Hey y'all! This is a post I've been excited to share with everyone.
Today, I am officially announcing my third visual novel in my running series that I've been working on as a sequel to A Night Out (2018) and Reconnected (2022). The third title will officially be called: 'Those We Keep Close'
Those We Keep Close is a romantic/yuri kinetic visual novel. Featuring past returning characters like Elle and Roxanne and various new characters throughout. Currently our finished draft of the project is under editing/review from my past editor Josie and we are sitting at around 75k words total.
My first goal is to release a free demo of the first few chapters later this year, with the full game going on sale exclusively on itch.io when the game is complete. (Release date is TBD)
I have spent all of last year writing for this project and slowly working on assets for the game, and forming my team which include:
- Myself as writer, programmer, and director, as well as creator for various assets in-game.
- Josie (@hello2u): My returning editor who has helped me with the writing all throughout Reconnected. These stories would not be the same without her input!
- Jaye Allison Ashtear (@jayashtear): Illustrator for the official "cover" art and additional illustrations in-game. I've followed her art for years and love the amount of details she puts into her characters and scenes.
- Molly Noise (@mollynoise): One of my favorite indie composers/musicians on bandcamp, she is able to pull off a sound that others simply cannot replicate. She did an amazing job on Reconnected previously!
- My friends Crystal (@brisket) and TangledVirus (@tangledvirus) as pre-readers and testers, and giving feedback all throughout the project! Both of their input early in development has been a huge help and TangledVirus may of liked it a bit:
Synopsis:
Elle has been continuing on with her life. Other than her roommate Roxanne and her Dad, she has largely kept to herself and continues to work as a barista making ends meet and living a largely introverted life.
Recently however, a regular of hers, Milly, has begun talking to Elle every morning during her shifts. What starts as a simple friendship develops into something more in this third entry in Elle's life.
Main Cast:
(Character models below are currently a work in progress and not representative of final release)
— Elle (She/Her - Trans lesbian)
A burnt out (and neurodivergent) barista in her late 20s. Moving out of her childhood home to transition just year or so after highschool, Elle has been living on her own in the city for all of her adult life. Outside of her roommate Roxanne, her Dad, and acquaintances around town, she has largely lived an introverted life focusing on making ends meet as a barista. Outside of her work, Elle in recent years has gained an interest in music mastering the bass throughout her free-time. Recently at her work she has gotten to know one of her regulars and built a bit of a crush towards her.
— Roxanne (They/Them - Non-binary pansexual)
A business owner near their 40s. Roxanne is known downtown for their piercing and tattoo shop that has been one of the longest running businesses downtown. Since it's been passed down to them, they've kept the shop open while other businesses have been closing from rent increases and gentrification. One of Elle's few friends and her roommate since they met, Roxanne has always been the sibling Elle never had.
— Milly (She/Her - Cis lesbian)
A disabled woman near her 30s. Spending a majority of her life in her small town, she moved to the city a little over two years ago to get away from her family and start her own independent life. A writing major, she so far only managed to get a job as an editor for a news blog where she works remotely from home and at Elle's work. Visiting the cafe everyday for the past year, she's gotten to know Elle as a regular customer, and perhaps something more? She is a right above-the-knee amputee who gets around most of the time with her prosthesis. Outside of work she is a fan of science fiction hoping to publish a novel one day and has been a swimmer since she was a child, swimming at the gym every Sunday morning.
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If you wish to follow this project, please follow the tags #Those We Keep Close and #froey dev blog as I will be posting game development progress throughout the year under these tags. An itch.io game page will be published around the time of the demo release later this year.
Shares are much appreciated! My ask box is open as well!
The best game of 2024, for realsies. I read the draft and lost my marbles a bit with how good, honest, sincere and good it was. I even let out a porra caralho while reading and when you do that you know it's some good food right there.