Shepherd's Game

More information about the game, as well as links to my other projects can be found by visiting my itch.io profile here: https://mrvaldac.itch.io

VNDB Link: https://vndb.org/v32565

SUMMARY

Shepherd's Game is a choose-your-own-adventure style visual novel about 7 people who are abducted and wake up to find themselves in a strange and unfamiliar facility. To their horror, a man calling himself "Shepherd" appears, and they soon learn they will be forced to play a sadistic game with their lives on the line. 

They are split into two teams - wolves and sheep. The wolves must kill a single person each night, and the sheep will hold a vote every morning to execute a single person suspected of being a wolf. The game ends when only one team remains.

At first, the group is hopeful that they can find a way out without anyone having to die. However, it soon becomes apparent that not everyone can be trusted, and that there is a vicious psychopath among them who will stop at nothing in order to win.

It will be up to the player to make the right choices, solve the mysteries of the facility, and ultimately find a way to escape. Your choices will have consequences that heavily impact the outcome of the story, and will determine who lives and dies by the end.

Heavily inspired by works such as "Zero Escape: The Nonary Games"  "Raging Loop"   and  "Jinrou Game".

The length of this visual novel is expected to be around 5-6 hours minimum once it is fully completed. The word count goal is 75,000 - 90,000

BASIC INFO:

Genre - murder mystery, psychological horror

Game engine - Ren'Py

Coding language - Python

Platforms - Windows PC (2000+), Mac, Linux

Word count (so far) - 39,037  -  (will be updated daily)

Reading time  - 4 hours       -        (will be updated weekly)

*word count and length estimates are done by machine and as such, the actual time it takes for a human to read through it may be somewhat longer than what is shown above.

Currently, much of the game's artwork and sound track is repurposed from other sources. However, I am making ongoing efforts to replace as much of it as I can with original artwork commissioned specifically for this game. As a result, much of what you see here are simply placeholders.

DEVELOPMENT STATUS             DEVELOPMENT BEGAN                        EXPECTED 

In Progress                                                            9/8/2021                                              1/1/2022

DOWNLOAD LINK: You will be able to download the game here once it is completed.

UPDATE: The main art designer for this project has been chosen. They have already delivered several very high quality CG's to me, and I will be continuing to work with them over the coming months to produce more artwork. You can check out more of their work at https://www.fiverr.com/chrystarin

(Just be aware there may be game spoilers in their portfolio).

Also check out the amazing work done by these artists, this project is only possible thanks to their free to use, public sprites that I have used for my characters.

CHARACTER SPRITES

"Shepherd" - N/A

Yuuji Tanaka - N/A

Reena Seibon  - https://red-baby.itch.io/sprite-pack-female-pink-hair

Jen Hanamura - https://red-baby.itch.io/sprite-pack-female-dark-hair

Akaza Morishige - https://red-baby.itch.io/sprite-pack-male-dark-hair

Chris Redfield - https://red-baby.itch.io/sprite-pack-male-beauty-spot

Himeko Fujiwara - https://liah0227.itch.io/hoshiko

Kon Michizaki - https://star-anise.itch.io/eidan

Yuuji's Mom - https://noranekogames.itch.io/hana

ABOUT THE CHARACTERS:

YUUJI TANAKA

Age - 17

The protagonist and POV character for this story. A 17 year old boy who lives with a friend of his mother after the untimely demise of his parents. On the way to the first day of his 3rd year in high school, he is abducted and forced into a sadistic game. However, soon after the game starts he becomes plagued with ominous dreams and memories that do not seem to belong to him. If he is to survive, he must uncover the meaning behind these strange premonitions before it is too late.

AKAZA MORISHIGE

Age - 15

A hot tempered young man with a very sarcastic attitude and a troubled past who does not play well with others. He has little to no interest in working together with the rest of the group and refuses to place his trust in anyone.

JEN HANAMURA

Age - 15

A closed-off  and very anti-social girl with a near genius-level IQ who has participated in the "Shepherd's Game" before and won. She quickly becomes one of the group's leaders and attempts to guide the others to escape.  Her past is rooted in mystery and tragedy.

HIMEKO FUJIWARA

Age - 16

An overly cheerful girl with a never-give-up attitude and an incredibly strong will. She dreams of becoming a psychiatrist after graduation in the hopes of helping others to overcome their trauma. She serves as the group's moral compass and does her best to try and keep the peace. 

KON MICHIZAKI

Age - 27

A sturdily built young man who works as a freelance engineer. He is smart, calm, and very pragmatic.  As one of three adults among the group, and it's oldest member, he believes it is his duty to protect the kids and find a way to get them back home safe and sound.  Unfortunately, he also has a slight tendency to be somewhat cold and manipulative at times.

REENA SEIBON

Age - 23

A charismatic and empathetic young woman with a larger than life personality  who is always putting others before herself, while never asking for anything in return. As the game progresses and morale drops, she begins to show off her incredible culinary skills in the hopes of keeping spirits high.

CHRIS REDFIELD

Age - 19

The only American among the group, he is a transfer student from the United States who moved to Japan two years ago and chose to stay after graduation. He runs a small tofu shop with his sister down in Inaba.