Natalie - a game about work-life balance

[kenibatz]

Hi everyone! I'd like to share the release of my first visual novel, "Natalie".

"Natalie" is a free life-simulator visual novel. Natalie has an important project to finish within a week and you help her choose what to prioritize and sacrifice.

Although a short story (approximately 20 minutes for a single gameplay), the game has multiple endings and what you choose to do affects the ending.

Please let me know what you think and kindly leave a review on Itch.io if you have an account. Your feedback will help me learn what to do for my next game. Thank you very much and enjoy!

Updates:
December 19, 2016 - fixed typos and grammar errors. (Thanks Zelan!)

Download and play for free: https://kenibatz.itch.io/natalie

[Zelan]

I liked your game! It was short but fun, and I ended up playing through it 5 or six times to see the different endings that I could get. I liked all three of the characters - you did a great job characterizing them even though there was so little room for it. The art style is very pleasing as well - I liked all of Natalie's expressions, and the white border around each character grew on me even though it's not something that I think I've seen before.

My only complaint is that there were a few typos, which I have screenshots of at this link. c: Other than that, solid game!

[kenibatz]

I liked your game! It was short but fun, and I ended up playing through it 5 or six times to see the different endings that I could get. I liked all three of the characters - you did a great job characterizing them even though there was so little room for it. The art style is very pleasing as well - I liked all of Natalie's expressions, and the white border around each character grew on me even though it's not something that I think I've seen before.

My only complaint is that there were a few typos, which I have screenshots of at this link. c: Other than that, solid game!

Thank you very much, Zelan!

I'm happy you liked the game! I'm planning more stories and a webcomic with these characters.

The white border is a technique I learned from comic books, especially those that were printed with no color or those with a more "cartoonish" style. Supposedly, the border helps separate the character from the background.

Thank you for making the effort to point out the typos! I'm extremely grateful; the typos will be corrected in the next update.

[Zelan]

Oh, awesome!! I was wondering if I might get to see these characters again. ^_^ Please link any new stuff you do with them here!

No problem about the typos, it was my pleasure. c: Also, I forgot to mention that I liked being able to choose between the three music tracks - 'Buddy' was my favorite.

[kenibatz]

Oh, awesome!! I was wondering if I might get to see these characters again. ^_^ Please link any new stuff you do with them here!

No problem about the typos, it was my pleasure. c: Also, I forgot to mention that I liked being able to choose between the three music tracks - 'Buddy' was my favorite.

I definitely will!

I love that song too! When I heard it, I knew it would be perfect for the game. I felt the game and story presented an opportunity to let the player choose different music tracks, just as anybody could in real life.

[Mammon]

Nice game, Kenibatz, I unfortunately can't leave a review on itch.io as I have no account for it so I'll just do it here.

It was a fun short game (Games I can play in one go are my favorites). You made a good feel for it, just one call with Zozo a day, play a few times and work most of the time. With some good indicators to show which one would need to be stepped up, I had no problem succeeding all three objectives in the first playthrough. Maybe I'd have a more difficult time if I wouldn't accept help whenever Jennifer offered it? Meh, it seemed like something Natalie would do. I actually had to intentionally screw up in the next playthroughs to see the bad endings.

Good game!

[kenibatz]

Nice game, Kenibatz, I unfortunately can't leave a review on itch.io as I have no account for it so I'll just do it here.

It was a fun short game (Games I can play in one go are my favorites). You made a good feel for it, just one call with Zozo a day, play a few times and work most of the time. With some good indicators to show which one would need to be stepped up, I had no problem succeeding all three objectives in the first playthrough. Maybe I'd have a more difficult time if I wouldn't accept help whenever Jennifer offered it? Meh, it seemed like something Natalie would do. I actually had to intentionally screw up in the next playthroughs to see the bad endings.

Good game!

Thank you very much, Mammon! I'm glad you liked the game.

Congrats for succeeding with all the three goals on your first playthrough! I had hoped people would find the game fun and easy, but will be curious enough to try the different routes. I suspect this will be the typical style of visual novels I will make in the future.

You are right that Natalie would be more inclined to work with Jennifer. Did you also like the route where Natalie became an overachiever?

Natalie, Jen, and Zozo will return soon. Originally, there was going to be another game with Zozo as the main character, but the holiday season kept me busy.

Incidentally, the new game I'm working on will be a dark fantasy dating-ish game set in a whole new world with a bunch of new characters. It's somewhat inspired by Disgaea so I hope you'll check that game out, too.

[Zelan]

You are right that Natalie would be more inclined to work with Jennifer. Did you also like the route where Natalie became an overachiever?

For some reason it never, ever occurred to me to keep working after getting 100% on the game progress. I had to open up the game and play through that ending as soon as I saw this comment. It's such a great ending! ^_^ And I like that you don't have to completely ignore Zozo to get it - I still hung out with her three times. And Jennifer's face was priceless. cx

Incidentally, the new game I'm working on will be a dark fantasy dating-ish game set in a whole new world with a bunch of new characters. It's somewhat inspired by Disgaea so I hope you'll check that game out, too.

Dark fantasy? Count me in. ^_^

[kenibatz]

You are right that Natalie would be more inclined to work with Jennifer. Did you also like the route where Natalie became an overachiever?

For some reason it never, ever occurred to me to keep working after getting 100% on the game progress. I had to open up the game and play through that ending as soon as I saw this comment. It's such a great ending! ^_^ And I like that you don't have to completely ignore Zozo to get it - I still hung out with her three times. And Jennifer's face was priceless. cx

Incidentally, the new game I'm working on will be a dark fantasy dating-ish game set in a whole new world with a bunch of new characters. It's somewhat inspired by Disgaea so I hope you'll check that game out, too.

Dark fantasy? Count me in. ^_^

Thank you for the kind words, Zelan! ^_^

I believe Zozo is the kind of friend who considers "quality time" as her primary love language, but is reasonable enough to give you space when you need it--to a certain degree. ^o^

Jennifer has a very cool and calm personality, and it was fun discovering what would shake her composure.

BTW, I also gave you a little shout-out in the credits section (of version 1.01) as a "thank you" for helping me out with the typos. ^.^

My dark fantasy project will be posted in this forum next month. I hope to publish it just before Valentine's. ^o^

[Zelan]

BTW, I also gave you a little shout-out in the credits section (of version 1.01) as a "thank you" for helping me out with the typos. ^.^

My dark fantasy project will be posted in this forum next month. I hope to publish it just before Valentine's. ^o^

Aww, really? Thank you so much! ^_^ I'm looking forward to your next project!