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The aspen tree is a tree believed to be that of transformation, symbolizing transition while having great, energetic movement.

3018, downtown Chicago has never been more lively. Technology is very far advanced, robots not only becoming a part of daily life but also treated with as much respect as citizens. If anyone is looked down upon, it's the monsters. Mysterious creatures gifted with superpowers that are easier to fear than admire.

You play as Jackie, a person from a small town that just barely has their powers under control.

You have heard stories from the forest about a certain monster that seems to be a hero to others with powers. Shriek is their sworn protector, promising to go to Chicago disguised as a human in search of a way to keep them safe.

Maybe through him you can find a safe way to blend in, or see what he's done with his powers. Maybe he's done something right to make monsters celebrated instead of feared.

With Shriek's help, you're sure you can find a way to redeem yourself for what you did when you lost control.

!! Demo is available to play here !!
!! Indiegogo campaign is over here !!



Aspen is a visual novel about looking for Shriek, since Jackie sees him as someone that can guide them to some sort of redemption for their actions when they lost control of their powers.

Throughout the story, Jackie will find out a lot of different things about their powers and how harshly they're discriminated against for having them. Not only that, but other species will have problems being seen as equal too.

It's comforting for them to find so many people that are okay with their powers, being forgiven for their past mistakes is a different story. But hey. They could be worse. They could be the people they're hanging out with.

Currently, Aspen has 4 routes with 12 unique endings planned out. There is an overarching theme throughout every character's route focusing on self-improvement. While finding Shriek and learning from him is Jackie's primary goal, they can't help but get attached to the people around them. It's important to Jackie that their new friends drop their pessimistic outlook and realize that things don't have to be like this. They can be better, it's just a matter of working for it.





















+ A bunch of side characters!



Me, Quinn : Leader of the project. In charge of story, coding, UI, character and background design, & art direction.
Chrome : Illustrating sprites & CGs.
Elly : Illustrating and designing backgrounds & occasional character design.




Rough Draft: 80%
Programming: 25%
Sprites: 20%
Backgrounds: 30%
UI: 60%
CGs: 0%

Wow, it... really doesn't feel like as much as I thought now that I've written it all down... We're all students, so we can only really get everything done so far.
The absolute latest I will release this game is 2020, but I doubt we'll have to take that long.

I'll try to keep this forum post updated as we make progress on art and design and story.



Does Aspen sound interesting? What does or doesn't interest you about this game?

How about the characters? Do they seem appealing? Who’s your favorite?

This could be the first in a small series of games taking place in the same universe. How much world building would you expect or like to find out while playing?

*bats eyelashes* How do you feel about endings that are hard to achieve? What's your limit? How hard does something have to be to give up?




You can keep up with us @koimarina on Twitter to see updates on the game along with the occasional screenshot! Feel free to ask me any questions about the game too!