Never Play Again
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
A strange nameless game drives those who play it to madness. Who made this game, and what is its true nature?
- Short episodic story that you can enjoy in about one hour!
- EXAMINE/TALK/LISTEN/MOVE, the story is told via the classic Japanese adventure game commands.
- 1bit visuals resembling the manga aesthetic
- Original music by me! (You will unlock a music room when clearing the game)
Another Spooktober VN Jam and another crazy mashup of inspirations. This time I've started my journey from a story by Junji Ito called Second-Hand Record and the true story of Silent Hill Play Novel and its lost chapter. The game is set in the early 2000s, a perfect setting for a videogame creepypasta story.
You will play as four characters in four different chapters, each one tackling the mysterious game with a different approach: someone will go crazy, someone will seek medical help, someone will investigate the true origins of the game.
Credits
Music by Wandering Artist
Scenario/Characters/Backgrounds by Wandering Artist
Story revision/Additional writing by Derpy
Editing/Proofreading by Natasha Luna
Simplified Chinese translation by iodine
Royalty-free sound effects from Pixabay and USC sfx archive
CRT shader by Gouvernathor
Menu script by Parceload
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Chinese translation added!27 days ago
- Soundtrack released and game jam results!44 days ago
Comments
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Quite interesting story. I liked it much. I just wish there was more visual but I guess it's part of the whole vibe this went with.
Good job!
thank youuuu! Yeah, my main focus is audio but I'm slowly learning how to draw so maybe in the future I will be able to express more with visuals!
👍. Understood. Makes sense. Good luck on your next one!
awesome work!if you wish I can also offer a Chinese version for free
thank you! You can contact me at thenowayname@gmail.com with some examples of your work and we can talk about it!
already sent you~
Hey, I really dug the vibe in this game! Reminded me a lot of the Ringu/Juon movies. I'm a professional translator looking to get into game localization, and I would like to get in touch with you to discuss the possibility of translating Never Play Again to Brazilian Portuguese for free! I can send you a sample of my work in private, if you're interested.
Thank you!! Wow a translation would be great! I don't know if you can send private messages on itch.io but you can use my email thenowayname@gmail.com !
I just e-mailed you!
I loved this!!! The aesthetics are impeccable, I love the UI and the art. The general presentation is so good, and the creepy music on top really adds to it. This was such a fun little experience, and I enjoy how all of these short stories are interconnected.
Also, got to love the references to some older VNs like Pia Carrot (also I love that the MC of part 3 works at a company called PORNsoft lol... Some VN companies really do just have names like that).
This was sch an atmospheric little story, it was an absolute joy to read! The spooky vibes are also perfect!
aaaaa thank you! This comment made me extra happy since I really admire your work and style, it's an honor! :3
This is amazing!
What a cool game! The art is really good, the plot is really well thought out, the gameplay of interacting with things is simple and extremely fun, the references are good, the OST is extremely good! (Do you have a page/service where you post your songs?). It's incredible that you did all this!
I literally felt like I was inside a creepypasta while playing this game, the feeling is wonderful! I loved all the exploration of the mystery
The nostalgia is also very big, it reminds me a lot of the time when developers left their comfort zone and tried creative games full of personality like this one.
The only negative point is that the game eventually comes to an end T_T.
You just gained a new fan!
Woo thank you so much! You can find my music on Spotify or Bandcamp I'm glad that the creepypasta atmosphere came through for you!
Thank you for reply, I will check out your other games and songs. I hope you do well in the Jam.
thstory is complete right?
yes, sadly I didn't implement accesibility features in time for the jam, the renpy voice over should work but it needs some adjustments
hey its ok.
you can update after the jam if you want.
anyway,
how's progress on grand silvan hotel and other games?
i mean, are they completed or?...
I've finished planning Grand Sylvan Hotel so I know how the finsh the story but I still need to write it.
For now I think I will focus on making Never Play Again more accessible and then go back to Grand Sylvan Hotel or Metal Whisper which I think would be fun to finish too.
played this on the channel it was pretty good i was invested. really love the music as well
woow thank you! The rap on the sound illusion music were the highlights for me lol!
glad u enjoyed that lol. the sound was too catchy
This was a very interesting story to read through! The dialogue was very well written and the music perfectly fit the game's main atmosphere! Keep up the excellent work!
Thank you so much for your video! I loved how you tried to figure out the story at the end! (Edit: I also see that you play games with a similar style than this one I should check them out too for inspiration!)
"This save file is literally my life" AHHHH I got goosebumps from that very first line, such a banger opening! The vibes are immaculate with the music and art too~
One little bug that I found was a piece of repeated dialogue which was: "sick music, right?" which was after the first "what stage are you playing?" line
aaaa thank you so much! Yeah I think the first spoken line of a story should be the most important one!
As for the repetition you mentioned: it's intentional, I was going for some sort of deja-vu effect but I can see how it can be seen as a bug...maybe I should make it more clear, thank you for the feedback!