i really like this game, really simple but all it needs to be really and i wish there were more games with stories like this. i really enjoy the casually blunt nature of the characters feelings. having her just speak what she feels with the hint of optimism. a lot of media tends to feel really watered down around trans things and i just enjoy the realistic way its portrayed here. i enjoy all of your works and i like this too! my favourite trans stories come from you and i hope you keep creating things （ ＾▽＾）
Oh god, 47 days has passed since this comment was made.
I’m sorry for the delay but I’ve been really socially avoidant lately.
Anyway there are 3 normal endings in the game that most people will find.
You can get them through getting gendered 100% as a (assumed) cisgender girl, getting misgendered at least once, and never getting gendered at all.
There are a few secrets, mainly a ghost that should’ve been removed through debugging and a fairy who gives you a handful of glitter.
One player once described the hunt for the glitter fairy as “one of the worst experiences in my life” so please do not search for the fairy. It has a lower chance of appearing than a shiny pokemon.
Anyways I’m ranting a little too much… I will just say that I am glad you got retro gameboy vibes from the game as I tried my best to get that/an old web at 4 am feel.
If you do/did play the game I hope you have fun.
Once again I am sorry about my delay at replying, I sometimes get socially overwhelmed and stop replying beyond the minimum once a week post on social media to show I’m still alive.
This game hit so different. I am a trans woman and relate to the struggles of trying to pass. I loved the representation!!!!! Thank you for the fun game!!!!!<3
Ah yes the old classic question of do i pass or don't i pass, sometimes thinking what if I could read a person mind to figure it out??? Interesting concept brought into a game~
I'd like to try out being misgendered sometimes and some people thinking I'm attractive some time. I think the tradeoff would be a remarkable improvement over the present situation, although I can't imagine anyone thinking I'm a woman.
Coming from a trans masc person who is intrested in game dev: I absolutely love the thought of the game. Yes, some people will misgender you, some people will recognise that you are trans but out of all the people that you pass on daily basis, only a few of them will actually care. Some of them will think about tacos and won't even notice you. Some might recognise that you are trans but they will think that you are cool. Some will judge you. But the world will keep going. And yes after all, you are doing this for yourself, not for others. I think this carries a very nice message to cis and trans people. And I think this has a very cool potential for being a longer more interactive game! If you added a few more elements, made the story longer, maybe something about trying to understand the message, that you tried to give and the character that you play as has to understand that as well, like a transition journey, it would be so cool! And adding more items like the paper in front of the bus. The mind reading idea for a trans person is such a cool idea! I absolutely support this idea for being even a longer game, it has so much potential! (also sorry if there are mistakes, english is not my first language )
Thank you for your kind words. I think you got exactly what I was going for with this game.
The original game had some parts cut from it that would’ve expanded it a bit more around the concept of passing and mind reading.
I hope some day to return to the ideas in this game and make an expanded sequel that addresses gender through gameplay mechanics again. Doing that is easier said than done though.
As a fellow dev I wish you good luck making games in the future. :)
i was expecting a game that felt like an actual game, kind of disappointed. there's not really a reason we're on the bus, if not just to have people in one space not moving. the endings are hard to get because, at least from my experience, they are based on luck/choosing who you talk to. lastly, you only replay the game if you want to see more dialogue or get another ending. the graphics were cool at least and a little nostalgic.
sorry for complaining about this, you probably worked very hard on the game and don't want to hear it.
I really love and appreciate the game you made, thanks a lot from this closeted demigirl.
OK, as for advice I think adding more mechanical elements is an easy way of making a game feel more game-like but idk if that is really suited to the types of games you make(atleast from the 2 I've played).Instead, I think adding items to the games might be really fun. Maybe the items give you extra scenes and dialogue, maybe their important for progression, maybe use them for environmental storytelling the possibilities are effectively endless. Anyway I hope you found reading this somewhat useful heehee, hope you have a great day,
Unfortunately due to my nature as an ultra low budget mostly soloish dev I do not have the ability to provide music at this time. That being said you can always enjoy your own music while playing my games since they are mostly silent.
Totally understandable! There are folks around itch who offer royalty free retro music for games if that's something you're interested in, but that said I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything lol
Got the "misgendered" ending even though every person used she/her or didn't assume pronouns.
The other ending I could get, passing, still ends by saying you probably just got lucky, and to be fair the only thing deciding which ending you get is pure luck in who you talk to.
Kinda hopeless tone and tbh I'd kill for people to see me as a trans woman and not a man :/
Got all 3 endings. Wonderful little exploration of the topic. Could have benefited from some music/sounds!
My two cents on passing: To me it meant the world when I just couldn't do it at all yet. When I managed to finally pass on some occasions, after being relieved initially, it started to become less important. Now it's fine when I don't pass, because I knew I could if I wanted to. When I got to know about cis women being misgendered based on their looks or voice too, the whole thing started becoming kinda absurd to me.
How society forces gendered expectations is a kinda awkward, sometimes painful, absurd thing and I wanted to make a game about that interaction between the internal and external worlds.
I think it would’ve been wonderful to add sounds but it used a very early beta of GB studio that didn’t really have easily accessible sound functions… Plus I feel terrible for saying this but I’m a mostly solo dev so I haven’t really gotten sound down yet.
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i really like this game, really simple but all it needs to be really and i wish there were more games with stories like this. i really enjoy the casually blunt nature of the characters feelings. having her just speak what she feels with the hint of optimism. a lot of media tends to feel really watered down around trans things and i just enjoy the realistic way its portrayed here. i enjoy all of your works and i like this too! my favourite trans stories come from you and i hope you keep creating things （ ＾▽＾）
really good! i enjoyed it :)
Hey Taylor! Super excited to play this! How many endings are there? I want to make sure I play your game to its fullest extent :]
(P.S.: Listening to this soundtrack while playing helps to give that retro Gameboy feel!)
Oh god, 47 days has passed since this comment was made.
I’m sorry for the delay but I’ve been really socially avoidant lately.
Anyway there are 3 normal endings in the game that most people will find.
You can get them through getting gendered 100% as a (assumed) cisgender girl, getting misgendered at least once, and never getting gendered at all.
There are a few secrets, mainly a ghost that should’ve been removed through debugging and a fairy who gives you a handful of glitter.
One player once described the hunt for the glitter fairy as “one of the worst experiences in my life” so please do not search for the fairy. It has a lower chance of appearing than a shiny pokemon.
Anyways I’m ranting a little too much… I will just say that I am glad you got retro gameboy vibes from the game as I tried my best to get that/an old web at 4 am feel.
If you do/did play the game I hope you have fun.
Once again I am sorry about my delay at replying, I sometimes get socially overwhelmed and stop replying beyond the minimum once a week post on social media to show I’m still alive.
Don't worry about it! I totally get it, thanks for replying, you didn't have to!
Thank you, I appreciate it. :)
I got the misgendering ending, but she was never misgendered? People called her she/her, but a few did think she was trans.
The main character of the game was trying to figure out if she was trans. She wanted to see if she “passed” as cisgender.
That’s why when she finds that people can tell she is trans she ends up with the not passing ending.
Oh, ok. Thank you! I'm not trans so I didn't know.
This game hit so different. I am a trans woman and relate to the struggles of trying to pass. I loved the representation!!!!! Thank you for the fun game!!!!!<3
It makes me really happy that you had fun with the game.
Lately I’ve been feeling like maybe all my games are good at doing is making people sad so it’s nice to see proof I can make people happy too.
I am just really happy to see that you had fun.
This was a nice surprise to find when I logged in today. It’s nice seeing one of your videos again.
You weren’t hallucinating when you saw a ghost. There are two special bus passengers who can appear randomly.
99% of players will never see them.
You can find info about the secret passengers here:
https://retroachievements.org/game/18825
I would NOT recommend trying to find them as many people have made themselves miserable searching for glitter.
Oh god, I forgot to say, thank you so much for playing my game!
Oh alright gotcha :sobs:
But yea!!! Nice game as always!!!
OMG I SAW IT FIRST TRY THEN :3
Wait, you saw glitter on your first try?????
I THINK SO
can’t play cause it keeps telling me to rotate, and when I do and reload, it just says the same thing.
Hi, unfortunately this game was made on a really early version of GB studio so it doesn’t play well with some browsers.
If you were using safari it might not have worked because of that.
I am sorry about the inconvenience.
I'd like to try out being misgendered sometimes and some people thinking I'm attractive some time. I think the tradeoff would be a remarkable improvement over the present situation, although I can't imagine anyone thinking I'm a woman.
Thank you for taking the time to play my game.
I’m not really sure I have an answer for this comment but I hope that you find happiness in whatever form that takes for you.
im not sure about the ending requirements because i got gendered correctly in all of them but it said i wasnt ? otherwise great game <3
Thank you for playing my game.
The ways to find the endings are:
Getting Gendered Correctly 100% of the time
Getting viewed as not cisgender at least once
Having no one gender you at all.
I am glad you enjoyed my game, thank you for playing!
this game is amazing. <3
I’m glad you had fun. ^_^
Umm I think I found the thing that has a 1/100 chance to appear
Whoa, which one?
The one with the girl with the bow or the glitter?
The glitter one!
realest game on this site
Thank you for playing it!
very relatable!!!
Thank you for playing my game.
I’m glad that you could find something that resonated with you own life in it.
It's peak
Thank you so much!
Coming from a trans masc person who is intrested in game dev:
I absolutely love the thought of the game. Yes, some people will misgender you, some people will recognise that you are trans but out of all the people that you pass on daily basis, only a few of them will actually care. Some of them will think about tacos and won't even notice you. Some might recognise that you are trans but they will think that you are cool. Some will judge you. But the world will keep going. And yes after all, you are doing this for yourself, not for others. I think this carries a very nice message to cis and trans people. And I think this has a very cool potential for being a longer more interactive game! If you added a few more elements, made the story longer, maybe something about trying to understand the message, that you tried to give and the character that you play as has to understand that as well, like a transition journey, it would be so cool! And adding more items like the paper in front of the bus. The mind reading idea for a trans person is such a cool idea! I absolutely support this idea for being even a longer game, it has so much potential! (also sorry if there are mistakes, english is not my first language )
Hi Ezra!
Thank you for your kind words. I think you got exactly what I was going for with this game.
The original game had some parts cut from it that would’ve expanded it a bit more around the concept of passing and mind reading.
I hope some day to return to the ideas in this game and make an expanded sequel that addresses gender through gameplay mechanics again. Doing that is easier said than done though.
As a fellow dev I wish you good luck making games in the future. :)
from a nonbinary person:
i was expecting a game that felt like an actual game, kind of disappointed. there's not really a reason we're on the bus, if not just to have people in one space not moving. the endings are hard to get because, at least from my experience, they are based on luck/choosing who you talk to. lastly, you only replay the game if you want to see more dialogue or get another ending. the graphics were cool at least and a little nostalgic.
sorry for complaining about this, you probably worked very hard on the game and don't want to hear it.
Hi! No worries, hopefully I’ll make a better game someday.
I appreciate you being honest. Anyways if it’s okay with you I would appreciate some advice.
What do you think makes a game feel like an actual game?
I really love and appreciate the game you made, thanks a lot from this closeted demigirl.
OK, as for advice I think adding more mechanical elements is an easy way of making a game feel more game-like but idk if that is really suited to the types of games you make(atleast from the 2 I've played).Instead, I think adding items to the games might be really fun. Maybe the items give you extra scenes and dialogue, maybe their important for progression, maybe use them for environmental storytelling the possibilities are effectively endless. Anyway I hope you found reading this somewhat useful heehee, hope you have a great day,
Thank you for this advice. I think it’s really solid.
I’ll just keep making games. Hopefully that will be enough.
I hope you do, thanks a lot for making games!
To add on to that, giving players the opportunity to make more decisions could add a lot but it was a cute game <3
Hi, thank you for your feedback and playing my game.
In future games I’ll have to think about how to give more agency.
It’s tough giving a sense of agency without also scoping things up and making life harder for myself.
Loved this. Aesthetically pleasing, tonally evocative.
Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
As a trans person this is very cool
Yes, I tried to write a form of a trans power fantasy.
I know it’s depressing but sometimes it would be nice to just know.
was not expecting a GameBoy game. mGBA isn't working, so suppose I'll get out my 3DS
edit: couldn't get that to work, using an emulator called Visual Boy Advance instead.
Wonderful little game! I learned a few new things about being a better ally as a cis person. :)
Is there supposed to be music though? If there is, I'm not getting any in the browser edition.
Thank you for your kind words.
Unfortunately due to my nature as an ultra low budget mostly soloish dev I do not have the ability to provide music at this time. That being said you can always enjoy your own music while playing my games since they are mostly silent.
Totally understandable! There are folks around itch who offer royalty free retro music for games if that's something you're interested in, but that said I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything lol
No worries, thank you for checking and playing my game.
so real
Thank you for taking the time to play my game. :)
Got the "misgendered" ending even though every person used she/her or didn't assume pronouns.
The other ending I could get, passing, still ends by saying you probably just got lucky, and to be fair the only thing deciding which ending you get is pure luck in who you talk to.
Kinda hopeless tone and tbh I'd kill for people to see me as a trans woman and not a man :/
Thank you so much for your kind words and for playing my game.
Social anxiety + gender are really rough so I wanted to make a game about it that was less upsetting.
I’m sorry about the delay in replying. I’ve been taking a hiatus from social media for a bit.
Got all 3 endings. Wonderful little exploration of the topic. Could have benefited from some music/sounds!
My two cents on passing: To me it meant the world when I just couldn't do it at all yet. When I managed to finally pass on some occasions, after being relieved initially, it started to become less important. Now it's fine when I don't pass, because I knew I could if I wanted to. When I got to know about cis women being misgendered based on their looks or voice too, the whole thing started becoming kinda absurd to me.
How society forces gendered expectations is a kinda awkward, sometimes painful, absurd thing and I wanted to make a game about that interaction between the internal and external worlds.
I think it would’ve been wonderful to add sounds but it used a very early beta of GB studio that didn’t really have easily accessible sound functions… Plus I feel terrible for saying this but I’m a mostly solo dev so I haven’t really gotten sound down yet.
little caesars smosh