What if fairy tales dreamed of real life? Explore the meaning of dreams and identity in this 1 hour long demo for my upcoming visual novel game, "Living the Dream." And support us on Kickstarter here, and join the community on Discord. Below is a description of the game:

Meet Naleth, born as a warrior princess, and raised to be a huntress in a deeply matriarchal society. She's always felt different and dreamed of living a different kind of life. Then, one day, the mysterious Reeve visits her village - and he says he's from a world where nobody has to hunt.

The next day, Naleth wakes up and finds she has become Reeve. Living his life, working at his office in our real world. She's never been happier, but Reeve doesn't understand why. After all, Reeve has always dreamed of living in Naleth's world - and being a princess...

Living the Dream is a visual novel adventure that explores the nature of identity, inverts the themes of many classical fairy tales, and challenges what it means to follow your dreams. You might also find your one true love in the least likely of places.

The dream world, the real world, and the characters all evolve with your choices. For example, at the end of the demo, Naleth is offered the chance to swap souls with Reeve, and trade lives forever.  Would you accept the deal - even if it meant you had to leave your soulmate behind?

The game also features a unique story structure, where each chapter features a different character telling their own story from their own perspective:

A branching story will evolve as you play through the full game, with no right or wrong answers, no "bad" endings or fail states, and no "one true ending." The roughly 1-hour demo features Naleth's story, but depending on your choices, you could have two different tales featuring two different protagonists for chapter two.

Your next chapter could feature learning more about Lavinia, the Sea Witch who once destroyed Atlantis with capitalism. Or Ezmae, the Duchess of Randomness who is bored in paradise. Each character has a unique journey, flitting between worlds, and exploring who they really are.

Find your one true love, become your true self, and discover where you truly belong. 

In Living the Dream, you can switch souls with your counterpart. You can fall madly in love with your worst enemy. And you can create a queer wizard school book series as a therapy exercise, and then accidentally bring it to life for real.

Not Just Another Visual Novel...

Living the Dream will feature auto-save at major choices, so you don't have to worry about forgetting to save. A progress map automatically fills in as you play, so no digging through spoiler-filled guides to discover what you missed.  

The game will feature full voice acting, an original soundtrack, and a creative team that features diversity in multiple ways: across the LGBTQ spectrum, culture & country of origin, neurodiversity,  body type, and much more.  The runtime will most likely be 12+ hours with a script length of about 100,000 words long.

Living the Dream is created, written, and coded by T.F. Wright (any pronouns), whose previous games include Wicked Willow & The Pirate's Fate. 

Unique Perspectives

Living the Dream will celebrate the ways in which our unique perspectives and identities help shape our hopes, dreams, and fears. Creator T.F. Wright has worked in fast food, charity fundraising, and even once worked as staff on a presidential campaign. The story will reflect the lived experiences of the whole creative team.

Proudly AI Free

All of the art for this game is proudly done by real human beings, no AI "artwork" here.

Pledge on Kickstarter Now

StatusReleased
PlatformsHTML5
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(1 total ratings)
AuthorTF_Wright
GenreVisual Novel, Interactive Fiction
Made withRen'Py
TagsFairy Tale, Fantasy, Female Protagonist, Gender, LGBT, Narrative, Singleplayer, Story Rich

Comments

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(1 edit)

Is Reeve a love interest?

fun

(+2)

This demo has me hooked! I like Naleth and Reeve's characters and understand their desire to escape into a "dream." I can't wait to see more about the rest of the cast like Lavinia and Peter!  All the character design and writing is top tier. Excited to dive more into the story, and maybe create a queer wizard school, in the full game! (Also Oogni is precious and I would love to be her friend.)

(+2)

Thank you so much. I am so glad you enjoyed it. Please stay tuned for the Kickstarter in a few days!