#cer talks

Zugzwang. Chess. Love. Destiny. All the same things, really.

The King is cornered; the pieces set. You remember telling him: In Zugzwang, there are no good moves—there's only destiny. Play as a murderer, a wanna-be hero, a terrible lover, a boy that chases myth the way dogs chase their own tails. Just remember: you cannot save him, it is too late, and checkmate is all but on the board.

holy shit the visual novel i've been working on with a friend over the past 1.5 years is actually a Thing now. it's possessed me it's Compelled me and you should wishlist it on steam now while we sprint towards a Q1 2026 release date...!

[ STEAM PAGE ] [ INSTAGRAM ] [ SITE ]

CARNIFICARE. —— A SHORT VN.

a stranger tells you a story about a monster.

&&. GAMEPLAY.

carnificare is coded in twine and playable in browsers. it is a text-centric story with visual novel elements — mostly because it was originally made for a vn game jam. it's a very short story, somewhere between 7-8k words long, and features art done by yours truly. please heed the content warnings. you can play it now on itch.io.

&&. RELEASE: V1 — PLAYABLE NOW ON ITCH.IO

full res version of carnificare's graphics. open them in a new tab for ✨texture✨

the original portraits of serafim and selwyn aside, i think i gave myself about.... 40-60 minutes each for the rest of them? honestly, if i had more time/energy i'd love to do a more art-intensive game now that i've apparently gotten past the mental block of using my own art for anything. time will tell!

HOLLOWSHEART. —— A GOTHIC HORROR FANTASY GAME.

following a nearly indecipherable letter left by your sibling before their disappearance, you come across a strange village that lies at the heart of a mist-shrouded valley.

wander through a village with more secrets than flesh-and-bone inhabitants. pry into its mysterious heart. read a language that writhes under your palm. find your sibling, with or without help. try to get the hell out of there.

&&. CHARACTERS.

00    'el’.

a bard by trade, your sibling has captivated your hometown with their wild imagination for years since their impulsive debut. now, they have disappeared, whirled away in pursuit of another tale, leaving you nothing but a letter written in red.

01    noah.

the young noble who offers you a room to stay. the manor is a large, creaking place, with kennels and a stable. they speak proudly of their creatures; you hear the hounds often, but never see them.

02    rene.

the village's elusive doctor. a tired man with crow-sharp eyes, talked of often and seldom seen. he leaves you a letter in a tongue you do not understand, in words that swim before your eyes.

03    lan.

the clocktower's mysterious keeper. she keeps to herself, as do all wise people in this village, but you think she knows — you've seen it, that flash of her silver eyes before the bell rings out every evening, steady as a heart.

&&. GAMEPLAY.

hollowsheart will be coded in twine and playable in browsers. it is a primarily text-based game with additional visuals including some forms of character and scene art, as well as some mild puzzle elements and a handful of different endings. hollowsheart will be uploaded on itch.io upon release.

misc links: [ ko-fi ] [ itch.io ] [ art blog ]

don't take this as an indicator of anything other than my urge to code every time i get stressed out by things but am i extremely proud of the 1. working links on curved text, 2. the fully functional custom scrollbar, 3. the actual organisation of the code behind the scenes so the files aren't 900 lines of nonsense??? absolutely yes to all of those

CODING RESOURCE: UI TEMPLATE

a sugarcube 2 interface, coded for fun after going through my codepen and gathering up miscellaneous scraps of code. feel free to modify and/or use it for any projects, or just to snoop around if you’re curious.