Minotaur: a point and click visual novel

Could... Could it be that *Minotaur* is nearing completion?
about 2 months ago – Sat, Feb 21, 2026 at 03:59:53 PM

Our dear backers!

"Kept you waiting, huh?"

I'm very happy to bring you this update, as it finally contains a full release date goal, as well as other important news ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) But before we get to all that...

Website update

Late last year, we finally relaunched our website, which got a major overhaul. If you have already seen my post on Discord about this, you can safely skip to the next section! Otherwise, I'm very happy to share with you that the new website features:

- Significantly improved UX/UI: there's now a built-in search, the map is fully interactive, the website is fully responsive (including the aforementioned map), etc.

- Reworked design: in addition to a refreshed look, the content is now laid out more efficiently, which allows for easier navigation and lookup

- Fully proofread text, which will hopefully make for a more pleasant reading experience

- Added tie-ins to Minotaur; many sections and entries now have references to the in-game story, events, and so on:

- New content galore, plus I reviewed all original content to make sure there are no contradictions with Minotaur (or, you know, there turned out to be a couple even outside the game)

I have updated almost all previously existing entries to some extent, and added several entirely new pages, like "The Old Language" and "Aria's curiosities"; there's also a fully restored "The Fall of Kyos" page with the Sarin 12 report, expanded character profiles, etc. The Old Language in particular got quite an in-depth treatment, but (just like the website in general) it serves as a convenient reference for me, too!

We've gathered a lot of material over the last 30 years that we've been working on Minotaur, so throughout the website, you can discover new concept art, 3D models and even videos - like this visualization of Mira's transport system that we did for Mentor's route:

In addition to that, there's content that I dug out from the archives and cleaned up; in particular, the character section on the Minotaur page has been almost entirely rewritten, and features new screenshots and high-res concept art with Demi's original comments:

Here's some sexy Arthur for you:

As a matter of fact, the website as a whole has a number of screenshots of the remaining Minotaur content that we've been working on!

All of this (and much more!) is waiting for you at https://www.uof7.com/

We hope you enjoy the updated website! In the meantime, speaking of the remaining content...

Development progress

As I mentioned in earlier updates, in the absence of funds for Thea's route voice over, we continued polishing it, as well as working on two other routes, and I'm happy to say that we've made great progress! To summarize it (setting the voice over aside for now):

- Thea's route has been playable for a while, but there were some things left to do here and there, including a couple of ending scenes (which I personally think are among the most beautiful in the game):

With those tasks out of the way, what's preventing me from saying the route is complete is that we still need to outsource some art for it - primarily a 2D character animation for a key scene (in which it's strongly preferable to cross-fading).

- Unter's route is about 60% done; what's left is, primarily, an overall visual refinement, a boss battle, and a small but cool-looking hi-tech section:

- For Richie's route, we have advanced significantly (about halfway, I'd say) through path C, which is mainly set at a Nova Corps station. That's out of order somewhat, as we originally intended to do path B first, but the latter was planned as the shortest of Richie's paths, so we shouldn't have much trouble catching up on it. The main unfinished portion of the game, then, is path D, which is intended as its most conclusive ending.

That, and we also have yet to fully implement Richie's shooting skill!

All in all, I'd say that the game is 3/4 done, and we're well on our way to the story's grand finale...

SPOILERS (but who knows, really?)

END SPOILERS...

Which gives me enough confidence to set the release date for (cue drum roll).....

2027!

Two thousand twenty seven... It was in the name all along!!

I realize that, this fascinating coincidence aside, releasing this year would have been preferable, but I think it's better to try and estimate as realistically as possible rather than delay again.

Alright, but when in 2027, exactly? Well, that's for me to... not really know, actually, as there's a caveat. I'm afraid that we have reached a point where the lack of funds has started impeding our progress. Just to be clear, I'm not only talking about the voice over - as a matter of fact, it mostly only affects the feature scope of intermediate releases - but also art assets, music, SFX, etc. I've been using my own savings to fund the development for a while, but now that they're cleaned out and I'm roleplaying as Nod, pre-release sales alone are unlikely to generate us enough money to avoid stalling.

Well, maybe that's a tad overdramatic, but we do need an influx of funds in order to maintain this 2027 pace. To that end, we have a number of options!

- Yes, #1 - community backing! We are extremely lucky to have been receiving offers of additional support from the community, even despite the significant time that it's been taking us to develop the game. I postponed this option for as long as I could, though, as it seemed to me that a more proper way to go about this would be to use it closer to full release, primarily to allow players who missed the Kickstarter to buy Minotaur merch should they want to. After all, we already ran a campaign, and it's our own fault that we miscalculated the budget. That said, with the amount of work we've completed by now, I feel more confident about doing this, especially as opposed to prolonging development even further because of the lack of funding.

It still doesn't sit right with me to simply accept donations, though, so I'm heavily leaning towards providing our Kickstarter lineup of core rewards in return for support - using something like BackerKit, for example. As a matter of fact, I've been working through various options, and so far, BackerKit seems like a good way to go about this. It has excellent integration with Kickstarter, which is very important, since it's our priority to consider you, our original backers, first. This means that:

• The lineup for new pledges/orders will stay the same (T-shirt | T-shirt + cards | + poster | + artbook, etc.) and will retain its pricing, but won't include the game and soundtrack copies, which will remain the exclusive advantage of the original campaign (just like pre-Early Access alpha and beta access, exclusive wallpapers, etc.). I think most high-tier rewards will remain exclusive, too - we've either "ran out" of them (it's going to be hard to squeeze any more apartments in), or they would put additional strain on our already thin resources, and our goal is to strike a balance.
• With BackerKit, you'll be able to upgrade your pledge level should you wish to! Bold of me to suggest this, considering how long the game has been in development, but please don't get me wrong: I just feel like all options should be available to you.
• The only new reward that we're considering is an Ollie plushie, since it's been highly requested, including by some of our original backers. Using BackerKit, we'll be able to offer the plushie as an add-on for them, which I believe is the most convenient way to arrange this!

I think that, in a few weeks (around the beginning of March), I'll have the whole thing set up, so I'll make sure to post a separate update about it in more detail. But in the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions, comments, and so on!

- In addition to the community backing (the options aren't mutually exclusive), we can also look for a publisher (outside of China, where we're already represented by indienova) and/or investor. Just like with indienova, signing up won't change our release model or game scope; it does mean sharing future profit, but Minotaur is ultimately a passion project, and our main goal is to finish the game, so that's not a decisive factor.

- We could also transition into a full release earlier (for example, with a fully voiced Thea's route release + 2 out of 4 Richie's paths, and the remaining content coming as free DLCs); this would almost certainly result in lower sales, but would still get more eyes on the game, helping us finish it. So... Not ideal for U7 long-term, but again, with the primary goal being to complete Minotaur, that's something worth considering.

There are also some other options that I've been mulling over - for example, in our "spare" time, Rokari and I have been playing around with the idea of making a small game that would potentially generate additional funds (both on its own and through promoting Minotaur by extension) - but for the moment, the ones I outlined above are our primary focus.

Version control

Before I finish building this wall of text, a quick word about current Minotaur versions: at the moment, the main branch on all platforms lags significantly behind the latest beta (v.0.6.5 vs v.0.7.5). Since we already tested the new features that most needed it, such as the updated save system and controller support, there's no reason to delay updating the main branch anymore, especially since this will make new content and features accessible to more players. So as soon as we enable community funding, our next goal will be to update Minotaur to version 0.8, making it available across all branches on every platform!

And that's that! As always, we're extremely grateful to you for your ongoing patience and support, and hope that you stay tuned for more news coming soon!

Love ♡🐧

Nick & u7committee

An "unexpected" progress update!
10 months ago – Mon, Jun 16, 2025 at 12:50:18 PM

Our dear backers!

As you can see, I was finally able to break the good tradition of waiting for a whole year to post an update. Furthermore (!), this time I will actually refrain from writing another novel, as the gist of the update is pretty simple:

– The English version of Thea's route is already in a playable state, and we're essentially polishing it, finishing translations, etc. We also continue working on other remaining parts of the game... Oh, and our new website is nearly ready too!

– The main thing the next major release needs is the voice over, but we still lack the budget for it (which, given the size of the script, is quite substantial). We're going to run another sale soon, and we'll also be making one more coordinated attempt of reaching out to streamers, etc., plus there are a few other venues that we’re exploring at the moment. Say, like microtransactions and Ollie NFTs... I'm just kidding of course, but in general this really is one of our main tasks at hand.

– Regardless of the voice over, we’re also currently working on the next playable build! I’m still not 100% sure how much new content it’ll include, as a release with the voice over remains our top priority (and we’ll focus on that as soon as we have the money), but it’s definitely coming in the nearby future.

And wow, I can't believe my self-control this time, but that's that ¬‿¬" Still, it would be a pretty boring update with just this info, so we also prepared a small showcase of the newer stuff that's been in production. The images are spoiler-free; most of them are screenshots, but there are also a couple of works in progress and sketches thrown in for some variety!

And then there's this, of course:

Make of that last one what you will!

That's that for the news and the gallery, I really hope that you enjoyed the images! As always, we would like to thank you for your amazing patience and continued support. And now, if you'll excuse me... Back to work!

Love ♡🐧

Nick & u7committee

Finally, a progress update!! And a new beta release!
over 1 year ago – Wed, Oct 02, 2024 at 02:14:17 PM

Our dear backers!

A million-lot question... The short answer to it is: not quite! However, even though this still isn't a release with the voice over, it's actually a pretty major update with new playable content, features and adjustments, and I really hope you'll check it out in more detail!

But before we begin, a quick word on Ollie's "special" outfits - you might remember (even though it was 10 years ago) how we asked you which ones you liked best:

This wasn't just for show - we took the voting seriously and Ollie is now wearing the most popular choices! Here's a screenshot/wallpaper from the game - a beautiful art by Demi with original The Spire background by Adam:

You can download it in full HD and even 4K from our website!

Now... what's in the box, Fifteen?

Well, first of all, we uploaded a new playable beta (currently to Steam's beta branch, but a GOG upload will follow soon), which includes Thea's route up to its final parts. The reason we haven't pushed it onto the main branches yet is that it really does need some testing - not only because of the new content, but also due to the new features that have been implemented (primarily controller support), as well as a major update to the saving system, which was necessary because of the problems that started appearing in older saves after the game grew in size considerably.

Should you decide to bravely venture into the beta build, please make sure to check the notes below! If not, you can safely skip to the next section (about the development progress).

Beta notes

In addition to checking out new content, you could really help us with testing the new features! (For the instructions on how to switch to beta, please see the versions of this update published on corresponding platforms.)

1) Gamepad support: at the moment, Minotaur fully supports XInput controllers (such as Xbox and many third-party controllers), and DirectInput controllers (such as PS and Switch Pro controllers) are supported with some external help, like that of Steam Input wrapper. Very important: please refer to the version of this update on corresponding platforms if you plan to test gamepad support! For example, on Steam, it is necessary (at the moment) to make sure that Steam Input is either enabled or turned off depending on what type of controller you have, otherwise the latter won't work properly.

Minotaur (being a point-and-click game) actually plays with a controller much better than I expected - I was pleasantly surprised! Hopefully we can improve the experience further with your feedback. Don't forget to check out the controls help page in-game!

One particularly useful feature mentioned on it is the ability to control the cursor speed with LB/RB. While convenient (I hope), we're still considering adding an adjustable default speed setting, as well as the options to: choose which thumbstick to move the cursor with, adjust RT (fast-skip) threshold and disable vibration.

2) New audio options: the auto-dialogue feature wasn't something that we originally planned, so we had to edit thousands of audio files to make the dialogue flow naturally, but in the end, I think it was worth it, and this mode makes the game much more cinematic. It's important to note that a line pause is calculated based on the duration of its VO audio clip, as in Minotaur, almost every line has a voice over - even lines like this:

However, since we still haven't added the VO to Thea's route, in the beta, a fallback method is used, and the pause is calculated based on the number of symbols in a line (multiplied by a language-specific coefficient, but there's also a minimum for ellipses and such). It's not something that will be heavily featured in the final release, but there are still a few "silent" lines in the game (like in "The Final Lesson" ending, you might recall), so please let us know if you think the text speed for such lines needs to be adjusted.

There's also a "mute the protagonist" option, which we hope some of the three precious streamers who play Minotaur might find useful (should they like to roleplay as the protagonist of a route). It does technically work alongside the auto-dialogue, though I imagine there's not much point in enabling both at the same time!

3) Update to the saving system: this nearly drove me crazy... What started as a minor bug during the alpha-testing phase unfolded into an absolute cluster**** of saving-related issues. In short, with the latest addition of a large amount of new content, old saves stopped working properly, causing all sorts of visual, audio and gameplay bugs. Given a vast amount of all types of old saves (starting way back from Nod's route release), as well as dozens of intertwined variables that the game keeps track of while allowing free movement between 20+ chapters, the temptation to simply wipe older data was strong... But we resisted. The update should keep almost all of your progress - I say should because that's what we're going to test, right?

Here's what's supposed to happen - the following should remain intact:

- Bonus content (extras, including their variants, if any)

- Hidden conditions (such as the flower-related one in Nod's route)

- Unlocked routes and routes' endings

- Cleared routes (chapter select unlocks)

This means that, if you haven't cleared Mentor's route, for example, its chapter select will stay unavailable. It you did clear it, however, it's supposed to remain as such. The only thing that might change are the results of the in-route events:

There was no way to preserve them because of the way they were tracked, unfortunately, but worry not: they're reset in such a way as to make acquiring different route endings as easy as possible. For example:

SPOILERS!!!

- To save Ollie's energy in Nod's route, start from the concierge's room and examine all areas in Ollie's world, plus turn off the light in Nod's apartment (it's right there on the top right monitor when Royce comes up). Do not release Mentor and proceed as normal - you can also restore the Axis grid along the way depending on which ending you're shooting for. If you want to get "The Final Lesson" ending, you'll need to start a little earlier from the penthouse chapter, but that'd be the case regardless of the update.

- To get Mentor to succeed in what she attempts to do in the end of her run, simply start from her route's last chapter and fast-skip it without making a detour to the kitchen

END SPOILERS...

Richie's route path A is unaffected by this, and Thea's route older chapter select preview will simply be gone, replaced by a newer one once you clear the beta.

Please note that we'll need to reset these events at least once more when we move to the main branch!

If anything goes wrong (not how I described it above), please let us know! Not only will this let us fix the bugs in this critical system before the full release, I will also make sure to provide you with save data should yours get corrupted somehow.

Development progress

Arthur waiting for the release of Thea's route:

...Probably hoping more people will finally start appreciating him once he's dead.

Anyway, while most of Thea's route has been completed and now even released without the voice over, there are still some things we need to finish. It really is the final push, essentially up to the point of one of the ending videos - which is going to be absolutely epic, by the way, here's a GIF of the work in progress (WIP):

...As well as some of the key scenes, a few of which need backgrounds and/or character art:

There are also some things that only come into play when a route is ready, such as special route results and main menu screens and OST preparation, and we need to take care of those as well. Plus we need to make sure that the updated saving system works properly, which is one of the main goals of the current beta.

That said, we should be able to start recording the voice over for all the new content soon™, as the script for Thea's route has mostly been finalized. However, a full release on the main branch is always a spike in development costs, since we need to pay for third-party services and products, such as the VO, some OST licenses (including separate soundtrack distribution fees), and so on. So we'll have to plan our budget accordingly!

I just mentioned "all the new content", by the way, and I'd like to stress that, in addition to the work that we did on Thea's route and the new features, we also crossed out a lot of tasks from our, hm, extensive backlog, which included content updates.

For example, the (stupid) "wall of text" puzzle after the Bygone knockout is finally gone, replaced instead by a completely new set of dialogues and interactions with Ollie (a "spot the differences" minigame of sorts). Those were huge fun to make, and I don't know how I didn't think of this much better setup from the get-go:

Mentor's route also got an update in form of an extension of one of its locations. I think I mentioned it before a couple of times, but it's only with the release of Thea's route that it will become theoretically possible to leave that location for a walk, which is an important prerequisite for one of the overall endings:

These new additions are still missing the voice over, but we plan to record it together with the VO for Thea's route.

We also continue working on Unter's route and remaining Richie's paths whenever we can. Unter's route in particular keeps getting crazier... Plague doesn't mess around:

Richie's Nova Corps station is also coming together nicely. He'll be able to explore almost all of NC building in one of his paths, even train a bit at its shooting range:

In addition to all that, there are many adjustments and improvements that we've made to the existing mechanics, most of which are already available in the beta. For example, the fast-skip is much, well, faster now, which makes skipping dialogue a lot more convenient (we strive to be speedrun-friendly); the hot spots system has been completely reworked to be more manageable and avoid slowdowns and other minor glitches that sometimes happened; we have finally found a way to implement an "alternative" streamer-friendly soundtrack, etc. etc.

Oh, and we've also been working on a complete redesign of our website!

We already handled the technical part (migrated to a new server to avoid downtime in future, got an SSL certificate, and so on), and are now populating the site with content. The new version has a number of advantages over the old one: it's mobile-friendly, it has a SEARCH, we're updating its content to better tie in with the in-game and our Discord server lore, and we're also adding new artwork and wallpapers which we produced over these last few decades. And, while I'm not sure if we'll have the resources to translate it, it's at least set up in a way that makes the process of adding translations relatively straightforward.

tl;dr

"That's all well and good, Nick," you might say, "but when's the release with the voice over?"

It's coming! And it's going to be massive. The amount of new content is roughly equal to Nod and Mentor's routes combined - I haven't even mentioned all of the new stuff in this already bloated update (you can buy it as an ebook to further support us, by the way), like Remont's short story, which has already been written, and Thea's pixel trip. We really can't wait for you to experience all of it - with the voice over - and are doing everything we can to bring you version 0.8 ASAP. Now that most of Thea's route has been completed, I personally am quite sure that it won't disappoint - just as the other additions - and I hope that, should you play the new beta (and not have all of your save data deleted), you'll come out with the same opinion.

Regardless of whether you decide to check the beta out or not, I would like to thank you all for your incredible patience and support, as well as to apologize for the long periods between the updates. An update doesn't have to be that massive, and it's not that difficult to post something shorter, so I really have no idea why I've been failing to uphold my promise to post them more often like some drunken New Year's resolution. I will keep trying to break this wicked pattern! While the next major update should be about a voiced release, I will do my best to inform you about how the progress on it is going should it be taking too long.

And now, back to work!

Love ♡🐧

Nick & u7committee

Progress report: Thea's route is nearing completion!!
over 2 years ago – Sun, Sep 17, 2023 at 05:41:24 PM

My fellow Kyosians!

As you can see, we're picking up the pace! Minotaur updates - now (almost) biannual! To be honest, we wanted to post this update a bit sooner, but Larian and Todd got in touch and asked us to postpone, so as to avoid a clash with their releases.

As usual, we would like to thank you all infinitely for your patience and assure you that we've been hard at work! Not only we're now in the final stages of Thea's route (and all the good stuff that comes with it - more on that later), we have also secured the funds to cover the necessary public release expenses (such as purchasing the music licenses, for example), which is a huge weight off our shoulders.

A couple of words about Thea's route - I can now say, with certainty, that in most respects it's our biggest one yet. Additionally, we're going above and beyond to create what we hope will be some of the most memorable sequences in the game. For greater emotional payoff, we put most of them in the last parts of the route, so it's a difficult final push, but I think it's going to be worth it.

I'd love to tell you more about these sequences (no spoilers below, unless you prefer to go in completely blind)! For starters, check out this fantastic sketch of Thea's room in Royce by Adam:

The scene will later be rendered in our usual manner, but for the moment, Adam is using it to prototype key frames for a very special animation that we're making:

In some other cases, we're actually experimenting with different visual styles (and mechanics!) to achieve the desired effect:

Sometimes these new styles will be mixed in with our usual fare, since we're only using them for specific elements in key scenes - like for the paintings in Hoptons' art gallery:

Not much to see there now, but we don't want to disclose Arthur's singular tastes just yet, so you'll have to use your imagination for this one : )

And that's not all! But unfortunately, even though I'm dying to show you some other stuff, that'd be spoiling too much. What I can say is that we have, in particular, one very cool surprise involving Ollie. We'll probably be able to share more right before the release, but for the moment, check out these amazing sketches of some of her... let's say "alternative" outfits for various occasions designed by Demi! 

(For larger versions of these images, please check out this update on our Steam news page - I'll publish it there shortly!)

Here she is straight out of bed:

Then later, at a TFX office:

And then she ends her day at The Spire:

What the Hades is going on? Is it a dream? (No.) Did Ollie finally get an android body? (Of course not.) Was Ollie Nod's mother this whole time? (...What?) Time will tell! For the moment, let us know which variants of her outfits you like best!

And now, a short FAQ about less crazy things (some of which I mentioned in our previous update):

- Whatever happened to 0.7.5 beta release?

SOME MINOR SPOILERS BELOW!

We're quite happy with how the middle part of Thea's route turned out! The "ducts" section in particular is a very atmospheric affair:

SPOILERS END HERE (and they were really minor, honestly)

The part, however, turned out to be quite big, which has its implications. First, we only just recently, after a couple of sales, managed to secure the music rights for it (it has 9 (!) music tracks in it, including 2 full songs). Second, it covers Thea's route up to a very late point - it's a decent break off point, but I'm sure that stopping at it will later muddle the impression from the route as a whole, especially since saving in it is still disabled (we'll only be able to activate it once the route is finished). It's somewhat like if we'd released Nod's route up to the moment when he climbed the stairs - you know which ones.

So we're a bit on the fence about how to proceed with it. We feel pretty confident about its quality, and that it doesn't require extensive testing on its own, but some other features (such as controller and Steam Deck support - see below) would certainly benefit from a larger sample of devices, and perhaps it makes sense to roll these things out in one package. In any case, we'll decide soon enough and I promise to keep you updated!

- There was also some talk about adding a short illustrated story as a reward for collecting cards...

Absolutely, this bonus content is in development and will be present in the next release. We continue adding cards - we're up to #14 so far:

And since it costs 8 cards to hear a part of the story, and it's quite possible that, with Thea's route, the total will reach 16, you'll likely be able to enjoy 2/3 of it (provided you're into collecting cards in the first place, of course).

By the way, another thing worth noting is that, because of the resulting size of Thea's route, we have further increased the number of artworks (and therefore skits) and music tracks in the corresponding extras sections.

- Alright... Then what about controller support?

Yes! Yes to controller support, which has been masterfully implemented by Rokari! That irritating placeholder is finally gone from the controls modal:

By the way, the amazing customized Ollie-themed gamepad can be yours for only $999:

(The ears rise up when you touch the thumbsticks.)

Furthermore! Not only that, but Minotaur will also (again, thanks to Rokari) be Steam Deck verified! Take the game with you wherever you go and let people around you hear what you think about its developers after reaching the endings of Thea's route.

Any there any more question? No? Well, in that case, thank you so much for your attention, and I think it's time to wrap this up. I'll be going the...

Memes aside, I wish I could tell you... We were previously hoping to finish the game this year, but as you can see, we're clearly spilling over into the next one. That said, the silver linings are:

- What we're doing right now is one of the hardest part of the game (in terms of development, except probably for the overall ending) - after it, things will get easier... Or that's what we keep telling ourselves.

- Unter's route is shorter than the rest (which doesn't in any way interfere with it being the badassest), and in addition to that, we've been chipping away at it for a while now, so the wait between Unter and Thea's routes will be the shortest one yet

- Richie's route paths B and C also inspire hope: path B is quite compact (yet impactful), and for path C, most of the scenes have already been modelled. We'll probably bundle path B together with Unter's route, and paths C and D of Richie's route will be released as the final update.

So as you can see, for the moment it's crucial that we get through this final part of Thea's route - we're doing our best to finish it as soon as possible, and will hopefully be able to announce its release window to you soon™!

In the meantime... Please wait for Thea, because she's absolutely worth waiting for.

Love,

Nick and u7committee

Finally!! A yearly update (at the eleventh hour)!
over 3 years ago – Sat, Dec 31, 2022 at 07:57:58 AM

Our dear backers!

First of all, I apologize for not bringing a major update to you sooner... Regardless of how hard we've been working, it's indisputable that we should post updates about it more often, so let this be our New Year's resolution! In the meantime, while the main dish - Thea's route in its entirety - is still being cooked (in a crock-pot, apparently), please allow me to bring you up to speed on our overall progress.

1) We aim to release our next major update, 0.7.5, in February next year! Here's what it will include:

- An extended demo of Thea's route, which will cover 2/3 of the route. Not necessarily for playing, but definitely a solid evidence that we're getting there with its full release! More info on the progress on Thea's route below...

- Richie's route path A will move from beta to main branches (and will also get a Mac release)! A refresher about it: Richie's route is split into 4 alternative paths, which take place after different endings of Nod's route, or a combination of endings of several routes. Path A, in particular, happens after Nod's route "To Be With Her Again" ending, and it's entirely self-contained, which makes a safer bet for playing than the demo of the unfinished Thea's route. Here are a couple of screenshots from it (nothing too spoilery, of course):

Just like Thea's route, though, it still doesn't have the voice over, but if that doesn't deter you (and if you're on Windows), you can actually play it right now by switching to the beta branch - I will leave more detailed instructions on how to do that in the versions of this update published on corresponding platforms.

- A bunch of major quality of life improvements, including some highly requested ones, such as (drum roll) automatic dialogue!

- An update to chapter select screen, which will make discovering different endings and extras easier, among other things. It's pretty important, but I don't want to make this post longer than it already is, so I'll talk about the chapter select screen in more detail in the next update!

2) Speaking of new features and our development effort in general - our small committee has recently grown! We had a wonderful new member - Rokari - join us, which not only lets us work faster all in all, but, with the help of his programming expertise, allows us to add more quality of life features to the game, such as auto-dialogue mentioned above, as well as controller support and - who knows! - maybe even a dialogue log... The list is long, and we obviously want to bring you new content as soon as possible, so we're very happy to have Rokari on board!

3) And finally, about the progress on Thea's route... Oh, Thea, Thea!

Your route is turning out to be long and ambitions. All characters take part...

There are several cinematics...

And even musical numbers!

Also, Thea's skill has been a major pain to implement, since it essentially requires a new scene for every place she can use it in, but it allows us to take a fresh look at some familiar locations...

...as well as integrate several cool (we hope) puzzles and story moments. It all builds towards a very satisfying emotional payoff - or payoffs, to be precise, since Thea's route will have multiple very different endings; I can't tag the spoilers here on Kickstarter, but I'll mention how many, exactly, in other versions of this update (on other platforms). All varying degrees of bad, of course, as is tradition.

To be honest, I think the task of completing all of this would have been insurmountable without your continued support... Not to mention that it was your help in the first place that let us get this far! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your amazing patience, and while it's not clear whether we'll be able to finish the game entirely by the end of 2023, we'll do our utmost best to bring you at least 2 new routes next year! In that February update that I mentioned earlier, we should be able to pretty accurately™ estimate the final release date for Thea's route, and we really hope that you'll be looking forward to it.

Love,

 Nick & u7committee