A Day of Her Life
SYNOPSIS/STORY
A young woman comes to terms with herself, her relationships and her sexuality. What's missing from her life? Can she break from her routine in order to understand who she really is? Will she ever find true love and happiness? Sometimes we must pass through darkness in order to find the light.
ABOUT
A Day of Her Life is a project for O2A2 2022 jam, meaning it may use Only One of Any Asset and it must be less than 1000 words. After the jam ends we'll offer a longer FULL Version (Edit: never did this. After more thought, the short version should remain the only version).
If you're interested in more women-who-love-women content, you might want to check out this (much happier) mermaid romance. It's a full game (33k words) with one main happy ending and 6 easy-to-avoid bad ones.
CONTENT WARNING: Mature themes, severe trauma and loss, sexual themes and descriptions (but no explicit imagery). A sad dark story (but also hope and a few beautiful moments too).
- Format: Visual Novel
- Genre: Drama, Romance, Yuri
- Length: 1000 words (O2A2), or 3000 words (Full Version)
- Language: English
- Platform: Windows, Mac, Browser
TEAM
- Writer, Programmer: KatBFine
- Artist: MadScientist
Music (BGM) by Gold-Tiger
Download
Comments
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you did really good with the story and art
Thank you, that really means a lot, so wonderful to hear.
Note: Many comments below include spoilers about the story. Please don’t scroll down unless you wish to see some of those details.
This was a slow paced repetitive visual novel but I think that's what it was showing itself to be. Especially since our MC already is depressed and finds no meaning to her life due to the things she's experiencing and denying herself. It's long, dull, and you just want it to be over, which is exactly what MC was feeling. With the limited assets and time you guys had, it truly helped and even escalated how this visual novel is just a day for MC's life. Boring, repetitive, short-- I just hope she can learn to love herself through Maria's touch and break up with that jerk who clearly took advantage of MC's inability to say no and didn't even take proper care of her body like a decent person.
Yes it’s difficult when someone is stuck in a bad place and needs to change but they can’t. It’s hard to see that in other people, and even harder when you see it in yourself. I feel like the MC knows it, but getting out of it is easier said than done. That’s where someone who cares about you and is willing to offer the right kind of support can make all the difference in the world.
This was really beautifully done - I was hesitating at first over the warnings but I'm so glad I decided to try it. It's a very moving story, especially considering the limitations the jam places on the wordcount - and the repetition is so effective considering the themes of the story.
I really liked the art and the layout as well, and that cover image does so well as both an introduction and an epilogue to the piece.
Thank you for sharing, and for leaving us with some hope for things too...
Thank you so much, glad you were moved by the story too. There's always hope.
Wow. This is a really good example of how a compelling story doesn't need to be complex, wordy, or anything. This story is compelling and the writing simply communicates it.
And with the minimal visuals and audio, it strikes the ideal balance between showing and telling, such that the reader's (player's?) imagination effortlessly does all the heavy lifting.
Congratulations to KatBFine for this success and thanks you for sharing it. There's a very personal vibe to this VN, and I'd guess it took no small amount of courage to not only make, but then openly put this out.
Thanks again and I look forward to the extended edition!
Thanks very much for saying that, it's very true. There are things I've worked much harder on that didn't get noticed. But this one affected me more strongly than other things I've written, so I guess it really is important to write from the heart. I suppose that regardless of whether the story is your own or not it's best to pull it from somewhere familiar.
Enjoyed playing through A Day Of Her Life! The repetitiveness of a lot of the text really helps with the mundane life that the protagonist is going through, really reflective of some of our own lives just with different events but with a similar cycle to them, like getting up, having breakfast, lunch, dinner, then go to bed. Due to the dark theme, this isn't for everyone, but it is an important read as this could be happening to someone that you know.
thanks so much for playing the game and sharing your experience. Enjoyed hearing your thoughts at the end too. It’s hard sometimes to be stuck in a place we don’t want to be. Sometimes we get there gradually without realizing even realizing it. Hopefully this offers a ray of hope if we, (or someone we know) ever find ourselves in that kind of position.
Thank you for creating this. While it was poignant to read, I'm definitely glad I did.
I'm so glad to hear that. Sometimes you write something and wonder whether to even share it or not, so hearing it's a worthwhile read is very nice to know.
I love, love, love the use of repeated text to get past the word count and enforce the theme of repetition. Extremely clever and a very sad read.
Yes, that's the part I started with, it was interesting to explore the idea of being stuck in a bad place. The rest of the story... just happened after that. Almost something that came up on its own that needed to be written.
Oof. This was hard to read.
But still, a wonderful story. Thank you for making this <3
I'm glad to hear that. Wasn't sure how people would take this.
Just curious… Would anyone be interested in something written from Maria’s point of view? I had been thinking a lot about her perspective and think it would be fascinating to get to know her too.
Hi Kat,
That is an interesting idea
Just saw this - if you do decide to go ahead with this idea, I would definitely be interested.
https://youtu.be/u-xxiqhbEKE
This hit hard. Thank you for this game.
You’re welcome. Not in a bad way I hope.
This was a very intense game. I think you really great at conveying the character's emotions.
Thank you. It was very intense experience to write it also, its so sad to try to understand her and what she's going through.
Hi Kat
Well made story, sad but the ending is heartwarming
Sad things is hard to write indeed
I love the music and the art style is great
🙏👭
Do you plan to give her a name?
I'm so glad to hear that. I hope the heartwarming ending is worth the darkness to get there. Giving her a name was something I struggled with a lot. Part of it is a mysteriousness about who she is as we get to know her, but also who "we" are as we place ourselves (maybe) in the story. Do you think it would be better for her to have a name, or should we allow players to name her? I wonder if people feel as if they are a part of her, or not, as they play?
A huge darkness before a worthy ending yes.
True that having no name can put us easier in her place, I did not think about that earlier so maybe it is a good idea to let it that way.
I never gone through that but there part of things that I could understand, if we can relate to something it sure is easier to put ourselves in her shoes.
I guess it depends on people and their own life if they can feel a bit or not?
Friends... I wanted to share someone's feedback because it's important and I believe it's spot on. If you're in a dark place, or at risk of deepening old wounds and trauma, you are probably better to skip this story. Many will find it hard to read, and I can assure you it was hard to write too. But remember, even in dark times there's always hope. If you do go ahead, prepare for a good cry. Here's the feedback: "some sweet moments sprinkled in but ...you're coming out of this read uncomfortable at best and remembering/empathizing with story's trauma and your own".