Branded

Do your best.

She needs your help. That's all you're told as you shake the panic from your eyes and get as far away from your place of creation as you can. Delirious and stressed, you ask two local residents for help.

Your mission goes from daunting to deadly as you discover the identity of your new neighbours: two penguins, one of which she has warned you about. He's short and covered in hideous scars he doesn't bother to conceal. The other is tall and imposing, yet surprisingly friendly. Like you, he wants to help. Not just her, but you.

You soon realize the victim might not be as virtuous, and the villain not as vile, when you hear what brought them all here. None of you are perfect. None of you are evil. No matter how much they all deny it.

Deep down, you want them all to make it, even as your options vanish. Can you guide them all to life and freedom, or will you die hated and alone?

You know you'll fail. Stop lying to yourself.

Features.

While the game is still in development, I can share some details.

As of right now, the game contains:

• Approximately 170,000 words. You'll see a little over half of those in a single playthrough.
• One single way to get a bad ending. You won't see the ending yet; you're just setting yourself up for it. You'll know it when you see it.
• A flowchart for each day so you can keep track of choices and consequences.

It's hard to say right now, but I estimate completion to be a little over 30%. Finishing it all will take a long time since I'm only doing it as a hobby, so it will probably take a few years before it's fully completed. I'll update it along the way, of course! I'm aiming for these features for the final product:

• Approximately 500,000 words. Again, a single playthrough will contain roughly half of that.
• Around 15 endings. This number will probably change throughout development, though.
• Some kind of endgame report that summarizes how your choices led to the ending you got.

Content warning.

While I chose not to mark this game as 18+, it does contain violence, swearing, and sensitive subjects. I personally do not find the content of my game severe enough to warrant an 18+ rating, but I would recommend you not to play it if you are under the age of 16. Unfortunately, itch.io does not offer that as an option, so I had to include the warning like this.  

More importantly, take care of yourself first. You know yourself best, and you can best decide whether or not you want to keep playing.