(18/06) Update:
Note: Please start a new playthrough! Apparently the game will crash if you load old files, due to changes I made in the startup file.
New to this update:
Current wordcount: 73k
Average wordcount per playthrough: ?? (I couldn’t get an average wordcount per playthrough because randomtest kept crashing on me. Anyway.)
New to this update:
- Chapter Three is partially complete. The title is redacted because of what happens in the second half of the chapter, and it’s ~spoilery~
- Depending on your choices, you’ll get to (officially) meet at least two new characters. Fun!
- Additionally, people with a very poor relationship with K Delacroix no longer get the option to ride with them to the funeral at the end of Chapter 2. Sorry, I mulled it over and just couldn’t see them willing to do it.
- The option to simp for K Delacroix in early part of Chapter 2 as also, ahem, been dialled down. A new conversation with them was also introduced.
Hi everyone! Welcome to Into The Shadows!
This is a game that I’ve been working on since February of this year, and I’m so excited to finally share it. You play as a psychic coming into their new powers, returning to your hometown after a long absence to solve a supernatural mystery plaguing it.
Play the demo here: https://dashingdon.com/play/wynnak/into-the-shadows-/mygame/
About the Game:
You’re a psychic. More specifically, an amateur psychic. Your aunt is the powerful one in the family, and the price of it is to serve as the protector of the town of Penhallow.
Until her death.
With her gone, the duty now falls to you. Not only do you have to quickly assimilate into your new role, you have to figure out what’s stopping you from assessing the full extent of your powers that you ought to have inherited when she died. And more urgently, what killed her. Because whatever came for your aunt is still out there, and her death might not be the last one Penhallow sees.
With a group of unlikely allies, solve the mysteries of Penhallow and unravel the complicated histories of the three Old Families that founded the town, all while battling suspicion from the detective who is investigating your connection to the sudden spate of deaths in town. Will you stop the threat to the town in time, or be consume by the dark force that lurks outside the boundaries?
Highlights
- Play as female, male, or non-binary
- Romance six possible characters, available to all genders
- Nurture your skills as a budding psychic, or stick to your mortal skills to get through the trials ahead
- Most importantly, try not to lose your mind
Romance Options
Kylian/Kiara Delacroix:
Physical Description: Chocolate brown hair, penetrating green eyes, a small, sharp nose, thick, arched eyebrows, a jaw so sharp it can cut glass, and prominent cheekbones. 177cm(Kiara), 187cm(Kylian)
Your childhood friend. Now a famous actor, they hide a deep, dark, secret beneath that charming smile, one they are forced to confront when they return to Penhallow with you.
Michael/Morena Shaw:
Physical Description: Warm brown eyes, a lean build, shoulder length dark hair(f!Shaw) and short dark hair (m!Shaw). 170cm(Morena),180cm(Michael)
The polite, gentle detective suspicious about your return to town, who struggles between their relationship with you and your family and their ironclad commitment to the law.
Ronan/Rhiannon Troy:
Physical Description: Very tall. Ronan has a muscular build and sun-kissed blonde hair. Rhiannon has a lean build, and wears her hair in a high ponytail. 185cm (Rhiannon), 195cm(Ronan)
Shaw’s loudmouthed, sarcastic, rude asshole of a partner. While generally indifferent to most, they seem to hate you. A lot.
Damien:
Physical Description: Hazel eyes, curly dark hair, very expressive eyebrows pulled into an angry expression by default, rare and elusive dimples, 179cm
The mysterious man who shows up in Penhallow in the wake of your aunt’s death—with a bone to pick with the Old Families and a secret of his own.
Blair Davoy:
Physical Description: Brown skin, large amber eyes eyes, full lips which she wears with dark red lipstick, pierced ears, has a small tattoo on her left wrist, 165cm
A family lawyer and a witch-in-training, she oversees your training to become the next psychic of Penhallow. Reluctantly, but her duty supersedes whatever she feels about you.
Theodore/Theodora Reyes:
Physical Description: Grey eyes, long dark curly hair (f!Theo) and short, dark hair neatly styled back (m!Theo). Usually dressed in fine clothes. M!Theo also has a beard. 173cm(f!Theo), 183cm(m!Theo)
A law-abiding, upstanding citizen on the surface, who hides a dark streak a mile wide. The youngest head of the Reyes family, they will do anything to honour their family’s legacy.
Delacroix, Shaw, Troy and Reyes are genderflippable. Delacroix’s and Shaw’s gender are locked together, as are Troy’s and Reyes’, both for coding practicalities and plot reasons.
You don’t have to romance anyone in ItS. I hope to make the platonic routes as fulfilling as the romance routes. However, I am a sucker for romance. This idea has been very self indulgent since its conception, and will continue to be as such.
Feedback
- I would love to hear any feedback you have. Coding errors, continuity issues, the need for more choices–please feel free to comment on the thread and let me know. You can also contact me on Tumblr if you prefer.
Links
- You can talk to me and ask me more about the game on my tumblr!
- I also have a Ko-Fi account and might look into opening commissions in the future. Any and all support is welcome!
Questions you didn't ask
- How quickly will you update the demo?: I work a full-time job at an ad agency from 9-6, Mondays to Fridays. Overtime is very common in my line of work. I hope to update once every two months, as frequently as I can. Writing has been my passion from an early age, and I hope to make this into a full-time career.
- Where is Penhallow?: Penhallow is a fictional town, set in a fictional country that has no bearing on any real world events or similar systems. I set it as such because it allows me more creative autonomy
- Standalone or series?: Into the Shadows will be a standalone book. Based on my notes and complete inability to be concise, a very long one at that. There might be future projects set in the same world.
- Is the surname fixed?: MC’s last name is fixed for Plot reasons. Also because I love the name Argent.
The game is great and I loved the character interactions. Is there gonna be romantic choices that do not involve directly flirting/getting flustered? Like for example, being in denial type of choices. By the way good luck with the game 
I’m definitely bookmarking it!
Looking forward to reading more!
Also, last but not least… I’m so Team K for now. 
