missing trying to hunt, there's a constant flow of adventurers in need of healing potions and everyday townspeople with mundane needs. With the help of your animal assistant, you have one month to raise enough money to secure another month of rent, to prove you can do this, and in the process help the different people that knock on your door. (A time & resource management game with an overarching plot. Queer romance with a bit of horror.)
My hope is to release Garage Sale Skull this summer. Untitled Dating Sim(?) is new and uncooked, but rattling around my head pretty loudly. Meanwhile Reyna's Remedies and Apt 102 are games I've been brainstorming on for literally years.. Either way, there are two more steam next fests this year and I'd really love to submit a demo for ✨ something ✨for at least one of them. We'll see!
Once a new project launches I will of course be posting devlogs here on its project page. I'll also be sharing quick updates & general gamedev thoughts on ko-fi, bsky, and tumblr. At the end of the day I'm still just one person, and I may forget to crosspost to a platform, but itch.io will always be the first place to get updates. I'm also considering making video devlogs in the future that will showcase more art and gameplay, especially as I shift toward games that have more action, so you can also follow the YouTube channel!
Again, I cannot thank everyone enough for their continued support and enthusiasm!! I'm really grateful to Rob for jumping into the abyss with me on this one. The game wouldn't be what it is without his help! All the cheerleading from followers as we worked on it and now, all of the comments about how the game has touched or inspired folks has been so, so amazing to hear. Thank you everyone!!
