Under Maintenance

I just wanted to stop by and say.. how very dastardly of you: "A hot un-dateable character"... Yeah, you got us pegged. We definitely want a Mark route. Yes, please. Mmmhmm. Please and Thank you.

I haven't played all routes, so I'll save my answers for those in a bit. But I can say that I'd replay the game even if it wasn't fully voiced. Let alone if it was. It's wonderful. Congrats, good job, and thank you for all your hard work!

This game was CUTE.AS.HELL. I've had my eyes on it for a while since a saw your sprites on Twitter, I was stopped in my scrolling tracks when I saw the gorgeous drawings. The witing is on par with the designs so I couldn't be more satisfied!

1. Which character was your favorite? Why?

Tristan got me. I must say I got interested in the game because of Theo's and Luca's looks, but I can't resist a gentle nerd when I meet one. I also felt that his route was the smoothest of the three.

I loved both Theo and Luca as well, however for Luca I feel like the ending was missing something to be entirely satisfying to me. I get that it came with his character, but I would have loved something more official (and a clear "I like you") by the end.

1. Did you manage to make all the guys on the main screen regain their color?

Yes! Getting the good endings wasn't too easy or too hard, perfect for someone like me who usually plays with walkthroughs.

1. What's your favorite moment in the game?

The steamy moments. Heh.

1. Do you want a Mark route?

Why not? Not attracted to what we saw of his personnality, but since the writing is great I'd be curious to see how you guys play it out!

1. Would you replay the game if it were fully voiced?

I'm not into voice acting, so that wouldn't make me want to replay the game. However, I can see myself playing it again in a few months or a year, as a kind of comfort game for when I need short fluffy stories. 

Thanks for your hard work, it was a really enjoyable experience <3

1. Which character was your favorite? Why?

Gah! Making me choose?!?! I felt a real connection with both Tristan and Theo. Both of them are well-written characters with great routes that left me feeling very happy at the good ends. Plus the va's were fantastic. If I had to choose just one I'd lean toward Tristan. He's just. So. Adorkable. And I absolutely love how his va hit that line at work "Just doing my job. Except not at all..." It was just *chef's kiss* Fake bravado trailing into defeatism, I really admire how they worked those emotions into a short line.

2. Did you manage to make all the guys on the main screen regain their color?

Of course ;)

3. What's your favorite moment in the game?

Tristan talking about games as love stories, that man is a keeper.

4. Do you want a Mark route?

He'd need one hell of a redemption arc. I mean past trauma is not an excuse to be a creepy turd to everyone

5. Would you replay the game if it were fully voiced?

Well, Tristan's route at least!

And I just wanted to say thank you for all the work you put into the quality of life stuff. Being able to tweak the font and text box helps so much for us with vision quirks and the ability to hide the MC sprite is very thoughtful. Sometimes having a sprite that is too far from how you feel can trigger dysphoric feelings for people who like to self-insert. 

I've been so excited for this games release and it's even better than I hoped, you guys did a great job!!!

Hiiii! I love your game! I'm not finished with all the routes yet, but I think I'm in love already, so I just have to write some sort of a review, jhjhjk.

1. Theo all the way, he's totally my type. I'm a simp for tall and caring men with long hair.
2. Yup for Theo & Luca, Tristan, here I come.
3.  All the serial killer jokes in Theo's route, lol.
4.  I WOULDN'T SAY NO?  His backstory could be interesting & his voice actor did a great job.
5. I really like the way the MC's written, so I'd be down for a replay. And all the voice actors certainly were great.

Thank you for all the hard work!

luca. absolutely. bewitched me. heart & soul. and everything else omg he's so AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA it's rly a sweet story and the CAT the CAT SEALED THE ENTIRE DEAL when i knew he fed the cat i immediately went YEAH. SMASH. (tbh i saw silver hair and /gestures vaguely at everything/ i was like yeah i'm gonna smash that's it....) 

also i thought it was rly interesting, like, the fork between going to the bar vs using the app! not rly sure if there's a big difference but it was like, not one way was better than the other !! 

also re: mark. i feel like his route would be a massive i could fix him kind of route but also like my instincts are telling me i could make him worse instead lol 

sorry this is so messy but AAAAAAAAAAA cute story 10/10 love it !!!

The game's art had me all over it since the start of the jam, but seeing everything put together just made it even better!!! ❤️❤️

The game is so much fun and I loved spending time with Tristan 🥰 his fear of screwing up is very relatable 🥺 i want to hug him 😭And omg the CGs are so beautiful!!! 😍

Also! I loved seeing how the other characters appeared in other routes. It gave me a better view of the world building and the bond between them in the story. It was so cool!

You guys did an amazing job!! Congrats on the release!!! 🤗❤️

and yes omg pls!! I'd love a Mark route 👀❤️✨

1. Theo, though Tristan is a close second! I loved how sweet and earnest he was. I also loved his design. His freckles and ponytail are *chef's kiss*.

2. Yes! <3

3. Well, I really enjoyed the moments where the MC would explain otome games to the LIs lol. It was fun seeing their reactions. Theo completely misunderstanding her at the bar was great, and I thought it was sweet when he listened to her ramble on about them despite not really getting it. 

4. I mean... It'd be interesting to see how he can grow and change.

5. Probably not. I just don’t replay games a lot in general, and I think the game is fine as is. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the voice acting though, because I definitely did! The voices actors did great <3

Also, just wanted to say thank you for such a fun and cute game! I really enjoyed it!

Congrats on the release, I absolutely loved it! 

1. Tristan was my favorite, I love me a shy nerdy guy. But I liked Theo and Luca as well

2. Yes!

3. It's silly, but my favorite moment is probably when I got blocked for spamming "Keep walking" at Tristan. I actually got up from my computer when he asked me if I was QA. I am one, that is my actual job. I died. I also really liked Tristan's first chapter as a whole, with the standup bit and the conversation after.

4. Kinda lol, I love trash

5. Probably not any time soon, maybe somewhere down the line if I decide to replay the game

1. TRISTAN!!! hes exactly my type and i adore him sm <33

2.  nope, not yet! as of now i just finished tristan's good end

3.  any scene that had the cat in it

4. ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh from what i've seen of him no

5.  mmmmmm sure! the game as it is is fine for me tho <3

Ok, I really had such a good time playing this, and it was in the top 3 of the games I was looking forward to from this year's otome jam. I know it's only the 29th so they're not all out yet, but it's my fave I've played so far! Anyway, to answer the questions posed above...

Which character was your favorite? Why?

It's tough to say! Before playing, I was most interested in Tristan. After playing, I guess it's still Tristan, but I also really liked Luca, who surprised me because he was the LI I was the least interested in initially. 

Tristan I liked because he was just adorable. The character design was great, and I loved that he was kind of dorky and awkward and sweet. His whole personality was really endearing. And (spoilers!) he was the only guy to adopt the cat! I'm a sucker for stuff like that lol.

Did you manage to make all the guys on the main screen regain their color?

Yes :)

What's your favorite moment in the game?

I liked (minor spoilers ahead) Tristan's standup routine, (even if it was slightly depressing lol) and Luca dealing with all his "fans."

Do you want a Mark route?

Yes! He's such a little troll, I'm curious what redeeming qualities he has lol

Would you replay the game if it were fully voiced?

Definitely. I really enjoyed the voice acting. I think it added a lot, and the actors did a wonderful job.

TL,DR: I really enjoyed the game, you should play it too (if you're reading this to decide the answer to that question)

My answers to the postgame questionnaire:

1. Which character was your favorite? Why?

Is it cheating if I pick two of them as my favorite? I liked Tristian and Theo the most :)

Tristian is the one whose route I played first because I knew at first glance that I would like him (I know myself well). Of course his ending would include adopting the cat and having pancakes. Sounds perfect to me. <3

Theo was the second route I played. I didn't go in with any expectations, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up connecting with him. In retrospect he might my favorite of the LIs design wise. He is very pretty. :) 

2. Did you manage to make all the guys on the main screen regain their color?

Yes, on my first try too :) On a related note, the little splash texts(?) to describe the endings was a nice touch.

3. What's your favorite moment in the game?

I can't pick just one favorite moment! I can say that Tristian and Theo's introductions were both very memorable for me :D  Obviously I enjoyed the rest of their routes just as much, but it was a very strong start, haha. Oh, and whenever MC explained her love for otome games to the LIs I thought that was very sweet.

OH and in the beginning, when MC calls DoE Human Resources... for some reason I found the name hilarious and I just sat there cracking up for a moment xD

4. Do you want a Mark route?

Nope, not particularly, but I might check it out if one ended up being made.

5. Would you replay the game if it were fully voiced?

I don't generally replay games (and having fully voiced vs partially voiced isn't a huge factor for me personally) so probably not.

Some other thoughts I wanted to voice!

I liked all of the LIs, even if I didn't end up vibing with Luca as much as the other two. Writing wise, I thought it was quite grounded and everything felt very natural. Perhaps it was because MC felt relatable?  I don't know, Even though the game was short, I felt like I got a good picture of the characters and their stories. The art and game design/GUI as a whole was lovely. I appreciated the different font choices and the ability to use a dark mode :) The only critique I would want to make is the sound (just the sound balancing). 

I believe that's everything I'd thought of to say :) Thank you for making this game, and I would be happy to check out anything you might make in the future as well :D