[DEMO (chapter 1 part 1/3 out) | BUG/ERROR REPORT]
The Threshold is an interactive fiction game made with Twine, inspired by works like Zero Escape and Danganronpa. It has horror and adventure elements, but it’s focused on characters and their relationships.
(CW) It’s rated +18 for mentions and depictions of violence, blood, death, abduction, explicit language, use of alcohol, and more (to be added as more content is released). Viewer discretion is advised.
SYNOPSIS.
You are an average person in their twenties living in a world where people like you are mysteriously disappearing. With little help and information from the authorities and governments, you are left to live as usual, ignoring any imminent danger. At your prime age, you thought your greatest worries would be the slow decay of the world, the questioning of its leaders, and the deteriorating living conditions with the passing of years, but you’re proven wrong when you are kidnapped, too.
Locked in a luxurious but ominous hotel, you are forced to face trials alongside six other people. Who abducted you and for what reason? What does the future hold with different organizations fighting for power over the world? And just how much is at stake when you play a twisted game without rules?
Whether you want it or not, welcome to the Threshold.
FEATURES.
Choose the MC’s gender, pronouns, appearance, personality, occupation, and more.
Romance or befriend, help or betray 6 different characters in their respective routes.
Use your wits to play through different games in order to escape alive.
Try to save the world, or ruin it.
CHARACTERS.
Alix Holden. (he/him)
Alix is loving and generous, but also anxious. Despite his timid demeanor, he doesn't hesitate to stand up for others when faced with injustice.
Alix's height is average and his body slim. His black hair is messy and neck-length, always falling on his blue eyes. He has very pale skin, with faint freckles across his cheeks and nose. He’s 25 years old.
Camila Evans. (she/they)
Young and joyful, Camila has the ability to light up any room she steps in. She sees the good in everyone, and nothing warms her heart more than making people smile. How else can you get through life if you aren't positive and don't patiently wait for the sun to go up after the storm? But their naivety and innocence won't help them when death is knocking on people's doors.
Camila is short and curvy, her skin light brown and her shaggy hair dyed honey blonde. They have round hazel eyes and a piercing on the right side of their nose. She’s 23 years old.
Han Taeri. (they/them)
Taeri is kind and soft-spoken, never hesitating to lend a helping hand. Their eyes, however, betray a distance, as if always burdened by something heavy in their mind.
Taeri has unblemished light skin, contrasted by their dark brown eyes and hair. They have a pixie cut with very short bangs, and a beauty mark below their right eye. They’re 24 years old.
John/Jane Doel. [f/m gender selectable]
J is mysterious and secretive, always seeming like they are acting. For some reason, they have taken a liking to you, following you around with a Cheshire smile ever present on their face. Whether they are hiding something, or even have a connection to the game, you'll have to work arduously to discover their true intentions.
Of average height and size, with beige skin and amber eyes, one could call their appearance unremarkable, except for their hair, which they dye white keeping its tips brown. M!J keeps it short and F!J past her shoulders. They also wear glasses, with a rectangular frame. They’re 24 years old.
Kayde Foster. (he/him)
Ever the charmer, Kayde has a way with people and words. With a disarming smile and a silver tongue, he can smoothly assume leadership without anyone noticing. Whether he's genuine or deceptive most of the time, it's hard to tell.
Kayde is tall with an athletic build. His skin is, deep brown and so are his almond-shaped eyes. His hair is dark and he keeps it very short, and he also has stubble. He’s 26 years old.
Megan Cooper. (she/her)
Serious and snarky, Megan never misses the chance to share a piece of her mind, often bluntly and with zero tact. If you want to get to know her vulnerable self, you will have to break through her impenetrable facade of confidence.
Tall and lean, with skin as golden as her long hair, which she often keeps in a high ponytail, Megan looks like a model. Her eyes are light green, and her skin is splashed with freckles. She’s 25 years old.
MISC.
The Threshold is a work in progress, so things will likely change as I write more content. This also means that saves might get corrupted, and you’ll have to start the game again. I’ll try my best to avoid this, but it can happen.
English is not my first language, so there might be grammatical errors and sentences that sound unnatural. Please report these in the link at the beginning of the post, if you can!
Updates will be slow. I’ll try my best to write as quickly as possible, but with work, college and life, and my ever lethargic disposition, I can’t promise much. I do this project for fun, so I don’t want to feel a lot of pressure when I engage with it. However, I’ll try to make monthly updates so you know how things are going.
Asks are open!
Credits for the wonderful dividers: Vinny Vistazo.
Firstly, I want to apologize for skipping the April update 😔
I've been quite busy with college, and to be honest the transition was very hard at first (it's my first year so everything is new to me aaa). I felt very overwhelmed, and in my country there have been quite some strikes, so I missed a lot of classes. This meant I had to study alone, basically, and this and next week are exam weeks, so everything has been a mess.
The good news is that I'm slowly adapting and I'm more relaxed now. I've been able to balance time better, so my motivation to write has thankfully returned. I didn't write much on April to be honest, but now I'm back to it, which makes me very happy.
So yeah, tdlr: April was a bad month, but I'm back on track let's go.
June and July will probably be very stressful as well, with finals and all, so I'll try to make the most of May while I still can.
Thank you as always for the patience!! I'm very sorry for being so slow, but I swear I'm trying my best 😭
I’m very happy to announce that the first part of three of chapter one is out now! You can play the updated demo on itch.io. Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy reading it.
Features:
Meet the people that are locked with you.
Choose if you study, work, or don’t do either.
Show your true identity or create a fake one.
Learn a little more about the “game”.
Decide what trial you’ll do.
Etc.
Coming up next:
Play and try to survive.
Die.
Get to know the characters more.
I’m very sorry for the length of the update. It’s very short, but I decided to divide the chapter in three so I’m at least publishing something. I’d like to continue with this format so I can get feedback before I get too far in a chapter. At least for now, since I’m very new to this, I want to take things slowly.
I was happy with the content when I finished writing it, but when I coded it I felt it wasn’t too good. I’m specially worried about the MC being too flat. I want them to be very customizable, someone whose background and personality isn’t set in stone, so you can roleplay more freely. Of course, there are many limitations, and sometimes I feel they can come off as boring. In the future, I want to pay attention to this, and see how I can balance customization and make them an interesting character at the same time.
Anyway, I’m open for your feedback as well. The purpose of making a demo, for me at least, is to be able to hear your opinions and change whatever I must to make it better. All the updates are subject to change. So feel free to send me not only bugs and errors, but also your subjective thoughts (link to the google form).
Lastly, I want to apologize for how long it took me to update the demo, and sadly the next update will also take some time. I’m starting college literally now and that is my priority. I will continue to work on The Threshold, of course, but the time I have will be way more limited than before. I hope you can be patient with the progress.
As always, the asks are open on my Tumblr page! Thank you for reading!! :D
Hello!! How are you doing? I hope you have enjoyed February more than me, because it went by so fast I can't believe it.
First I want to say I'm sorry for the delay in the update. I had to go back to work for some days and that really made my progress slow down a bit. I said that I would update the demo at the end of February but that was a very dumb thing to think lmao. I'm very bad at coding so that took way longer than I had expected 😭
Anyway, let's just skip to the good news cause that's the most interesting thing here. I'm very happy to say that I have a release date! This is official and shouldn't be delayed. I'm almost done with coding and I just have to test-proof everything.
Chapter 1 part one (of three) will be out on Friday 14th of this month :D
Thank you so so much for your patience and support!! The update won't be too long, sadly, but I hope you like it and the characters too!
Wish you a very happy month as usual, and see you very soon :3
To be honest, I don't have a lot to update, but I wanted to post something anyway so you know the project is alive.
Thankfully, it seems I'll stop working next week, meaning I'll have a lot of free time to write. I did some writing in January, but it was minimal. I didn't have any time, and I was quite stressed with work lol. I need a lot of peace to write lmao otherwise I can't haha
Still, I think that the first part of chapter 1 should be out in February. I have no idea what date exactly, but if everything goes right it shouldn't take longer to be complete.
Thank you for your patience, and I'm sorry for taking so long! Hope you have a wonderful month and see you soon with an official update! xoxo
First, I want to apologize for the delay. I'm working almost every day now and it's been very stressful. I didn't have much time to write nor update here.
Remember I said that the first part of chapter one would come out in January? well that's probably not going to happen now, sorry :( I will try to have it ready for February. Most of it is done, I just need to finish the first draft and fix it. Then of course I'll code it but that shouldn't take long.
In conclusion, probably no updates until February, but asks are open if you want to send anything :)
And thank you so much for the support and patience, it means a lot! I promise I will work on the project but right now I'm just burnt out lol. Sorry for not being active again and missing Christmas and New Year's Eve! I hope you've had a wonderful time these past days, be it with friends, family, pets, alone, whatever! And I hope you start this year with only good things!
If you read the zine, consider liking the post: it helps us see how many people see it! And sharing is caring! <3
~ EDITORIAL ~
Apologies for the delayed Issue!
As you might know, we unfortunately had to delay this Issue due to some personal matters. But as promised, it’s finally here! We wouldn’t want you to miss out on any news.
As this Issue says on the front page, it contains news from November 23rd to November 29th.
But! The Events should be updated to match their status on December 4th, as they are more time-sensitive.
Issue 32 should be released on time. That means two Issues this week!
We want some feedback!
As we’re starting to get a hand of things, we would love some feedback from you guys! What you enjoy, want more or less off, how we could improve... Anything goes! We even have a nifty form.
We hope you enjoy this new issue!
AJ, DION, BRIAR, JEN AND PETER
~ BE A PART OF THE ZINE ~
THIS ZINE ONLY HAPPENS WITH YOU!
Want to write 1-2 pages about a neat topic, or deep-dive into a game and review it in details? Share personal experiences or get all academic?
WRITE FOR THE COLUMN!
Prefer to be more low-key but still have something to share? Send us a Zine Letter or share a game title for Highlight on…!
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Came across something interesting? Know a release or an update announced? Saw an event happening? Whether it's a game, an article, a podcast… Add any IF-related content to our mini-database!
EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS!
Contact us through Tumblr asks, Forum DMs, or even by email! And thank you for your help!!
~ EVENT SPOTLIGHT : Videotome Jam - "Waiting" ~
November 16th to December 1st 2024
Videotome Jam is a two-week-long game jam for games made in any of the Videotome engines with the optional theme of "Waiting".
What is Videotome?
Videotome is a series of small homebrew IF/VN engines made by Freya Campbell (communistsister), an indie game developer focusing on narrative games that are usually:
science fiction, horror, &/or romance
close to 100% LGBTQ characters
free/PWYW with low tech requirements
liable to make players keysmash due to feelings
Videotome was first released in April 2022 as a part of a game entry for the Domino Club collective. The initial idea for the engine was to make writing text-heavy games as hassle-free as possible, focusing not that much on the visual presentation format, but more on the writer's experience. It would allow writers to write in a notepad and then it would somehow grab the .txt file and parse the lines into an array, spitting them out one line at a time as a kinetic novel.
At the moment there are four engines available:
Videotome, for linear, no frills text / images / music;
Videotome ADV, adding a more conventional layout with ignorable choices and branching;
Super Videotome, for more fully featured and freeform image/canvas use;
Videotome Heartbreak, adding a stat raising dating sim & storylets structure to the above.
If you're more interested in the process of making these engines, check out the devs blog post - Words, Friction, Syntax: Stuff I thought about when making Videotome. (The post also includes a very interesting case study concerning other game engines Freya has experience with.)
If you want to check out some examples of projects made with Videotome, take a look at this collection. It includes games made by both Freya and other devs.
~ ENDED ~
The Educational Jam has ended. Check out the thirteen entries and learn something new!
The voting for ECTOCOMP 2024 is officially over! Check out the results!
You can now check out all 16 entries to the Videotome Jam!
Disabled Rep VN Jam has a very simple premise but a very important message. Check out the submissions!
~ ONGOING (VOTING) ~
A Very Hallmark Game Jam has entered the voting phase. You can now vote for your favourite out of the five entries.
~ ONGOING (SUBMITTING) ~
Media depicting healthy examples of polyamory isn’t that common. The PolyJamorous 2024 is trying to break the status-quo!
This year’s Yuri Game Jam is in full progress. The devs have until December 2nd to submit their projects.
Once upon a time, a game jam was held to create stories around the theme of fairy tales… and that game jam is the Once Upon A Time VN Jam. It’s running from October 1st to January 31st.
Concours de Fiction Interactive Francophone 2025 is for all French-speaking enthusiasts. Submissions are accepted March 3rd 2025.
Are you perhaps a fan of more somber, melancholic themes? Then check out the Dying Year - Visual Novel Jam! You have until the end of the year to participate.
The Black Visual Novel Jam is all about working with creative professional developers who work in visual novels to bring more Black stories to life. The goal is to create a space where Black creators can show their unique storytelling through visual novels.
IF Short Games Showcase 2024 is a great way to shine some new light on your projects made in the past year (Jan 1, 2024 to Dec 31, 2024), regardless of whether or not they are previously released! You have until January 15th 2025 to join.
Winter Visual Novel Jam 2024 is here! You have until January 1st 2025 to submit your projects.
Are you familiar with Decker? Then why not take a part in the Deck-Month 2?
Another bitsy jam is here. This time with the theme "better late than never".
~ OTHER ~
PIZZAPRANKS is accepting submissions for their Indiepocalypse Issue #61. If you’re a dev and would like to try out your luck, definitely check it out! Any game is welcomed, not only IF.
~ NEW RELEASE ~
You stand at the edge of a vast and foreboding cave system, its mouth yawning like the jaws of some ancient beast. This is no ordinary cave—it is the entrance to the Caverns of the Forgotten, a labyrinth of twisting tunnels, hidden chambers, and unfathomable mysteries that have claimed countless explorers before you.
Generations ago, invaders brought magic to the Kingdom of Jubai, setting battlemages at the top of the noble power structure and leaving everyone else oppressed. Now, a secret organization of mage hunters has risen up, phoenixlike, to stand against the mages' power and overthrow their rule. Can your secret order of mage hunters save the kingdom, or will internal strife tear you apart in Magehunter: Phoenix Flame (CScript)?
Today is your first day of work here at Toy Maker’s TOY BOX (Ren’Py). Pull apart stitches or rip off an arm or two; we support whatever you must do to ensure that you only save toys of the highest quality. Should you ever feel unsure, there’s no need to panic! Simply toss the trash where it belongs: the incinerator. After all, it’s of the utmost importance that inspectors upkeep the Maker’s image.
You're struggling for friends in a new town and decide to check out a cute diner!
—
'That New Diner', huh? Odd name for a restaurant, but I see advertisements for it everywhere. Might as well check it out. Who knows, maybe I'll meet somebody?
What does the glass sound like? Quite tinkly. It crumbled into sand under the feet of all those worried people circling around. As for you, there was darkness in your eyes for a long time. And the glass has melted into silence long since. But what is this place? And who is this stranger standing in front of you? And most importantly, where — or who — did the bullet hit?
—
Monarch (Ren’Py) is a short visual novel game that was made during Ukrainian Micro Visual Novel Jam in 10 days.
Halloween is a big deal in Port Gillain, steeped as the town is in old folklore and ghost stories. You, the local psychic, regularly attend the festivities. This year, you can bring a friend. The Second Sight: All Hallow's Eve (Twine) is a companion story to The Second Sight: Dead Reckoning.
Your Aunt’s House (Adventuron) is a short story about mourning. @kessielrg
The story centers around Larry, a cab driver eking out a meagre existence in a dystopian near-future, until he unwittingly finds himself centre-stage in the midst of a technological revolution.
—
For the first time this multi-media project can be experienced in the form of an interactive novel. Larry Folger Volume I contains all the chapters of the ongoing narrative complete with music from the series.
Your feather, my wing is a game about getting close to the object of an experiment that your 'super-secret lab' leads! It's all about fun, fluff and cuddles. Nothing serious and if anyone from the "normal world" came to this organization, they'd be disappointed by the lack of pathos, mystery and seriousness. But do you care?
Nestled at the edge of an ancient forest, Ravenwood Hill looms like a shadowed sentinel against the pale moonlight. This is no ordinary place; whispers of its dark history echo through the trees, carried by the wailing wind. The townsfolk speak of disappearances, of mysterious lights flickering in the mansion atop the hill, and of secrets buried deep beneath its crumbling foundations. In Ravenwood Hill, you are the only one brave—or foolish—enough to uncover the truth.
As always, don't forget to check out the submitted entries to the events mentioned in the previous pages. They deserve some love too!
~ NEW RELEASE (WIP) ~
Iberian Tales (Twine) - Life was once tranquil on the isolated coast of your city, surrounded by a loving family and promising prospects for success in your societal position. However, tranquility shattered as flames engulf your city, escape becomes the only viable option, if luck favors you enough to evade the soldiers blocking your path that is. @iberiantalesif-game
The Thorned Garden (CScript) is a Harem Intrigue game where you can die at any turn. Build up skills and connections to survive and climb the rankings. @opossumfern
Locked in a luxurious but ominous hotel, you are forced to face trials alongside five other people. Who abducted you and for what reason? What does the future hold with different organizations fighting for power over the world? And just how much is at stake when you play a twisted game without rules? Whether you want it or not, welcome to the Threshold (Twine). @thethreshold-if
5 days (Ren’Py) - Every step forward feels like another memory slipping through your fingers and yet, the world moves on — forcing you to find a way to follow, even when it feels impossible to let go.
~ UPDATES ~
As Gods Fall (CScript) released Chapters 4 and 5. @asgodsfall-if
Knight of Greenhaven (CScript) released Chapter 2.
Lost in your eyes (CScript) released part five of Chapter 3 on Patreon. @kathrinesadventures
Saturnine (CScript) added new content to their demo. @satur9-if
The Thousand Of Us (CScript) added new content to their public demo. @ivanwm-05
Weeping Gods (CScript) added new content to their demo. @jcollinswrites
The Summoner (CScript) released a part of Chapter 4.
Ashenmaw - Dragons of Marrowoods (CScript) added a part of Chapter 1 to their demo. @ashenmaw-if
Our Life: Now and Forever (Ren’Py) added Step 2 introduction scenes to their public demo. @gb-patch
Wasteland Pony Express added new content to their demo. @katieaki
The In-Between (CScript) released Chapter 11. @dalekowrites
Crown of Exile (Twine) released Chapter 10 on Patreon. @ramonag-if
~ OTHER ~
350p Adventure has been ported from Infor 6 to PunyInform. You can either download it or play it online in your browser.
—
(Some interesting trivia: The game is sometimes called Advent, because the system it was created on in the 70s would not allow filenames to be more than six characters long. This game is sometimes considered as the very first text adventure.)
~
As always, we apologize in advance for missing any update or release from the past week. We are only volunteers using their limited free time to find as much as we can - but sometimes things pass through the cracks.
If you think something should have been included in this week's zine but did not appear, please shoot us a message! We'll do our best to add it next week! And if you know oncoming news, add it here!
~ MAYBE YOU NEXT? ~
We did not get a submission this week. But if you have an idea for a short essay, or would like a special space to share your thoughts about IF and the community...
Shoot us an email!
~ HIGHLIGHT ON ~
A couple of games that we thought were cool.
Your favourite game here?
Do you have a favourite game that deserves some highlighting?
An old or recent game that wowed you so much you spam it to everyone?
Tell us about it! And it might appear here!
WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL! WHETHER IT'S GOOD OR BAD, OR EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN...
Have something to say? Send us a message titled: Zine Letter!
As we end this issue, we would like to thank:
our awesome mysterious anon!
all you readers who liked, shared, and commented on the last issue! What might be tiny actions are huge support and motivators to us! Thank you for cheering us on this journey!
heya :) I said I wanted to do a monthly update and here it is! I honestly don't have much to say since the prologue was out exactly a week ago, but anyway it's the first of the month so yeah.
I'm still debating whether releasing the first chapter as a whole or dividing it into three parts. it would be the character introductions, then the first game, and then more interactions with the ros. anywho, I'm writing the first part and I almost have the first draft complete. it's rather short, but I'd like publishing it so you get to know the characters without waiting too long.
so basically, the first third of chapter one should be done in december, mayybe january if I'm too busy. I'll see if I release it then or when I have the whole chapter done. the complete chapter will take a little longer to do, but should be ready in q1 2025.
I also want to thank you for the support! it means a lot to me that you spend time reading my work!! I really hope you enjoy it.
this isn’t really an ask but for some reason i skipped straight to the synopsis and read everything and i was like “ooo just like danganronpa” then i scrolled up and saw “inspired by works like zero escape and danganronpa” and went “oh my god…” i love those games and i’m happy it seems like there’s gonna be an if like them, im excited
ahh i'm glad the vibes came through :D i love those games too and other media with those tropes, so i had to make a story like that haha (whether i'll make them justice we'll see lol). thanks for the interest!! :3
