Announcing... the first ever Otome Games Celebration, a Steam festival just for otome games! 💖
I'm happy to announce that we've been approved for an otome-oriented festival on Steam in May. This will be a great time for otome fans to get discounted otome, try out demos, find new otome to follow, and more.
If you're an otome developer, you can submit your game to be included in the event. Developer sign-ups are open until March 7th!
As some of you already saw on our server, we have the 2026 pages for Otome & Josei Jam ready!
Special thanks to
@transparentgames for sponsoring the Otome Jam banner and Asobinge for drawing it!
Bobbert for drawing the thumbnail art and our new server icon!
@calnite for making the logo and graphic assets, drawing the Josei Jam banner and making our pages look fancier this year!
And YUKIREI for providing a Russian translation for this year!
Things are still being set up, and if you catch any errors or jam rule breakers ahead of time, please report them on our server!
Meet & Greet Dates
Just like the year before, the first M&G will be on the 12th April, 8 AM EST, on the Otome Dev server! The second M&G, 18th April, 2 PM EST, will be on Devtalk, our yearly collaborator and server for game dev with a narrative focus!
Wanna make a visual novel? Or maybe you've seen games like Our Life, Blooming Panic, Doki Doki Literature Club, etc. and wanna make something like that?
Good news, here's a very basic beginners guide on how to get started in renpy and what you need to know going in!
Before you start, I highly recommend looking at my last post about writing a script for renpy just to make it easier on you!
LONG POST AHEAD
Obviously, our first step is downloading it from their website
thankfully, its right on the home page of their site. Follow basica program installation steps and run the program.
I highly recommend pinning it to your task bar to make it easier to access.
From there, you're met with the renpy app, it's a little daunting at first but let's talk about what all these buttons are for.
Projects
This part is simple, it just lists the current projects in the chosen directory. You probably won't have any in there of your own. You should still see Tutorial and The Question!
Both of those default projects are super helpful in their own ways, i highly recommend testing out the tutorial and playing around with it just to get comfortable with some of the basics.
Create New Project
The first step to actually making your game into a game!
You'll be met with a prompt letting you know that the project is being made in English and that you can change it. You can click Continue.
From here, you'll be asked to input a project name! Put in your games title, or even a placeholder title since this Information can be changed later! (this is also the title the folder will be in your file browser, be sure to name it something you won't overlook)
Now we get to choose our resolution!
If you have no idea what to choose, go for 1920x1080! This is the standard size for most computer monitors and laptops, but it will still display with moderately decent quality on 4k monitors too!
You can choose 3840x2160 as well. This is 2x the measurements of the default, with the same ration. These dimensions are considered 4k. Keep in mind, your image files will be bigger and can cause the game to have a larger size to download.
Now we get to choose our color scheme!
Renpy has some simple default options with the 'light mode' colors being the bottom two rows, and the 'dark mode' colors being the toop two rows.
You can pick anything here, but I like to choose something that matches my projects vibes/colors better. Mostly because depending on how in depth you go with the ui, it minimizes the amount of changes I need to make later.
Click continue and give it a minute. Note: If it says "not responding" wait a moment without clicking anything. It can sometimes freeze briefly during the process.
Now we should be back at our home screen, with our new project showing. Let's talk about allll that stuff on the right now.
Open Directory
This just opens that particular folder in your local file explorer!
game - is all the game files, so your folders for images, audio, saves, and your game files like your script, screens, and more.
base - this is the folder that the game folder is inside of. You can also find the errors and log txt files in here.
images - takes you to your main images folder. This is where you wanna put all of your NON gui images, like your sprites, backgrounds, and CGs. You can create folders inside of this and still call them in the script later. EX: a folder for backgrounds , a folder for sprites for character a, a seperate folder for spirtes for character b, etc.
audio - Takes you to the default audio folder. This is empty, but you can put all your music and sound effects here!
gui - brings up the folder containing all of the default renpy gui. It's a good place to start/ reference for sizes if you want to hand draw your UI pieces like your text box!
Edit File
Simple enough, this is just where you can open your code files in whatever text/code editor you have installed.
Script.rpy - where all of your story and characters live. This is the file you'll spend most of your time in at first
Options.rpy - Contains mostly simple information, like project name and version. There aren't a ton of things in here you need to look at. There is also some lines of code that help 'archive' certain files by file type so that they can't be seen by players digging in code however. Fun if you want to hide some images in there for later or if you just dont want someone seeing how messy your files are. We've all been there
Gui.rpy - where all of the easy customization happens. Here you can change font colors, hover colors, fonts, font sizes, and then the alignment and placement of all of your text! Like your dialogue and names, the height of text buttons, etc. It more or less sets the defaults for a lot of these unless you choose to change them later.
Screens.rpy - undeniably my favorite, this is where all of the UI is laid out for the different screens in your game, like the main menu, game menu, quick menu, choice menu, etc. You can add custom screens too if you want, but I always make my own seperate file for these.
Open Project - this just opens all of those files at once in the code editor. Super handy if you make extra files like I do for certain things.
Actions
last but not least, our actions.
Navigate Script - This feature is underrated in my honest opinion, it's super handy for help debugging! In renpy you can comment with # before a line. However, if you do #TODO and type something after it, it saves it as a note! You can view these TODO's here as well as easily navigate to when certain screens are called, where different labels are (super great if your game is long, and more. It saves some scrolling.
Check Script (Lint) - also super duper handy for debugging some basic things. It also tells you your word count! But its handy for letting you know about some errors that might throw up. I like using it to look for sprites I may or may not have mispelled, because they show up in there too.
Change/Update GUI - Nifty, though once you start customizing GUI on your own, it isn't as useful. You can reset the project at any point and regenerate the image files here. This updates all those defaults we talked about earlier.
Delete Persistent - this just helps you delete any persistent data between play throughs on your end. I like to use it when making a lot of changes while testing the game, so that I can reboot the game fresh.
Force Recompile - Full disclosure, as many games as I've made and as long as I've been using Renpy, i have never used this feature. I searched to see what it does and this is the general consesus: Normally renpy tries to be smart about compiling code (creating .rpyc files) and only compiles .rpy files with changes. This is to speed up the process since compiling takes time. Sometimes you can make changes that renpy don't pick up on and therefore won't recompile. In these cases you can run force recompile to force it. Another solution (if you know what file is affected) is to delete that specific. rpyc file.
The rest of your options on this right hand side are how you make executable builds for your game that people can download to extract and play later!
Sorry gang! that was a whole lot of text
obviously the last button "Launch Project" launches an uncompiled version of the project for you to play and test as you go!
Hang in tight because my next post is about how to utilize github for renpy, so you can collaborate easier!
My Otome Jam project is a psychological/drama/romance visual novel about a sweet marriage that slowly rots into a nightmare. Try to navigate a rocky relationship with your husband and unravel the mysteries surrounding him over the course of seven days. You can play it here!
Your life should be perfect. The perfect career. The perfect family. The perfect husband. And bit by bit, that perfect life is cracking all around you.
As your life falls apart, you retreat to your family's estate on a remote island. But after a storm washes away your only means of escape, you find that you're trapped with your devoted, perfect husband... who might not be the man you married.
🌊 Customize your character with your own name, pronouns, skin color, and sexuality.
💍 One male love interest who you're already married to! No work required! (Although things could be going better for you two.)
🐟 3 days and 23k words in the demo (~2 hours playtime)
📖 Different font options to customize your reading experience.
🐙 A bittersweet, emotional story with darkness waiting for you under the surface.
🖥️ Playable on Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, and browser.
Please note that this project is in active development. (The final game will contain 7 days, 50k+ words, and 8 endings.)
This game deals heavily with sensitive topics, including mental health and grief, with discussions of things like drug abuse and suicide. Please review the content warnings and play with discretion.
The game currently contains 3 out of a total of 7 planned days. I plan to release the game episodically (although maybe I'll release it all in one big batch... still deciding). I don't have any specific release dates since I do like to keep games in the oven until I'm sure they're ready, but I plan to finish the game within a year (as long as someone can restrain me from adding more assets...) I won't spoil anything, but players can expect the final endings to be very bittersweet.
If you'd like updates, I post my monthly devlogs here on itch.io, so you'll see the updates in your feed if you follow me! I also plan to post more often on Bluesky, with weekly devlogs on my Patreon.
I hope you all enjoy the game if you decide to check it out! And please check out the other Otome Jam entries as well, I'm sure there are a lot of good ones! 😊
The night I clearly stated I wanted to return to Earth,
I was summoned to LHA's room.
He sat me on the bed and straddled me.
Before I could react to his sudden action, I noticed the dull gleam of a knife in his hand.
You: “Huh…!”
LHA looked down at me with an absolutely unreadable smile and brought that knife close to my throat.
You: “…!!”
LHA: "Why leave? We were so close.
You're going to abandon me?"
Each time the flat edge of the knife lightly tapped my cheek, terror froze my body.
LHA must be furious… That's why he's going to kill me…
Yes, I understood in an instant.
LHA: “Well, whatever.”
The blade I braced for to stab me swiftly withdrew from my neck.
You: “…LHA, are you angry…? Are you going to kill me…? Hurt me?”
When I asked, trembling, he tilted his head, looking puzzled.
LHA: "I'm not angry at all. I just thought I needed to do something if you wanted to go back.
Besides, I'm your lover. There's no way I'd kill you."
After saying that, LHA gently pressed his lips to yours and whispered.
LHA: “…So I thought of my own way. A way to make sure you absolutely can't leave here.”
“I won't kill you.” Though you felt a momentary relief at those words and the tender kiss,
LHA brought the knife he held close to his own throat.
You: “Wh-what are you doing!? That’s dangerous…!”
A sudden, unpleasant premonition made me frantically grab his knife-wielding hand.
LHA: "You always worry about me like this. I've told you countless times. We aren't human. Unless something extraordinary happens, we can't die.
There's no way I'd die over some human toy like this.
The wound will just regenerate and heal back to normal."
You: “But I hate seeing LHA hurt.”
LHA: “Wounds? I feel no pain. Or is it because it looks unpleasant?”
You: “…No, that's not it. Even so, that act is self-harm to humans. …So please stop. I'll make you sweets or anything. Please.”
LHA: “…Then don't leave me.”
LHA's expressionless eyes wavered for just an instant.
LHA: “If ‘hurt’ applies to the heart too, losing you would hurt me more. Thinking that… makes my chest ache.
Heal me."
You: “…”
LHA's earnest words pierced deep into my chest too.
He truly cherishes me…
Thinking that, guilt and regret choked my throat.
…Even so, I wanted to return to the world I came from.
As I couldn't bring myself to nod at LHA's words, he let out a small sigh,
then looked down at me again with that cold, indifferent gaze.
LHA: "…ha, yeah. Fine.
Trying to appeal to your emotions? I guess I'm pretty stupid too.
…Alright, let's get down to business."
LHA released gently my hand, then swiftly thrust a knife into his own tongue.
You: “U-…!?”
LHA: "As I said before. Our bodies possess self-repair mechanisms at the nano level.
Even if organs are damaged, they regenerate based on structural information.
We evolved this way to adapt to the planet.
Based on that premise, my hypothesis is…
If we completely replaced your organs with mine… or succeeded in fusing them… couldn't you become a spider too?"
You: “…!!!”
LHA: "You need our kiss to stay on this planet, right?
That means our bodily fluids are mixing inside you, showing signs of adaptation. So I don't think my hypothesis is entirely wrong."
You: “Wait, LHA, what—”
I couldn't understand half of what he said,
but spitting out blood-tinged foam, LHA pressed me down with an almost ecstatic expression and forced his crimson lips onto mine.
His tongue violated my mouth, as if trying to pour his own blood inside.
LHA: "Taste my blood? …How is it? Hey, what's it like? Feels good? I feel incredible right now…!!
Like we're becoming one. …Ah, I want to mix with you more."
The metallic stench made me nauseous.
Bitter and painful… Yet LHA showed no sign of stopping, praying my resisting mouth open with his fingers.
LHA: “Ah… See? Drink more, more? ***, my wounds heal instantly, so hurry.”
You: “Guh… Guh…!!”
The instant I tried to close my mouth, his thumb pushed deeper into my throat, and the terror of drowning in his blood raced through my entire body.
LHA: "We should have done this from the start. Give up being human. Become my true mate.
Spend your life on this planet. With me.
…Well, feeble humans are kinda cute, I suppose? Fine. If you absolutely must go back."
He narrowed his eyes, stroked my cheek, then kissed me again with his red tongue. Then he couldn't hold back and laughed
LHA: "…Hey, how exactly did you plan to get back?
Did you think you could just go back without any basis?
Did you think we or Lord Yakumo would allow it? Or… did someone give you some unnecessary advice?
Tell me, for reference."
You: “…”
LHA: "You're foolish and fragile and incredibly cute…
If the compatibility surgery failed and only you died, I'd be sad. That's why I want to treat you as gently as possible.
If you wish…
If you want to remain human…
Say it.”
He leaned close and whispered.
LHA: “‘Because I love you, I won’t go back.’
Say it!ahaha…ahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!”
Hey all! As some of you may know, I’m currently solo developing "My Monster Garden" - a cozy Visual Novel about growing and bonding with monster-plant guys. A demo is already out on Itch!
The full game is coming along nicely, the coding is done for the most part (I expect some bug fixes), the art is also nearly done. But the writing...
As much as I love working on this, writing the longer relationship/bonding scenes currently stalls me. So I decided to try find a co-writer who loves monster men as much as I do! Perhaps someone can help me tackle the 'meatier' dialogue scenes for the upcoming plants. (And if we vibe well, also for other projects in future?)
What this looks like:
Age Limit: Applicants must be 24+ (ideally closer to my age, 30s). This game features mature content/themes and I am looking for a creative peer to collaborate closely with. Thank you for understanding!
Payment: This is a paid, milestone-by-milestone gig. I intend to pay a flat fee per plant for around 3.5k–4.5k words.
Creative Direction: The plants designs and personalities are predefined by me, but you would have some freedoms in deciding how their scenes progress. I will ask for edits/edit them myself if something doesn't quite fit the character - please make sure you are okay with this.
Pacing: You must be able to complete writing in a timely manner, within a month ideally for one milestone/plant. I do want to try get the full game out sooner rather than later.
Most importantly, I'd love to find someone I can vibe, chat, and plot about monster guys with!
If you’re interested, please fill out this quick Google Form! Also feel free to message me if you have any questions. :)
(if you want to help me out, reposting this will also help a ton!)
Hey! We're Breezy and Sloth, and an indie video game studio from Latin America dedicated to creating engaging story-driven games and all sorts of interactive media. At the moment we're focusing on developing free visual novels so come around if you're in for it!