Dear Substance of Kin

Really beautiful game, and thought provoking. The visuals are otherworldly, with this beautiful magenta palette creating an alien world.

This game really made me a bit angry at the thought of quack doctors and spiritual gurus like this, going around homes and promising a solution to every problem, while their "solution" is little more than mindless finger-painting. And they, more often than not, are just like the Coppersmith here, taking life and health of people in need, giving them nothing in return. All to achieve their own "immortality", or wealth, or respect. At least that imposter was just handing out snake oil instead of gouging their eyes out. 

At least that's my take on the game, I'm not too much of a alternative medicine type ;) . Thank you for making this game!

They all lied. Someone said truth and others stayed true to their lies was cursed. Blessed children im not sorry thou no one can ignore others wishes.

And thou are done.

What's the meaning of the  "indian-like ascetic" guys at the end of the game... I see they come when you delete all the energy lines on the back. And the meaning of the stones with the white drapes? I think they can represent the purification of the place or delimited some sacred grounds...

Really engaging and just makes you want to learn everything about the world its set!

Really interesting atmosphere and story! Played through it three times to see more stuff, loved it!

Just stopping by to say, I played this as part of Essays on Empathy and was completely blown away at how unique it is, how unlike any other adventure game I've ever played.

If there's any plan to make this a full-fledged game in the vein of Red Strings Club, know that I'll have my wallet ready! And if there's no plan to do that... why not? This is brilliant!

This is awesome, thank you very much!! Keep up the great work

its very short but the word building is amazing, and i was so quickly drawn into it and excited to explore the lore and discover more about the world.

i absolutely love the lore and could get absolutely lost in it.

Thank you for your work <3

Very cool and atmospheric. I played this game for my Bloodcurdling Barrage in which I do 31 games for all 31 days of October. Very interesting snapshot of this universe. 

It's incredible, weird, thought provoking and disturbing. The soundtrack is also hauntingly beautiful, so much so that I stood at one point for 5 minutes just to let the music have its way with me. 

How melancholy and beautiful.

I made a let's play of your game. I loved it!! It was so creepy/disturbing, but in the best way.

incredible work!

DUDE!   10/10.  Way too creepy!

As brilliant, as always. Thank you for one more gem.

Hi, 

I really enjoyed your game. The soundtrack, the art style and the creepy things people had to do to get their wishes granted. Please check out my video!

Интересная игра, приятная графика с не стандартным геймплеем "мазать кровью" :) Но в цвелом все понравилось. 
Хотя и было "слегка" не понятно, но суть я уловил :)

Incredible experience. Way too short, you should really expand on this!

Another wonderful game by the Deconstructeam. I really enjoyed it same with a vivid life, I really like the mystery that lies on both games. I love the art style, the atmosphere and the main objective and gameplay. I'm looking forward for more games to cover from your team.

cheers!

here's my part 1 gameplay

Yet another wonderful experience by the Deconstructeam. I simply love your games and this is no exception. I've only played through twice and think I've finally caught on to what the consequences are of the Copper Smith's magic. I look forward to playing again and seeing different results.

Your games are always so thoughtful and unique. It is visually beautiful and the music is great. The slow pace is just right for the atmospher. As always with your games, the gameplay itself is unique and engaging. 

Keep up with your wonderful work.

Hey!

Just saw your game and i must say, the artwork is incredible! really fluid gameplay too 😉

Look, we are a small team of translators trying to get into game localization. It would be great if we could work together to localize your game. If you are interested, there's more info on our profile. 

Hope we can work together!

I really quite liked this game, the pixel art style used helps draw in the players attention while still maintaining a solid resolution, and not having things look overly pixelated. The limited use of colour along with a melancholic soundtrack in the background really drive home the atmosphere here, and helps to bring the world to life. The story is pretty vague, but I believe there’s enough context clues hidden throughout the game to help the player piece together some sort of plot-line, provided they take enough time to think about it. I enjoy games like this, where not everything is thrown in your face and the game isn't afraid to treat the player like an adult with a brain, rather than a child with ADHD. I also liked how the player is able to see the consequence of their choices later on, a lot games Ive seen on itch.io never take this step, they give the player choices but the results of said choices remain a mystery, or they’re given some bare-bones answer, so I was quite pleased to see this extra step taken here.

Overall, there isn't anything bad I can say about this experience, it’s all positive on my end, and I’m happy to report that I didn't run into a single bug throughout my playtime.

Excellent game, that’s well deserving of the praise it’s receiving, and I’m curious to see what comes next from the devs. If you’re interested, I made a let’s play of my time with the game linked above.  

Cheers and best wishes,

Killjoy

this was really fun and atmospheric!!

Alright, what I think I know is:

Viscera is required for magic.

The viscera need not be from the kin of the one being magicked.

The Coppersmith is summoned with bloodied cloths.

The Coppersmith grants wishes (for lack of a better word) in exchange for the cloths.

The Crab Guardian grants additional years of immortality in exchange for the cloths.

What I assume from all of that:

The Coppersmith doesn't necessarily enjoy harming people, because we start the game asking for viscera by itself, with no particular wish in mind. With no wish, the Coppersmith wouldn't gain a bloodied cloth, so I have to assume the Coppersmith intends to grant wishes without taking viscera from the family. So why bother with taking the viscera from kin at all? My guess is that it's part of the mythos/religion to keep the peace and prevent people from trying to solve all of their problems with magic. People would probably think long and hard about asking for something when the price is the death of a family member. Plus, what would stop them from murdering strangers to get the viscera to pay for the wish?

What I want to know:

Are the Artisans capable of magic before they contract with the Crab Guardian?

Is there really another Coppersmith, or is this one's reputation so bad (Don't eat many children!) that the suicidal girl assumes there must be another one? EDIT: Another comment mentioned an impostor, so it looks like I missed something.

Do the other Artisans do the same type of magic?

Is the Coppersmith altruistic, or only doing this to maintain immortality?

Deconstructeam has created a wonderfully macabre and intriguing world once again. I find myself incredibly fascinated with the unique story and lore they've managed to create in just a short span of time. The wonderful atmosphere and ambiance left me yearning for more. Not only does the contrasting color palate work well with the story, it aids the music score in creating a haunting, lasting impression. I do hope this game is an example of what we can expect from their next title!

Gorgeous wee game filled with intrigue and mystery.
I absolutely loved the art and design - incredibly moody and atmospheric with a great soundtrack that works well with the colour palette. Every time I scratched up a little more about the world it increased my thirst for more lore. Characters are all very interesting and the dialogue is beautifully macabre.
Only real issue is I bumped into an invisible wall (where the Imposter was) and if there were alternative ways to walk that would be fantastic as I found it quite janky (using a track pad on a laptop mind you). Overall really cool experience.

I didn't understand the story, but I still love the game.

It's a really interesting game and I "think" I may have dug out some sort of story out of this.

Here's my channel for other ganmes I have played. http://www.youtube.com/c/Levont

Amazing game. The art is really really good, and the music suits it perfectly. I didn't quite understand the story, but it was still really cool. 

Very creepy and a quick 'widget' kinda game. I love the art though. Also whoever did the  music needs to know they're fantastic. Hopefully this will gain pace and people will see it as a hidden gem of this site.

this is very cool, but perhaps a visual novel format could have fit a lot better. It is annoying to slowly walk everywhere.

I can't say I quite understood what was going on here, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I have a feeling I'd need to dig a lot deeper than I was able to for a video, but you absolutely nailed the atmosphere and artwork here. Great work!

Loved the game, replayed like a fuckton of times to get all the possible outcomes I could. Atmosphere and the way the world is revealed is amazing, especially some specific NPCs who will give you more insight on some events and the Coppersmith backstory and role. The music and long walk is great for setting the mood or expectations for the return too.

That being said, I don't get why you can skip dialogue you've never read but cannot run. Maybe the point was not to keep retrying several times but I wanted to try to get everyone a satisfying outcome.

Kinda spoiler-ish, but is there anything to be done with the Homeless Child (not the Orphans) and the Impostor? Former wasn't afflicted by any action aside from the ones they offer and latter always disappear when you return.

You GOTTA release that OST if you made it yourself, I love the ambiance - and of course for the game itself? It's quite the gem, I'd wish to say that the things could improve it is, as is with Diablo games, make it so you can Click & Hold the mouse button to keep moving rather than needing to click every new straight line of path-trajectory, maybe make him a tiny bit faster - though not goofy fast and explain what the task is of what you're doing or trying to achieve by drawing the blood on peoples back. I don't want hand-holding but, at the very least, some lore? some explanation? Otherwise, Can't wait for more from you.