![Inversed](https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzE2OTE4OTg2LnBuZw==/original/CCq55c.png)
Inversed
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In the mid-19th Century, a poet fights against time as she's writing the most important work of her life.
Poetry is the answer. But what is the question?
<1,000 words (10-15 minutes of playtime)!
Fully voiced!
Animated mid-19th Century poet/goth girl!
Choose words and create mysterious poems (minigame style)!
Atmospheric narrative (lights out and headset on for maximum effect)!
Writing and programming: Tymedust
Artwork and visual design: Alcinus
GUI and user interface: Skolaztika
Voice actor: Ariel Graham
Music: Koi-discovery
Sound effect: Freesound
Text effects: Wattson
Playtesting: Naarel
This game was made for the O2A2 VN Jam 2024, a micro Visual Novel jam with strict asset limitations and a 1000 word limit.
This game contains scenes of psychological horror.
Status | Released |
Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, HTML5 |
Rating | Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars (124 total ratings) |
Author | Tymedust Games |
Genre | Visual Novel, Interactive Fiction |
Made with | Ren'Py |
Tags | Atmospheric, Fantasy, Horror, Indie, minigames, Mystery, Psychological Horror, Short, Story Rich |
Average session | A few minutes |
Languages | English |
Inputs | Keyboard, Mouse |
Accessibility | Subtitles |
Download
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Comments
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Finally got around to this an hooo boyyy. What a game. Was a little confused by the word picking mechanic since it didn't always seem to impact the poem given, but the poems were really well written, powerful, and, well, poetic. Impactful.
Other than that though, though coming from someone thankfully innexperienced in dealing with Alzheimers, this felt horrifying real as a representation of the grief around it. And the voice work only solidified it all! Really, that has to be my biggest praise in this game; the voice acting! It was so, so emotional and realistic, and quite tugged at my heart-strings in the ending with her desperate pleas. The art too, though I'm familiar with it from some of your other games, was amazing as always, and the care taken to add talking animations did not go unnoticed
5/5
I'm very happy that the game resonated with you! Thanks for playing and for sharing this lovely review. :)
This is so so cool
Thank you! :) <3
This was such an interesting little game, I loved the style and the creepiness, and I can't wait to see how it develops. 10/10!
Thank you very much!! :) I'm glad you enjoyed it <3
Wow! This was so good! For such a limited word count you were able to convey a lot. I love the gloomy ambience, the sketchy art style, and the ending really drove it all home! I played the demo for Pitstop Purgatory a while back and its in my backlog, but I definitely have to check out Poetry in Purgatory now!
Thank you so much! <3 Yes, it's always a challenge to make such a short story engaging but I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed it. :D And I hope you'll also have fun with the other games if/when you get to try them out! :)
Very well done!
Thank you so much! :) <3
Oh. My. Goodness. This was amazing! So unnerving, and the ending...I was not expecting this. Incredible job!
Thank you!! I’m very glad you enjoyed it. :)
Thank you! :) I appreciate you playing it through and cool to hear that you’ve been along for the ride since Pitstop, too! :D
i wish i could typw my on words lmao
Maybe in a sequel? :D
I love the drawings and animation so far, I will be lookin to keep playing!
Thank you!! <3
Its the first game that I played with this style, I gotta say that I'm not smart enough to enjoy the genre and my english isnt very helpful either (at least not to fully apreciate poetry), but I could enjoy the ambientation and the voice was so lovely
Aww, that's very sweet! I'm glad you found some things to enjoy in the game even though this style is new to you. :) I'm sure there's nothing wrong with your smartness! <3
I shared the game with my sister and she seemed to love it more than I, so it means your doing things right, good luck with your game
Hooooly crap this was quite the experience. I love the atmosphere and how the story developed over the course of my time playing it.
The biggest surprise to me outside of the ending was 'To be continued'! I should've realized by the textured style that you guys made Guidelicious xD
The GUI and how this game was directed was great!
I didn't realize this was a whole series. Perhaps it's time to give it a looksie c:
Thank you so much!! <3 I'm glad you enjoyed it! And I wish you an entertaining journey through the games if you decide to check out more. :)
very beautiful art!
Thank you very much! <3
Thanks for playing! Glad you liked it :)
beautiful presentation and excellent use of the limited dialogue to further this heart-wrenching, spooky story!!
Aww, thank you!! :) <3
Sheol, my beloved.. you deserve so much more.
This game told so much in less than 1k words and I'm literally in shock. It's so good!! It left me on edge and in complete suspense. I was surprised by the shift! Now, I can't wait to see more of Sheol in Poetry in Purgatory, amazing game.
Thank you so much!! :) Glad you enjoyed it and I really appreciate you following along for the Purgatoryverse ride hehe <3
Hello, I played this game, and I really enjoyed it! Good work :)
Thank you very much!! I'm happy you enjoyed it :)
I stumbled upon this game and was immediately drawn in by the poetic use of words and the compelling voice acting. The way the dialogue flows is simply enchanting—it feels both natural and captivating.
Thank you so much, that really means a lot! <3
Great concept and art! I really enjoyed this. I feel like the last mumbling voice after the end is literally an inversed audio, but I have no means to do a playback
me too! the ending was just omg
jope someone inverses the inversed audio
I'm very glad you enjoyed it! :) <3
Great Idea! And how it looks and sounds
Thank you!! :)
I’m shocked. This is brilliant. Incredible….
Thank you so much!! <3
SHEOOOOOL.... ;u;
Conceptually this is amazing work! In execution this is absolutely incredible! From a narrative perspective I am absolutely chewing on this and watching it rotate in my head carefully... If I'm fitting it together correctly then holy crap my poor girl;;
If you enjoyed this dear comment reader you should totally play Poetry in Purgatory for more Sheol goodness!!!
Oh you... ;_; thank you so so much! I'm very glad you liked it that much <3 <3 <3
This is actually such a good game, the art style, the narrative. I'm looking forward to more projects!
Thank you very much!! I'm glad you enjoyed it <3
I really love the art it's so unique and polished. I can look at it the whole day and not get bored
Wonderful game :)
Aww, thank you!! :) <3 Glad you enjoyed it!
you're welcome Thank you for making it
Ooh, such a cool take on O2A2! I felt very inspired after playing this 💜 I would like to see a postmortem or behind-the-scenes on this!
Thank you very much! It's an honor to inspire. :)
We're running a monthly digest for our lil' VN universe (The Purgatoryverse) and we've planned to include some sort of postmortem for Inversed in the next issue, so feel free to read that when it's out if you want! :D <3
This game was so SO good. I love how you progress the story through poetry and how the words and voices start to distort the more you keep playing!! The art, writing and voice acting were fantastic, I'm looking forward to Poetry in Purgatory's full release!!
That means a lot coming from you pri!! Thank you ;_; I'm very glad you enjoyed the game and its lil' weird mechanics LOL <3
IN.CRED.I.BLE. I'm in awe of how much of an impact this created in such a brief experience and within the asset limitations!
Every detail of this game was done with such care and skill. The lush visuals and gorgeous music drew me in immediately. Then I was hooked by the exceptional writing, brought to life by the voice actor (who did an amazing job)!
When I first came across screenshots of this game, the poetry mechanic was the thing that intrigued me. It worked beautifully for the game's pacing and sequencing, allowing the player some agency in piecing together the mystery.
The atmosphere, compelling suspense, and horror elements were so well crafted - creepy and alarming, but artful and never overdone.
And the ending! It hit me like a sledgehammer! The execution of that reveal was PERFECTION.
Stunning, stunning game. Exquisite. Now I need to check out the rest of your work.
Wow, thank you so much!! I humbly bow in front of all this praise <3 <3 <3 I'm so glad you enjoyed the game :)
This is just such a LOVELY game as usual. The amount of polish is absolutely insane and the 'mini-game' and atmosphere are super on point. I love the fact that every single one of your games makes me want to crack it open and just STARE at the code to try and figure out how the heck you pulled it off. Loved the VA as well, it's just... ngh, the Purgatoryverse vibes are perfect as usual. It's so artsy and distinct. Spectacular work! ❤️❤️❤️
Awwww you're making me blush!! <3 Thank you so much, that really means the world! I'm very glad you enjoyed it and it's cool to hear that you find the inner workings interesting LOL, I'm very lucky to have Skolaztika in my corner who's able to turn my weird visions into coded reality lmao
I love everything about it x3 I have a feeling this might end up not only being my favourite O2A2 game but quite possibly my favourite game of 2024!
I just don't even have the words for how beautiful this is, haha. The overall atmosphere is sublime, the VA performance is intoxicating, and the story left me spellbound :P
I'm not normally one for minigame-style mechanics, but here they are so damn good and extremely clever!
Any self-respecting psychological horror fan needs to play this. I would go as far as to say it's a masterclass in atmospheric tension building :D
I don't know how you do it, but it's another incredible snippet that oozes atmosphere and really draws you further into the world <3
(Also, it runs smoothly on the potato laptop, which is a miracle given the little animations. Other games featuring blinking/lipflap etc. that I've tried to play on the potato in the past have lagged like crazy!)
That's high praise coming from you MM!! Thank you so, *so* much... I'm happy the potato managed to run it (LOL) and that you enjoyed it so much! ;_; <3
just sitting here gaping at my screen. WOW. THIS!! GAME!! IS!! INSANE!!! HOW DID U GUYS EVEN MAKE THIS. I'm so in awe, everything about this game is off the charts incredible. This game almost made me cry cuz of the art, writing, music and voice acting. The VA was literally gutting me and all the effects and the creativity put into this game had me feeling so captured in the narrative. No seriously, how did you make this tell me ur secrets sjkasjsakj
REALLY AMAZING JOB I WILL BE THINKING ABOUT THIS GAME FOREVER!!!!
So happy you liked it that much!! ;_; Thank you!! I'm very glad it left a strong impression and that you enjoyed it <3 <3 <3 that means so much!
Wow, I have to say I was impressed by this game!
First of all, it was very gorgeous-looking: the art and the GUI were both amazing. The music too was very fitting and appropriate for the ambience!
I also have to say, the story was EXCELLENT. The haikus leading the game were an excellent idea, and the progressive build-up to the final revelation and the final twists was really great. While the relationship between Sheol and the "protagonist" is easily understood, the final outcome was clearly unexpected, but made a lot of sense in terms of how the game is built, and it really was a dramatic, heartbreaking moment.
Great job to all the team! I'm impressed it was an O2A2 entry, it felt so rich! Congrats!!
Ahhhh Chim that's so sweet of you, thank you!! I'm very happy you enjoyed the game so much!! It ended up being a lot more work than intended but it definitely feels worth it in the end LOL :) <3
This game is absolutely wonderful! I really like the voice acting!
Thank you so much for playing! I'm glad you liked it! :) <3
Beautiful arts!
Thank you so much!! :) <3
Do I even have the words...? I miss you.
Thank you so much for playing! :) <3 I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I don't remember ever playing something that had such an impact in such a short time to me. The atmosphere is great from the very beginning and the build up was slowly but surely giving me the chills. The voice acting was brilliant and emotional, really helped to deliver the story. What an incredible little game! Cheers to the whole team, looking forward to your next projects!
Edit because I forgot to mention how I loved the poetry mechanic, it was very creative and well applied!
WOW that's really high praise!! ;_; Thank you so much, that means so much to hear! :) <3 I'm really happy you enjoyed the game!!
To say that this is impressive is an understatement.
I don't know what else to add, I love the mechanic of the poetry and the progression, the art is unique and the voice acting was very good! Chapeau, Tymedust!
Aww thank you so much Banya!! That really means a lot <3 You did such great work on your game too and I just realized I forgot to rate it, so I'll do that right now!! :D <3 Thank you again ;_; <3