I quickly went through the other comments and I think nobody made this point yet.
Hidden beyond the surface of a nice little game, there are lessons to be learnt on human biases. Rationalisation is one of them. Also how with the same set of evidence one can construct many different stories and be convinced(deluded?) that they are the (sole?) correct explanation. Most people are wired in a way that once an answer/cause is found, no matter how implausible it may be, they stop considering other reasons. E.g. you can't analyse the same body part more than once. Of course, users curious enough can circumvent this limitation by re-playing the game.
*spoiler follows*: I got the ending IIRC where she determines that the skeleton belongs to somebody else. But she can't make up anything more. That is frustrating for her, as everybody tends to think themselves as special and she found out that after all this effort she still has the same unanswered questions... which don't differ by much of what more mundane people think themselves.
PS: what car did you use as a model? It kind of reminds me of a SEAT 124
Thanks for this really... interesting... game. I ended up blaming everything on conspiracies. Wasn't expecting the pixel boobs lol but I appreciate the confronting nature of the game. Here's my Twitch playthrough.
(I apologize in advance English is my second language) keep up the good work! :) i throughly enjoyed the game. Honestly kind of a weird/OG concept for a video game (at least to me, Haven’t come across a game like this before). the story base with the whole skeleton thing was really trippy and cool.this is a good example that you can have a good story even being minimalist with the scenario change. (If that makes sense heh) keep up the amazing work! I made a little play through of it if anyone wants check it out
I ended up with Johannes skeleton and the person at the end was doubly scary because of that. I feared that he came back for her and she was literally haunted by her past.
Also I felt uneasy seeing the protagonist so calm while harming her own body (especially cutting herself).
Similarly despite finding it first, I waited until I checked everything else before removing the eye. I felt like it was... important. More so than every other inspectable detail.
Thank you all for this interesting, interactive game! Enjoyed the writing, art style, x-ray parts, & different choices we can say or do. It means players go through this multiple times. Lainey is a determined & tough gal. Also, the end made me want to know even more...
For feedback, like others have said: the annoyance of having to exit & re-enter the x-ray every time. It kinda bothered me, but not too much. Other than that- this is a good game! 5 stars worthy.
Keeping your team in mind, and now I definitely gotta check out your previous games.
great game, super interesting. good art and sound!
the story i got out of it wasthat she was the victim of abuse, and the trauma causing her to think of her skeleton as not her own. skeleton so broken and damanged by him, that in her mind it became not her own.
of course there are the other stories and options, but that is the one i take forward. all of the options and endings make me very thrilled with your writing and story telling talents! will be keeping an eye out :)
Great game i have to say, the pixelated artstyle was rly good i liked it, samoe goes for the music and ambience.
One thing i didn't like was the fact that you had to exit the x-ray in order to scan yourself again, i think it could easily be solved by just moving the x-rayed screen around.
The ending left me smiling and in waiting for more, can't wait to see your secret stuff that you're making. Great game!
Cool, interesting, unique, disturbing. Lots of words to describe this.
I liked it so much I played it through twice in my video below. I am curious as to a few things but the description makes me think there won't be answers anytime soon :)
It seems to me there are at least three possible stories going on here. I think the way the game is designed is so that the story you choose is the truth. Or, put another way, none of the options are the "right" answer. It's just what you make of it.
After getting my video ready I feel like my conclusions at the end are a bit over extended and I am assuming a lot, but that just fits in with what I think the point of the game is :)
I played the game a few days ago and I really enjoyed it! I loved all the different choices and how it could change the story, or that was what it felt like at least. It was interesting and something I had never really played before.
This is so very cool! In my first play, Laynie came to the "activated" conclusion. Now I'm really curious what y'all are doing with the feedback/data...
After some replays, my interpretation is that the "Johann" and "self-esteem" outcomes are canonical, and the rest weird delusions or rationalizations brought on by trauma. ("child soldier" I'm not sure on. Could be some of both!) I think the figure who appears at the end--and who keeps saying "please, come home"--is Johann, his head bandaged and jaw wired from Laynie lashing out at him in her flight.
Very cool style! The time-skip animation works really well. I was honestly a little confused if the different choices were KrZ 'your choices make reality' style or if there was somehow right and wrong answers. I guess I'll have to try it a few more times :)
When scanning through this year's edition of Famicase, "A Vivid Life" was one the covers that most caught my attention. I could not stop wondering what kind of story that art could be telling, and I believe this game does a fantastic job in translating it in its own unique way. The premise alone made me very curious, and the story (or stories) told is very thought-provoking. I love how effectively it uses the elements of body horror in different contexts, but always coming around the theme of feeling out of place.
Down to earth choices here. Delusion. Abuse. Tried the options that match my first idea, and had the impression they were the most believable. Tried the imaginative options and had the impression that they were just the start of a psychosis. Also, I was biased by my having played "Behind Every Great One" and assume political posture from the authors. Thank you for the experience :)
What a really cool idea for a game. Story was very intriguing and flowed very well. Lots of different options for the story line based on your own choices. Graphics were very nicely done with music to match. A really great game. Well done to all involved... :)
This was really interesting. I like the unreliable narrator aspect of it, how the lack of close-up visual details means we can only really go off of the things Laynie says to understand what is happening, and since we're presented with a choice of different contradictory explanations for everything, we can't trust that either.
I initially leaned more toward the weirder, more fantastical choices, but I eventually started gravitating to the grounded explanations: stories about domestic abuse or childhood injuries. My final outcome the first time was the one about Johann, and on my second playthrough Laynie accepted that the skeleton was hers.
My initial interpretation was that she was abused by Johann and turned to self-harm to replace the injuries he gave her with self-inflicted ones, while justifying it with the more fantastical explanations, but not all of her injuries or other findings seemed to originate from the abuse, plus she still ended up concluding that her skeleton was not her own. At this point, I think there's a chance that some of her stories about childhood accidents or abuse might be true, but that most of the things she finds are the result of previous self-harm. Of course, even though Laynie accepting that the skeleton is hers feels the most like a "true ending", everything is presented in such ambiguous terms that I can't really say if there is a definitive, canonical truth to be found here.
Very interesting game. The topic and text are really intriguing. Like someone else says, the xray machine is a bit sloppy. You can also active it with spacebar/esc? And that really can really mess the whole thing.
Obviously spoiler ahead if you haven't played the game, I first decided to pick every alien related choices. For some reason, the atmosphere felt a bit "too normal" for a game about a girl who discovered her skeleton isn't hers, so aliens seemed like a good explanation to start.
However, as much as her "aliens build my body" story was well crafted, I wasn't buying it at all. Seeing the other rational choices made me believe she was just being delusional. So I played again and chose all the rational choices.
And holy shit.
My second playtrough made me understand her behaviour in my first playtrough. I wanted to know the truth and now that I do, I wish I didn't.
...Actually, what if it wasn't the truth after all?
This was definitely one of the weirdest things I've ever played, but being such a huge fan of The Red Strings Club as I am I had to try this!
The outcome of my investigation was that I fractured my own arm in a skateboarding accident, I was shot in the leg as a kid, my feet came from different people and then most parts were military and I was an agent that just activated myself (even when I wasn't supposed to).
Despite its shortness I found this game very enjoyable, the mystery element was there and I couldn't wait to work out what was happening. I'm sure I'll find myself playing it again to get different outcomes because some options really caught my eye.
Great work you guys!
EDIT: I'd also like to make a suggestion that might improve the game, if I may - the x-ray machine might be a little too slow to use continuously. Not sure how stolen x-ray machines work (haha) but it was kind of difficult to finish scanning your whole body because of having to turn the machine on again every single time.
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I quickly went through the other comments and I think nobody made this point yet.
Hidden beyond the surface of a nice little game, there are lessons to be learnt on human biases. Rationalisation is one of them. Also how with the same set of evidence one can construct many different stories and be convinced(deluded?) that they are the (sole?) correct explanation. Most people are wired in a way that once an answer/cause is found, no matter how implausible it may be, they stop considering other reasons. E.g. you can't analyse the same body part more than once. Of course, users curious enough can circumvent this limitation by re-playing the game.
*spoiler follows*: I got the ending IIRC where she determines that the skeleton belongs to somebody else. But she can't make up anything more. That is frustrating for her, as everybody tends to think themselves as special and she found out that after all this effort she still has the same unanswered questions... which don't differ by much of what more mundane people think themselves.
Thanks for this really... interesting... game. I ended up blaming everything on conspiracies. Wasn't expecting the pixel boobs lol but I appreciate the confronting nature of the game. Here's my Twitch playthrough.
(I apologize in advance English is my second language) keep up the good work! :) i throughly enjoyed the game. Honestly kind of a weird/OG concept for a video game (at least to me, Haven’t come across a game like this before). the story base with the whole skeleton thing was really trippy and cool.this is a good example that you can have a good story even being minimalist with the scenario change. (If that makes sense heh) keep up the amazing work! I made a little play through of it if anyone wants check it out
https://youtu.be/omzVIqr3srw
Once again you made a really cool game, good job!
I ended up with Johannes skeleton and the person at the end was doubly scary because of that. I feared that he came back for her and she was literally haunted by her past.
Also I felt uneasy seeing the protagonist so calm while harming her own body (especially cutting herself).
Similarly despite finding it first, I waited until I checked everything else before removing the eye. I felt like it was... important. More so than every other inspectable detail.
This game was really interesting. I didn't expect to end up where it did, but it was really engaging. Great work :D
Thank you all for this interesting, interactive game! Enjoyed the writing, art style, x-ray parts, & different choices we can say or do. It means players go through this multiple times. Lainey is a determined & tough gal. Also, the end made me want to know even more...
For feedback, like others have said: the annoyance of having to exit & re-enter the x-ray every time. It kinda bothered me, but not too much. Other than that- this is a good game! 5 stars worthy.
Keeping your team in mind, and now I definitely gotta check out your previous games.
Now this is a story I never thought I'd see told. Bravo.
great game, super interesting. good art and sound!
the story i got out of it wasthat she was the victim of abuse, and the trauma causing her to think of her skeleton as not her own. skeleton so broken and damanged by him, that in her mind it became not her own.
of course there are the other stories and options, but that is the one i take forward. all of the options and endings make me very thrilled with your writing and story telling talents! will be keeping an eye out :)
Great game i have to say, the pixelated artstyle was rly good i liked it, samoe goes for the music and ambience.
One thing i didn't like was the fact that you had to exit the x-ray in order to scan yourself again, i think it could easily be solved by just moving the x-rayed screen around.
The ending left me smiling and in waiting for more, can't wait to see your secret stuff that you're making. Great game!
Cool, interesting, unique, disturbing. Lots of words to describe this.
I liked it so much I played it through twice in my video below. I am curious as to a few things but the description makes me think there won't be answers anytime soon :)
It seems to me there are at least three possible stories going on here. I think the way the game is designed is so that the story you choose is the truth. Or, put another way, none of the options are the "right" answer. It's just what you make of it.
After getting my video ready I feel like my conclusions at the end are a bit over extended and I am assuming a lot, but that just fits in with what I think the point of the game is :)
;-;
BOI
I played the game a few days ago and I really enjoyed it! I loved all the different choices and how it could change the story, or that was what it felt like at least. It was interesting and something I had never really played before.
A very interesting and weird game. While not my cup of tea, it was a lot of fun playing something so unique. Good Job.
Well... that was weird! Really enjoyed the game! Honestly, loved everything about it! Made a video, hope you enjoy!
This is so very cool! In my first play, Laynie came to the "activated" conclusion. Now I'm really curious what y'all are doing with the feedback/data...
After some replays, my interpretation is that the "Johann" and "self-esteem" outcomes are canonical, and the rest weird delusions or rationalizations brought on by trauma. ("child soldier" I'm not sure on. Could be some of both!) I think the figure who appears at the end--and who keeps saying "please, come home"--is Johann, his head bandaged and jaw wired from Laynie lashing out at him in her flight.
The ending was SO mysterious. Like, the person that says "Please come home" Just appears out of nowhere. I wonder what happened after tha
Weird, but I loved it.
Well, I guess I'm going to go see if my teeth are from different people now... will report back soon!!!
............. what... this was strange...... very good.
That was so strange... I like this game now, these animation is so smooth, and idea of game is perfect.
i like this game because it was so strange to me. but i like strange storys.
so i am going to play this again , thank you for creating this game.
i loved finding out more about this character, the animation was really well done
It was fantastic and I loved it but also I am so confused as to what the last half hour of my life was xD
cool
What the actual f*** did i just play X'D. Its cool tho nice work!
Very minimalistic and really filled with a collection of cool sci-fi short stories. I liked it a lot, weird ending.
Very cool style! The time-skip animation works really well. I was honestly a little confused if the different choices were KrZ 'your choices make reality' style or if there was somehow right and wrong answers. I guess I'll have to try it a few more times :)
The game was very nice and very quick i love it.
Will you make any other games like this one?
This was a really good game! I liked how the different options could lead to vastly different results and how the story progressed. Good job!
When scanning through this year's edition of Famicase, "A Vivid Life" was one the covers that most caught my attention. I could not stop wondering what kind of story that art could be telling, and I believe this game does a fantastic job in translating it in its own unique way. The premise alone made me very curious, and the story (or stories) told is very thought-provoking. I love how effectively it uses the elements of body horror in different contexts, but always coming around the theme of feeling out of place.
Great work, and thanks for the experience!
I love literally everything you guys publish, keep up the good work!
Down to earth choices here. Delusion. Abuse. Tried the options that match my first idea, and had the impression they were the most believable. Tried the imaginative options and had the impression that they were just the start of a psychosis. Also, I was biased by my having played "Behind Every Great One" and assume political posture from the authors. Thank you for the experience :)
What a really cool idea for a game. Story was very intriguing and flowed very well. Lots of different options for the story line based on your own choices. Graphics were very nicely done with music to match. A really great game. Well done to all involved... :)
This was really interesting. I like the unreliable narrator aspect of it, how the lack of close-up visual details means we can only really go off of the things Laynie says to understand what is happening, and since we're presented with a choice of different contradictory explanations for everything, we can't trust that either.
I initially leaned more toward the weirder, more fantastical choices, but I eventually started gravitating to the grounded explanations: stories about domestic abuse or childhood injuries. My final outcome the first time was the one about Johann, and on my second playthrough Laynie accepted that the skeleton was hers.
My initial interpretation was that she was abused by Johann and turned to self-harm to replace the injuries he gave her with self-inflicted ones, while justifying it with the more fantastical explanations, but not all of her injuries or other findings seemed to originate from the abuse, plus she still ended up concluding that her skeleton was not her own. At this point, I think there's a chance that some of her stories about childhood accidents or abuse might be true, but that most of the things she finds are the result of previous self-harm. Of course, even though Laynie accepting that the skeleton is hers feels the most like a "true ending", everything is presented in such ambiguous terms that I can't really say if there is a definitive, canonical truth to be found here.
Very interesting game. The topic and text are really intriguing. Like someone else says, the xray machine is a bit sloppy. You can also active it with spacebar/esc? And that really can really mess the whole thing.
This game really drives your brain to having a flood of questions. Really nice work. :)
Well, that sure was something!
Obviously spoiler ahead if you haven't played the game, I first decided to pick every alien related choices. For some reason, the atmosphere felt a bit "too normal" for a game about a girl who discovered her skeleton isn't hers, so aliens seemed like a good explanation to start.
However, as much as her "aliens build my body" story was well crafted, I wasn't buying it at all. Seeing the other rational choices made me believe she was just being delusional. So I played again and chose all the rational choices.
And holy shit.
My second playtrough made me understand her behaviour in my first playtrough. I wanted to know the truth and now that I do, I wish I didn't.
...Actually, what if it wasn't the truth after all?
Great stuff!
Hi there!
This was definitely one of the weirdest things I've ever played, but being such a huge fan of The Red Strings Club as I am I had to try this!
The outcome of my investigation was that I fractured my own arm in a skateboarding accident, I was shot in the leg as a kid, my feet came from different people and then most parts were military and I was an agent that just activated myself (even when I wasn't supposed to).
Despite its shortness I found this game very enjoyable, the mystery element was there and I couldn't wait to work out what was happening. I'm sure I'll find myself playing it again to get different outcomes because some options really caught my eye.
Great work you guys!
EDIT: I'd also like to make a suggestion that might improve the game, if I may - the x-ray machine might be a little too slow to use continuously. Not sure how stolen x-ray machines work (haha) but it was kind of difficult to finish scanning your whole body because of having to turn the machine on again every single time.