The Abyss beckons you once more.
You're dead. But don't worry, the end has no end. Welcome to the ethereal realms of the afterlife. Sign your contract, manage this lonely bar on the Abyss for a year, and claim your limitless wish from the gods themselves.
Well, if you manage to finish that year.
༻ THE BAR ON THE ABYSS 3.0 IS FINALLY HERE
Play WIP at: Itch.io | CoGDemos
(Current demo: 410k words!!!)
What started as a 2.5 update two and a half years ago grew into something I could no longer call anything but a new version entirely.
✬ Almost 200,000 words of overhauled and brand-new content for the current 5 chapters of the game.
✬ Brand new, restructured main plot arc.
✬ New mechanics that will carry the whole game forward.
✬ Characters who are more alive (well, you know) and more complicated than they've ever been.
I won't pretend this one was easy to ship, but I'm so glad it's finally in your hands.
(And if you're willing to help this little game grow, here's how! 🖤)
✬ Leave a comment on the COG game thread!
✬ Reblog this post before you start!
✬ Talk about it on r/hostedgames!
✬ Add it to your collection on itch.io!
✬ And most importantly, please send me your thoughts via ask here, or on COG, during or after your playthrough. I genuinely want to read every single one!
It would mean the world and beyond. Truly.
And now, here's everything that's new. Grab a drink! We earned it:
༻ A WHOLE NEW MAIN PLOT
The story of your afterlife journey has changed.
From the moment you sign your new contract, presented to you by none other than the Grim Reaper, the main arc of TBOTA changes from the ground up.
Pick your limitless wish, learn about your new employer: the Council of Nine, and discover what truly lies beneath this contract: a binding to something… else.
And this time, you have far greater agency to act on your own behalf and for your staff.
Should you choose to share what you've learned with them, of course.
If you've played before, you'll recognise the bones. But the story has grown around them into something ready to carry the full weight of what TBOTA is building toward.
༻ YOUR SPIRIT GIFT
The Spirit Gift system has been completely reworked. Not as a shortcut or as a glorified stat check, but as a new lens through which you experience the entire story. Each gift opens unique scenes, unique ways to act, gather information, or stumble into something just effing strange. Think of them less as abilities and more as a personality trait that the bar decided you really needed.
Ring of Chronos: stolen from Itot, the glass-spider god of time. Click your fingers, stop the world, and what you do with those stolen seconds is yours to decide: help your staff, or punch a nightlife critic in the face.
Lens of Daezur: contraband from a mage who wanted to know too much. Point it at anything, and get your own secret encyclopedia. Learn how old the Raven is, who made the gates to Limbo, and what the bathroom fog is really made of.
Mask of Shapeless Visage: previously worn by the actors-assassins of Teatru Mischak. Wear the face of everyone around you. But will you remember how to be yourself?
The Necklace of Murmurs: hear the thoughts of inanimate objects around you, and more so, their opinions. Your bedroom table, the jukebox downstairs, a letter from Pyriphlegethon, or even your own cash register.
Voidcutter: a sword forged to kill gods, carrying the memories of the civilization destroyed for making it. Fight like a spirit-warrior when the opportunity presents itself. And who knows… maybe one day, you’ll kill a god too.
Navia's Earring: the mad prophet heard what the gods meant to keep hidden. Now you do too! Just remember: some things, once heard, are very hard to unknow.
༻ RANDOM PATRONS ENCOUNTERS
No two playthroughs of the game will be the same! Each run gives you two out of five possible patron encounters, one in Chapter 1, one in Chapter 4.
In the future, these encounters will be chosen from a pool of 20 patrons. So, who walks through your door tonight?
Meet Zilas, God of Revelry, and he is very good at his job.
Meet Perpetiel, an Ophanim Angel, drinking a mimosa from a straw. Be not afraid.
Meet Laura, an astronaut who died during a research mission into a black hole, with one terrifying tale.
Meet Xochitl, Trade Ambassador of Clan Roh'els of the Undead City of Necropolis. A vampiress in your humble abode, coming with an interesting offer for you.
Tomas, a mortal painter. Quiet, unassuming. That’s all.
༻ LOVE AFTER DEATH
Romance has been overhauled from scratch. Be flirtatious or be a complete disaster about it. Choose monogamy, polyamory, or an ace playthrough. Build something slow and tender, or burn bright and chaotic.
And if you want things a little spicier with a certain devilish friend of yours... well. The content is there. You'll find it, I’m sure.
And random patrons are fair game, too! if you're the type to shoot your shot with someone who walked through your door an hour ago, and might be a vampire or an angel.
No judgment here.
༻ WHO ARE YOU IN THIS AFTERLIFE?
Introducing a 30-trait personality system. Every choice you make, every option you pick, every response you give quietly builds a psychological profile of your MC.
Not to gate content or to judge you! Just to reflect who you are becoming in your ethereal form, one decision at a time.
New grief path content is also woven throughout the game. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance, each path surfaces in new places, in new ways.
You'll also find tons of new career options throughout the game. Some of them can even replace certain skill checks!
The Abyss is watching, and it finds you fascinating.
༻ CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION AND DEATH SCARS
Choose from a vastly expanded range of career backgrounds, add an honorific, and find a few other surprises waiting in the menu.
Your career also has a greater presence throughout the game now: more moments where who you were in life shapes who you're becoming in death.
And by popular demand, choose a death scar. After all, you died, and you probably have the marks to prove it.
During character customization, you can now choose your death scars, currently cosmic in nature. Full in-game integration is coming in future updates, but they're yours to wear now.
༻ EVERYTHING ELSE
Almost every scene in the existing game has been touched (gently, consensually): Prose, character voices, pacing, and choices.
If something felt off before, there's a good chance it doesn't anymore! (HOPING) And also, made an absolute thorough bugs & typos sweep. Some of them were present from day one! But I FINALLY SQUISHED THEM!
That's it, for now. I think! Might be others I forgot about, lol. After all, it’s been two and a half years of work just for this update. More love and labour than I can ever put into a release post, but alas.
Thank you for waiting. Thank you for asking after this game during the long silences.
"Some people carry the sword. Some carry the shield.
Some change the course of history with these.
But you...
You might be the first to change everything with only words and a drink in your hand."
That's it, everyone, we can call a date.
Next Thursday, March 19th, the overhauled, updated TBOTA is coming out!
With almost 200,000 words of additional content.
A whole new main plotline.
New spirit gifts, overhauled romance system, random patron encounters, a personality system of 30 traits, and so much more.
I'll go into all of it properly in the release post, but OMFG, we are finally here.
Spending the next week finishing the last file and doing thorough playtests, and then that's it :)
*This post is a run-of-the-mill “Sorry I’ve been gone, here’s a crazy thing that happened to me” Tumblr post.
So let's stick to the format: Sorry I’ve been gone!!!!
It's just that, three months ago, my life took an unexpected turn, as life often does.
The details are bizarre, melodramatic, and somewhat reminiscent of a very cliché Reddit post.
In short, my 12-year relationship fell apart due to an affair (not mine! I’m a loyal bitch, thank you very much), which inevitably led to a breakup, a forever home gone forever, and my three pets becoming children of divorce.
So, unfortunately, my plans to complete the 3.0 update by Halloween were less successful than I had hoped.
I’m in London now, visiting a friend, and after contemplating for some time on what to write here, I just said fuck it and decided to share with you things as they stand.
So hear, hear!
Love comes and goes, but stories last forever. And this story will reach its end.
My afterlife starts, and so my work continues. Don't have a date yet, but hoping it won’t be long until the new version of The Bar on the Abyss will be released 🙂
So 3.0 is finally, fully OUT. Now it's time to move to Chapter 5: Conspiracy.
Instead of dropping a whole chapter at once, Chapter 5 will be released one encounter per update.
Which means the game is about to update a LOT in the coming months!
Here's everything that's coming 👀
✬ Chapter 5, Part 1: The Quiet Days
The bar is settling, the Abyss is still, and your Proprietor can go on small quests and encounters with the cast. Enjoy the peace while it lasts…
✬ UPDATE 1: Meet Death in Limbo: It's time to confront the Grim Reaper. Maybe on a date, maybe with Morgan/a tagging along. But how will you get answers from a god who forgot them?
✬ UPDATE 2: A date with a Devil: If romanced, you can finally get some one-on-one time with Lilith/Damian. Re-visit Château Hinnom, and maybe spend the night there as well. And this time, properly meet the one who raised your Devilish lover: Anaat, the matriarch of the house. But don't worry: if you're not romancing Lilith/Damian, prepare for a surprise visit from Anaat at the bar!
✬ UPDATE 3: Small conversation hub: Talk to Yaga about what happened in Hell, hear about Peisinoe's latest project, and talk with the Raven about your little interrogation. If you're poly-romancing Death, Morgan/a and Lilith/Damian, meet all three at the bar for a special night together.
✬ UPDATE 4: Join Hastur, Cassy, Shelly, and He Without Name for a trip to a celestial zoo: Cassy needs a bit of a change of scenery, and this is a perfect time to help Hastur bond with his demigod daughter. Of course, for the interested proprietors, it's also the time to get closer with Hastur.
✬ UPDATE 5: Join Shelly and Cahira on a double date to Arcadia. You can pick a your plus one from the cast (or the Raven, if you’re not romancing anyone) and help the knight and the barmaid fall in love. But just a warning: this realm has teeth.
✬ Chapter 5, Part 2: The Delegation (Update 6)
The Council of Nine has chosen the bar as neutral ground for a peace summit between Hell, Heaven, and the Malakim: Heaven's renegade angels, waging eternal war.
Meet with Seraph Alpha, the Emissary of The Malkut, and Asmodeus, the 7th Prince of Hell, accompanied by your scheming friend, Lilith/Damian, and plan a party where all factions can negotiate a ceasefire.
The dress code: Heavenly Virtue. Asmodeus proposed it.
But remember: if violence breaks, if one single angel or devil gets hurt under the flag of truce, Heaven might join the Malakim's side in total cosmic war.
And you're hosting it.
No pressure.
✬ Chapter 5, Part 3: The Masquerade (Update 7)
The Seven Princes of Hell. The Malkut, the rulers of Heaven. And the Malakim delegation, led by Archangel Michael himself.
All meet at your bar, which, for the night, transformed into a mock-celestial ballroom.
Talk to all guests and the cast in a night full of confrontations.
Surprise! Working on a new feature update that will drop by the end of the week.
Introducing Itot's Time-Weave Adjustment System (IT-WAS), a new menu that will allow you to quick-start a playthrough from each chapter of the story, or go straight to chapter 5.
So say goodbye to broken saves and restarting the game after an update!
You'll be able to create your Propterior in 5 minutes and drop immediately into the Abyss :D
Following that, a bug-sweep update is planned. Good thing your save files will be safe!
(BTW, thank you for all the asks! Promise to get to each one <3)
Tomorrow I'll upload another update containing major bugs and typos sweep. Of course, if your save is affected, use IT-WAS to quickly jump back to the game!
After the update, I'll finally start moving forward to Chapter 5!!!! So exciteddddddd. Prepare for your first 1-on-1 dates (or 3-on-1...) with all romantic candidates!
In the meantime, as always, if you enjoyed or are currently enjoying the game, I'd appreciate it immensely if you:
✬ Leave a comment on the CoG game thread!
✬ Reblog the main post!
✬ Talk about it on r/hostedgames!
✬ Add it to your collection on itch.io!
✬ And most importantly, please send me your thoughts via ask here, or on COG, during or after your playthrough. Theories, reviews, writing prompts, or questions you have, I love to read them all!
Thank you for being here, and a special thank you to everyone who reported bugs and typos (@chaoticgoodthief, you are the best!!) 🖤
