ONCE UPON A HALLOW’S EVE
As one final vacation before their second-to-the-last college semester ends, 20-year-old graduating student Cara Lee and her friends decide to go to a rest house up in the mountains. However, along the way, a minor landslide knocks her unconscious, and when she wakes up, she finds herself alone in a dark and scary forest. Looking for shelter, she finds a strange and haunted-looking mansion looming up ahead. Is there really more to the mansion that it seems, or will Cara Lee uncover something sinister about the house and its inhabitants?
CARA LEE
A 20-year-old graduating student in college. To celebrate their upcoming graduation next semester, she and her friends go on a hike to a popular mountain. However, it starts storming in the middle of their hike. Along the way, a minor landslide knocks her unconscious, and when she wakes up, she finds herself alone in a dark and scary forest.
VIKTOR
Even though he’s only 23 years old, Viktor has made it his responsibility to take care of his two “baby” brothers. He’s very nice and always has a warm smile on his face. Viktor can be sort of a jokester and a prankster at times. He can be pretty stern to his siblings, however.
VONN
Vonn is the second of the brothers at around 22 years of age. He tends to be a grump about everything, but he does have a sweet and funny side to him. He’s rarely a talkative person, but when he does talk, it can be pretty hard to shut him up.
VERN
At 19 years old, Vern is the youngest of the brothers. He’s actually a friendly guy, but he’s too shy to show it at first. Like his oldest brother though, he likes jokes and funny punch lines. A lot. At first he didn’t want Cara Lee’s presence in his home, but he warms up to her, eventually.
Thanks for checking out this page!
And after two years… it’s finally released! It’s not exactly a spooky story per se, but hopefully, it’ll have enough of that spooky vibe to be fit for Halloween. Be warned though that I am a romantic comedy writer and it’s almost impossible for me not to [subconsciously] incorporate it into my stories. 🙂
To view my [admittedly rare, haha] updates for this project during its development stage, you can check out this link~
Download here for Win / OS X / Linux!
Download here for Android!
Download here on Steam!
CREDITS
Scripting and Coding: Ran
Sprites, CGs, GUI: erumin (twitter here)
Ideabouncer: Natasha
Proofreader: Dreamgazer
Special Thanks: sasquatchii, Godline
Free Resources:
BGs: DLSite BG Pack (courtesy of IaMe)
Music: Sinakhai, Sougetsu-on
ran writes 
Hey! I played your game and I really enjoyed Viktor’s route. It was kinda sad, actually, with how short it was. XD
However, I found an error that I thought you should know.
While I was in Vern’s route, I got an error:
[code]
I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.
While running game code:
File "game/script.rpy", line 2258, in script call
File "game/vern.rpy", line 449, in script
File "game/vern.rpy", line 449, in
NameError: name 'down' is not defined
I'm not sure if this is an issue that only occurs on my computer, but that's that.
Hi!
Thank you so much for pointing that out! I might release a new version in order to address that problem.
Oh, and I’m glad you enjoyed Vik’s route! Thanks!
Hi! I majorly enjoyed this game, I was super excited when it came out. If there’s something I love, it’s visual novels, and free. I don’t think I could choose between Vonn and Vern, both excited, with great artwork and soundtrack. As much as I loved it though, I was pretty devastated when some thing went unanswered. Who was that lady that Cara saw on Vern’s route? It (except Viktor) did not tell me if the other guys made it out. Also a few minor grammar errors…. but the game was to awesome for me to really complain. It was nice to see how much effort went into this. A real work of art.
Hello, sorry for the late reply! But thank you so much! Haha, and yeah, I like playing free visual novels too, so… this is sort of my way of giving back to the community. 😀
And ooooh, you’re free to make your own assumptions, actually! 🙂 But for me, that shadow is someone not from their world… probably someone from world where they came from? *wink*
Really, thank you so much for playing the game! (and leaving feedback too!) ❤
Beautiful game! I went in thinking I’d like Viktor the most but vonn was just too uuuuggghhhhhh. So far I’ve finished all three Good Endings, and Vonn’s bad. I was just wondering just how many endings there are? Is there something like a Great or True Ending for the guys?
Hi kizuSHIN!
Thank you so much for playing! :”) Oooh, I know writers shouldn’t play favorites, but… Vonn’s bad ending is actually one of my favorites, if only because it’s the only one that fully answered the question of who they really are. *wink*
There are nine endings in total. And nope, no true ending for this game, sorry. 😦
You can check out the walkthrough here!
Awasome game…..I dont know of there were images (CGI’s)….I read that there were actually but I only see one in the bad ending: lost forever
Thank you, Diana!
There are some, but only in the bad ends and in the neutral ends. Sorry if we weren’t able to create CGs for the good endings!
Just started playing… artwork is better than many games out there (that charge!!!) – have to say … when I got to the MC being all “I’m so beautiful” and “Guys just throw themselves at me” part… I nearly stopped playing… and took unfortunate glee in “bad ending” her a couple of times…
Thank you for your interest!
Haha, for once, I wanted to create an MC that wasn’t all nice and sweet (since all my other MCs are like that). I was originally going for a super sassy character, but I eventually switched to the default kind and caring one. I’m glad you didn’t give up completely, though! ☺️
I’ve followed the walk through exactly, but I can’t seem to get Vern’s neutral ending. Unless the neutral and bad endings are the same…
Love this game by the way! Is there anyway I can donate money to you guys for developing it?
Thank you for playing! Ah, thank you for the heads up! The neutral and bad ends aren’t the same, huhu, so I’m not sure how that happened.
Awww, thank you so much! 😊 That means a lot to us, I assure you. And no… we don’t have anything like that. You can play our future games if you want to support us, though! Haha, thanks again! 😀
I can’t too.
The route from walkthrough definitely is bad ending…
But I think I tried all Vern combinations… No neutral Ending.
Thank you for trying out this game! I’m sorry about the broken route. We tested it after release and realized that a part of Vern’s route is indeed broken. Perhaps one of these days we could fix it in an update… nevertheless, thank you!
Hello Ran-san, I just finished playing this game yesterday and I must say that I REALLY enjoyed it, in my first try I got Viktor’s happy ending and when it was revealed what was really going on… I almost cried, it was very emotive, I felt bad for poor Cara when she found herself unable to speak with anyone at the village, I was also wondering if she’d be able to see Viktor and the others again. When I downloaded this from the app store, I didn’t know what to expect, I got that it was going to be a quite spooky otome game but wasn’t sure how scary it was going to be. I think that this game is more mysterious than scary and I love that, it’s a really entertaining story. The choice of music was great, it really gave a nice feeling to the scenes (especially since I played this at night).
I also enjoyed Vonn and Vern’s routes (Vern was especially such a sweetie) but I noticed how Viktor’s route seems a little shorter because there are less choices to take… But I did enjoy his route indeed, he and Vern are my favorite characters even though I found Vern and Vonn’s routes to be a little more interesting and romantic. Anyway, I still got to get the other endings outside the happy ones so I’m still excited xD
After finishing Viktor’s route, I decided to investigate/look for posts about this (things like reviews or something) and I’m glad I did ’cause I found your wordpress! 😀 I think it’s really awesome that you’ve made more games and I’m definitely gonna check them out (you’ve got a new fan in me :3).
Hope you have a nice day! And happy new year by the way :>
Hi there!
Aww, thank you so much for the long comment! I really appreciate it. 😊 I seriously don’t know what to say… haha, but please know that you made me, and everyone else who worked on the vn, happy by sharing your thoughts. Thank you oh so much.
And yaaaay, that’s awesome! I hope you’ll continue to support my future projects, haha! Thanks again for the kind words! Have a happy 2017!
You’re welcome! It’s a really enjoyable game 😀 It’s definitely one of the best VN’s I’ve played so far >w<
And you bet it! I'll be checking your previous projects and your future ones, I like your writing 🙂
hi i was wondering if there is a walkthrough to this game’s routes
Ah, sorry for the really late reply! Here you go!
Love the game! On my first route I got Viktor but I had to play Vern’s as well because he’s a sweetie. c: I really like what you’ve done with the plot too, it’s often a tricky task to make a spooky plot in a unique way. Great work! ♡( ◡‿◡ )
Thank you so much for playing! Haha, I’m glad you liked Vern! He’s a sweet kid, indeed, just a bit too shy if you ask me. 😂 And yay, I’m glad it wasn’t too cheesy! Hahaha. Thanks again!
EEEP… I can’t believe you actually replied to my comment on itch.io!! See… that right there… GOLDEN. It means… SO sosososososo much when the creators and developers actually.. well.. *CARE* about what their readership thinks.
FWIW – I look TRULY forward to your next game… and I challenge you this… make a main character who is… a healthy, strong, role model MC who the readers desire to model themselves after, or provides inspiration (even if they’re dudes) – So far, you indicated you made MCs who were the “pure fragile waif” – and now Ms. Cara Lee who is a conceited “mean girl” with the buried caring heart… personally (no offense) both are characters I would have really had a hard time dealing with irl.
If you can make a realistic, strong MC… who can inspire…I promise. PROMISE… to pledge monies (if it’s free) and BUY IT immediately if it’s not… and speak incessantly to others to get your game.
(Not much $$$ pledged because I am not rich, but I like to be picky that my hard earned $$$ goes to a good source.)
Love. Your. Work. And Thank you… for being awesome.
Oh? But you guys took the time to play my game AND even write a comment… haha, if anything, I think it’s only proper for me to take the time out and reply, too! 🙂 (And I don’t wanna get cheesy right here, but part of the reason why I strive to make games that people will enjoy is because I love, love, love reading everyone’s comments and knowing that my games made them feel something~)
That’s a great challenge! Thank you for that. 🙂 Honestly, I think it will be a little difficult to write a role model MC that could please everyone (or… almost everyone, I guess) but it’s worth a shot, right? Hahaha. I’ll definitely consider that as I write my next personal project, Migraineus!
Ehehe, as of now, I don’t have any plans to make a commercial game on my own yet, because I’d really love for my games to be as accessible to as many people as possible, but we’ll see. 😀
Thanks again for the kind words! You’ve really made my day! :”)
hii !! i luv ur games .. it so romantic games and i really really love it!!
i love the brothers .. i’m so enjoyed it and i play it many times !!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. 🙂
Love this games so much. So kuch details and best of all, it’s FREE! My friend played this with me in november and she wants to know how to donate to you.
CHEERS❤️❤️❤️
Awww, you’re awesome, thank you! 🙂
And aww, that’s really nice of her! Please say thanks to your friend for me. 😀 I don’t have donations set up or anything, but if you guys want to support me, then playing my future games is more than enough! :”)
Thanks again! All the best to you guys!
Sure thing.❤️❤️❤️
I have a question about Vern’s neutral ending. I did exactly as the walkthrough said, but got the bad end instead of the neutral one. How is this possible? Anyway, it’s a very nice little game ♡
Hello! I’m sorry for the very late reply! Thank you for the compliment! Unfortunately, Vern’s route is broken and we only found out after the game had already been released. Hopefully, we could fix it in a future update! Thanks again for checking this out!
Hai~
I really luv this game! Its sooo much Fun and Romantic >\\\< ! But im having a little trouble tho. Idk how to get the "Vonn Route" please help me!!
ive actually tried Vern's too. I really like Vern but I always get the bad ending. Ive tried it 5 times but still doesnt work..pls help me!
Oh and Btw…
If your reading this Have A nice day!
C:
Hello there! Aww, thanks so much! That’s very sweet of you. For Vonn’s route, you can refer to the walkthrough that is also available on this site. As for Vern’s route, unfortunately it’s broken and we only found out after the game had already been released. Thanks again and have a nice day too!
Are you guys making some more games i completely enjoyed it and now i want more! The game was so awesome and i loved Vonn who unknowingly won my heart and Vern,he was such a cutie pie! I really loved this game! Please make more!
Hello! Thank you so much! We’re very happy that you enjoyed our game. If you want more games like this, you can check out some more games here. I hope you enjoy them as well, if you ever give them a try! Thanks again!
Hello there!
This game is very awesome. I really loved the story-line, graphics and especially the MUSIC.
Ran S can you please tell me the title of the music? As I want to download it. It was very bewitching.. 🙂
Hello there, thank you so much! I’m glad you loved our game! As for the music, we used free titles from Sinakhai on Soundcloud and Sougetsu-on. The links are included in the credits above. Again, thank you so much for playing!
I think I’m in love with Viktor now.. help! I need therapy haha this game is one of the best otome games, I’ve played plenty and never really got attached to the characters but this one is different! I’m lovesick hahaha, plus I wish there were CG’s for the good endings..
Aww, thank you so much, Nicole! That means a lot to us. We put a lot of effort into making sure that our characters are believable and relatable, since those are the kind of characters that we enjoy reading as well. I’m glad that you appreciated our efforts! And oh, I’m sorry for the lack of CGs! We kind of ran out of time since this VN was already long overdue, haha. Nevertheless, we’re really happy that you enjoyed it!