This was my first time using Ren'Py for something serious, so it was honestly a bit of a struggle since all the customization had to be done in Python and I'm not familiar with the engine. I'm very thankful for all the forum posts with answers to my specific questions on the internet.

As for the timeline of this game, I originally started drawing the assets for this game on the 9th, but I was pretty busy around that time as well, so I ended up having to do the bulk of the programming and writing the script this last week. I really should've paced myself better instead of drinking coffee and staying up to finish this. What I learned from this is that it's a lot more difficult for me to make a GUI without a visual interface and I'll admit there were some cases where I didn't want to think too hard and do it the right way, so I just found workarounds for placement of text or images. Also that drawing the animated sprites might've been a little too ambitious. It looks cool, but I'm probably never going to use the same effect in any future games for the sake of my hands. The longer deadline is honestly something I liked though, since I finally made a game where I got to implement every single feature I wanted. Getting to do that really takes the edge off of the feeling of "What should I do now" I always get after finishing a big project.

While writing the script for this, I decided to add a little more depth to the story by making it so that the background worldbuilding is implied through the choices available rather than just through exposition. I wonder if people will connect the dots on what's happening outside in the world while Franz and Marie are going through their troubles. I tried to not make it too subtle, but also not too in your face, so only time will tell.

As for the choices menu QoL, I have to thank my playtesters for that. It seems so obvious in hindsight, so I'm a little surprised I didn't think of that (lol).

And now for questions nobody has asked yet:

Q: Progress on other games?
A: Kaisei's train game as shown here is in development until whenever I get a sudden burst of energy to complete it. Catching a Date's feature update is delayed for simultaneous release with another game in development. The latter two will be finished after Kaisei's train game.

Here are some screenshots from the game in development (character shown here unrelated to the playtester credited on Catching a Date).

As you can see by the default font, it's very much still in progress. I'm pretty excited to finish this whenever I have the time to because I finally get to use my actual art style rather than the simplified one I use for game jam games. Alas, scope creep once again has caught up with me so it'll take a while before it's done.
What do you think it's about?

Q: Why Spaghetti Bolognese?
A: I was wondering what to do for Franz's third ending. It was on a whim.

Q: What are the two's bug forms based on?
A: Franz's is based off of a generic moth for the fluffy parts and antennae. The wings are from a lacewing and the tail is from a silverfish. Dunno what his neck thing is, I just slapped it on to match. Marie's has ant pincers, moth wings, and a looooong centipede tail. Long enough that I didn't want to draw it... but it's cool, right?

Q: What's up with the TV?
A: It's for worldbuilding purposes. Here are a couple of questions to help you figure out the plot:

• What do Franz and Marie's parents do for work?
• What was in the package?
• What happened yesterday?
• Why does Franz name his shotgun after Marie in that one ending?

Q: Will this game ever receive any major updates or a sequel?
A: Probably not. Currently out of ideas, so don't expect anything. This is the one game jam game that's a full and complete package that I won't be updating after submission.

Q: Why does Franz get more endings?
A: I had the sudden thought that I should make an ending with a jar so I added in the study, the jar item, and the domestication ending because of it. The bug dies in Marie's ending, so it had to be in Franz's.

Q: What was your inspiration for this game?
A: Now obviously, the entire story is based off of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. But that comes after the fact that I designed Marie's bug form on a whim and then I thought "it would be nice to make a VN about her". Then, while I was busy with other things, I had this terrific idea to go make it. And then I drew a random NPC and was like "you know what, he looks like he could be her brother" and so here we are. Originally I had this vague idea that it was going to be a black and white pencil sketch aesthetic where Marie wakes up, decides to either go to school or run out into town, and at some point she beats up some sketchy-looking dude with shades under an underpass. Oddly specific, I know. That was just a really specific image that I had in my head and I'm not sure why. Fortunately, because Franz suddenly became a character, now you get to run around a singular house instead and I don't have to think too hard. The original VN would've been about how Marie feels isolated because she suddenly became nonhuman, in a body different from her own, while everyone else just acts like nothing's wrong. Unfortunately, I can't write that good. Sorry.

Here's Marie's reference sheet:


I drew this reference sheet for Art Fight. It's not in the game so let's just call it concept art.

Q: Why aren't Franz and Marie already bug people?
A. The parasite couldn't take over Franz's body because of his single-mindedness whereas it couldn't take over Marie's because she was too self-aware. If they give up, they get body-snatched.

Q: Where's the refrigerator in the kitchen?
A: It's behind you (I forgot to draw it in the scene and gave up).

Q: Where do Franz and Marie get their names?
A: Franz is just a nice name (unrelated to Kafka). I didn't have a working name for Marie so I looked at Franz Liszt's Wikipedia page and was like "Marie's a good name, let's just throw any weird connotations out the window".

Anyway, thank you very much for reading. I hope you enjoy (or enjoyed!) the game.
Here's their full portraits from the reflections in case anyone is interested.