Yes, you read that right. I'm making a game, and it's coming out real soon!

First things first, I know I've been gone for a while, and I'm genuinely sorry about that. If you were trying to reach me or waiting on something, I really do apologize. Disappearing without a word is a bad habit of mine that I've been actively working on breaking, and this time it swallowed me whole because I was heads-down building something I've never done before. It took more out of me than I expected, but I hope it was worth it.

What can you expect?

A visual novel dating sim with a side of pet management: a semi-grind gameplay loop with dozens of CG scenes (yes, "those" kinds of scenes). You're partnered up with Renamon quickly, but earning her affection is a different matter entirely. You'll train together, battle together, and slowly work at thawing that stoic, tsundere heart.

But beyond Renamon, there'll be plenty of other characters you can romance (well, "plenty" as I add them along the way). Unlike some H-games, I really want to put an emphasis on story, to the best of my ability, though some characters are designed specifically for those who prefer smut over story.

It won't follow any particular Digimon canon, so you can jump in blind with no problem, and honestly it might be preferable, so you don't have to correct me on every bit of lore I got wrong (lol). But there are references, and some loose canon nods to Digimon Tamers and Digimon Survive. That's all I'll say for now.

On the gameplay side, dating and day-to-day life make up a big chunk of it, but the battle system is the second major pillar, since a lot of the characters and arcs revolve around it. That said, in the 0.1 release things will still be pretty barebones and unbalanced, so feedback at that stage will help a lot.

So, why did I make this?

I've always wanted to make a game rooted in my own stories, specifically around Arianne. Years ago it was a three-person project: a friend and I handled writing and coding while another friend covered the art. But life happened and we drifted apart (we were also pretty ambitious for our skill level back then, but hey, it was always a fun excuse to hang out).

That dream sat on the shelf for a long, long time, until one night I found the unfinished game bible and salvaged what I could to create the Arianne bot. But even that didn't fully scratch the itch of actually creating something, something tailored that people could experience. So I did. Learning Ren'Py, seeing code again after about five years, it hit me for the first time what I was getting myself into. Coming back to it alone felt daunting, so I made a practical call: start smaller, build the skills, use it as a stepping stone. At least, that was the idea.

Then the idea hit me like lightning, as most of mine do. There really aren't any good games with Renamon out there, and if you know me at all, you know how much I love her. So I decided to just make one myself.

What started as a small passion project has genuinely grown into something I'm proud of and in love with, even if scope creep made sure it never stayed "small" for long 😅 Yeah... but it's fun. Solving the hurdles, slowly building the systems, and watching it all come together, there's something about that process, y'know. It's also given me a huge amount of respect for game development as a whole.

What inspired it?

A lot of things, but the biggest single influence is My Dystopian Robot Girlfriend. The way that game builds a relationship with a single character through narrative and interaction resonated with me deeply. My gameplay loop is different, and unlike MDRG I do want other characters to be romanceable, but you'll still feel that influence in how the bonding is structured.

Summertime Saga, mostly for the actual gameplay structure. When you break it down, a dating sim is basically: do X, check if you met the criteria, grind if you haven't. But it's done in a way where you barely notice the grind (maybe because a horny brain doesn't care much about mechanics). I hope that one day I'll have such a wide array of characters that the grind never feels blocking, but the current state of my game is the result of only a few months of work, compared to a decade of theirs. Still, every journey starts with a first step, right? :)

And obviously Slay the Spire. I'm not going to pretend I've copied or surpassed that system. STS is incredibly in-depth. But I do hope that my battle system, once it has proper balance and polish, delivers something new and fresh, and maybe introduces the genre's fun to people who haven't played STS yet.

When is it coming out?

Soon! I wish I could give you a proper date, but I've learned not to make promises I can't keep on timelines (sorry 😭😭). What I can say is that I'm releasing it as an alpha first, so I can keep updating and shaping it with real feedback instead of dropping a "finished" product before I'm fully equipped to execute it perfectly. Having that steady feedback loop will be invaluable.

Where, and is it paid?

It'll be on itch.io. I won't be releasing it on Steam since Renamon is owned by Bandai Namco, and for that same reason the game will be completely free. Any support through donations or Patreon is always appreciated, but never required.

Is AI used?

For images only, and that's temporary. I don't have the skills to draw, and I don't currently have the funds to commission an artist, so I'm using Stable Diffusion as a placeholder. Everything else, the writing, the UI, the story, is handcrafted by me. Replacing the AI art with commissioned work is already part of the roadmap once there's enough support for it.

Here are some screenshots from the game and a few other bits:

(the images below are still WIP and may not fully reflect the game even in its 0.1 state)

If any of this caught your interest, you can check out my Twitter/X here to follow development. And if you want to be more involved, the Patreon is where you can talk to me directly, help shape the game and future projects, and get early access to releases before the public does. Link (again, not required, but I'll make it worth it if you do.)

Does this mean you're leaving JAI?

As for JAI, I won't pretend I have a clean answer for you. This site is where I built my craft, found my style, and genuinely met so many of you, and that's not something I can just shrug off. But I'd be lying if I said the motivation is where it used to be. For now, this isn't a goodbye, it's an open-ended pause. I don't fully know what comes next, and I think it's more honest to say that out loud than to promise something I'm not sure I can keep.

I do want to say thank you, to Shep, and to JAI itself, criticism and all. I won't pretend the site hasn't taken a lot of heat lately, changes people didn't ask for, decisions plenty of you have been vocal about, and I'm not going to sit here and say none of it's fair. But even with all of that, it's still been a real place for a lot of us, myself included, a place where I found my voice as a writer, and I don't think that gets erased by whatever's happening at the platform level.

Whatever happens with this account going forward, that part isn't something I regret or want to erase. This community is where I found the confidence to even attempt something like a full game, and I'll always be grateful for that, however things unfold from here.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I want to say this in case someone needs to hear it: it's okay to branch out into something beyond bots. If some anxious, overthinking writer like me could find the confidence, thanks to your support, to try something new, then I'm sure you can too. Your story deserves to be seen in a proper light. :)

To everyone who's supported my bots, left comments, or just stuck around quietly: thank you. Truly. I've called myself a subpar creator more times than I can count, lost track of how many times my ideas felt better than my execution, and yet seeing people enjoy what I make has pushed me to keep growing and keep trying. You gave me the confidence to take a leap I'd been standing at the edge of for years. I hope you'll come along for this one.

❤️❤️ Cheers, and have a good life ❤️❤️