Lullaby
A downloadable game
- Premise -
When Haru was 5 years old, she woke up in the middle of the woods. Without any previous memories, all alone. The only things she remembers are her first name and a song - a lullaby that's stuck in her head.
One night, 10 years later, she awakens to the sound of the familiar song being sung and follows it, into the town near the orphanage she lives in. But when she gets there, the town is... changed. Not like Haru remembers.
And when she tries to leave, she can't.
The main objective of this game is to get back to the orphanage and try to get Haru's memories back along the way.
You are born a blank canvas. Ready to be painted - and tainted. After all, memories make you who you are. You are born without opinions, fears, aspirations and dreams. Only living life, making memories forms you, molds you.
But... what if, one day... you lost them?
... Who are you then?
- People Helping Me -
Art: niwa
Music: Shisu
- About the game -
Lullaby is a mystery/horror game.
Gameplay will primarily involve solving puzzles and has an emphasis on exploration.
It features:
► 1 hour - 1 ½ hours of gameplay
► Custom Art
► Custom Character Sprites
► Some Original Music Pieces
- Before playing the game -
Please make sure to install the font Asparagus Sprouts (you can find it in the folder Fonts) before launching the game. If you have launched the game without installing the font, please close the game, install the font and then launch it again.
- Some Notes -
Lullaby is my very first try at making a horror game (Or, well, any game at all), using RPG Maker VX Ace.
I am a huge fan of many other RPG-Maker horror games - and I am determined to make a decent good one myself.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Thank you!Jun 10, 2021
- Thank you for your support (and bug reports)!May 26, 2021
- Lullaby Available For DownloadMay 25, 2021
Comments
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Your game dosen't install with the itch.io app, think you need to set Platforms to Windows and maybe some download specific settings.
Sorry for replying so late, I wasn't active for a while.
I am not sure if RPG Maker games can be played via the itch.io app, since it is usually something you play on PC.
Alternatively, you can open this page in your phone's browser, download the file and play the game with another app.
Hope that works!I love the story and the art. The puzzles are fairly easy to solve, good for those who focus on the story. Maybe it can be added an alternative ending to the story that tells more deeply about the characters who have not been told about the relationship or problems with the main character. I made the gameplay on Youtube, you can watch it if you want.
Sorry for the late reply, real life has been kinda crazy.
Thank you so much for your comment and let's play - and thank you for the feedback. It alwas helps a lot!
Tragic and in some way sad...or better said touching. Well made game though - or because.
Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed it ;;
Just finished playing this, I really liked it! Geat job :D
I am so glad to hear that! Thank you for playing my game.
hi devloper your game look good but i can't download.
Hi! Thank you. Can you tell me what exactly isn't working?
Aaah thank you for playing my game!
my playthrough of the game. Loved it!
Aw, thank you for the video :) I am so happy you enjoyed my game!
I just finished playing the game,and I loved it!
Got stuck for about 20 minutes on the part where you need to touch the radio and 20 minutes for the code,but the rest of the game went smoothly.
The game itself it's pretty short and there's not a lot of actual gameplay,maybe adding more interactions with objects that unlock other memories that might bring you to an alternate ending or something like that,I found the story really interesting and original and I loved the underatle easteregg too! XD
Even if it's your first game is really well made.
Aaaah thank you so much for playing my game! And I am super glad you liked it.
Sorry that you got stuck, I will keep in mind that my next game should have more hints. The last thing I want is people getting frustrated by my games.
And that is actually a great idea! Unlocking memories by interacting with objects would have made the experience much more satisfying!
To me gameplay (puzzles etc) was a lot harder for me to do than telling a story, so I know that that is something I need to work on.
Thank you so much for your feedback, it really helps me a lot. Seeing as this is my first game, it can only get better from here on out haha :)
Is there a way to put the game in full screen? cant find a way to do it.
If you open the game and then press Alt + Enter, it should launch in full screen.
I tried that but in OBS it looks really small.
I don't think that has anything to do with the game, but with OBS itself. You should be able to adjust the size of the window in the program.
I haven't used OBS in a while, but I think if you click on the preview window, there should be an option to adjust the size and position of the recording.
Thank you
strangely enough i can't download the game... it just doesnt come up as a successful download file (I have a windows btw)
(So sorry for the late response!) Maybe that's a dumb question, but have you tried just downloadng it again? Other than that I am not sure what it could be, sorry.
I've tried but it doesn't even come up with a place to install it. Like usually it has an option for a place where the download folder will go once its downloaded but nothing comes up.
Oh well no big deal :)
After seeing the costume move and the bleeding skeleton I just don't want to go to the hallway between the two houses where there were strange eyes 😭😭🤣 but yeah this is so cooool I still love it
Sorry not sorry? I am glad the scares had their intended effect haha.
Thank you so much!
Really good!
Waiting for more!
I am beginning to work on another project. No clue when that is going to be finished though.
Excellent! :D
Awww thank you!
You're welcome!
*WHEEZE*
Sorry, couldn't resist haha.
Hey I just wanna say that this is the best of all, I love it but I'm kinda stuck when Haru should distracted the Miss to take the key. How should we do ?
I'm stuck there too, did you ever figure it out
I mean... I don't want to give too much away.
Just a tip: If something fails, don't try it over and over again, try interacting with something else.
And if worst comes to worst there are a lot of playthroughs posted in this comment section (if you want to, I can also link one).
And thank you for playing my game!
This game was sad as frick :_< very well written and put together and it gives me some IB vibes (a little), I love it so much ^_^
Thank you so much! ;;;
This is such a huge compliment, I adore Ib.
I love this game! i love all the details,the art style,the history and everything! this game is sooo underrated !!!!!
(sorry for any mistake in my wrinting,english is not my first language
Aaah, this means so much to me, I am glad to hear that. Thank you!
(No problem, English isn't my first language either.)
Lullaby(A Familiar Melody)
Review at the end of the video.
Thank you for playing my game!
And also thank you for the video, it really means a lot.
NICE GAME, I LOVE THIS GAMEEEE
Thank you so much! :)
It's up to interpretation ;)
(But in my mind once Haru settled in with her great-cousin, she contacted Max.)
Okay :)
hey, I enjoyed making a video on this game, however, I do have criticism. Here it is:
-there is no point in being able to go outside in the first part if you can't interact with anything
=the story was okay, I liked the element of using the characters the way you did but, I didn't expect it to turn into a family drama
-the puzzles were repetitive, there was a lot of running around and a lot of space to do it to the point where I think the environment could have been condensed
-the high school was really big and not a lot happening there
-there were about four scary moments and there could have been a bit more content in that department
-I feel like a lot of the shops could have been utilized for some more unique puzzles ie. making a music puzzle in the music room because
=there is only one puzzle in the game and that's Alice is Wonderland, the rest is passwords, asking the same guy things, and running around collecting things
-there were a lot of locked doors and things that didn't need opening ie. the principal's office, the librarian's file cabinet, not the lockers but, things that stood out
- how did she become unmute when she woke up? How did the brother-in-law know there were keys down an alleyway? how did no one notice a kid passed out in the middle of a parking lot before they started looking for her?
=I think the singing triggered this reaction but it was never really explained why this day, what is the significance, why didn't this happen sooner?
-what would've happened if someone didn't charge or take their phone? or if they never discovered the pen and paper? I guess it's my fault for not exploring these options myself so, I take it on myself for that.
=the purpose of the phone was one 'scary' text where your phone glitches out, the flashlight, and being out of service.
I don't mean to crack down on this so much but, these are just some things that I realized about the game while I was playing it, and if it were only 1-4 things it would be different. The art and music were nice, the characters were themselves throughout the story, the depictions of mental illness were well done, and I loved loved loved the coloring book segment it was my favorite part.
I know you worked on this game yourself and I encourage you to keep putting things out there that you want to do. Despite all my criticisms, I wouldn't call this a bad or even mediocre game. It had its charm and I can tell a lot of effort and work was put into it. Sorry if this was a read.
Hi there!
First of all, thank you for the criticism. It's incredibly helpful and will assist me with future projects for sure!
Also, thank you for taking the time to type this all out (not to mention make a video about it).
I might have mentioned it before, but I did get carried away while mapping for this game. The result are maps/locations that don't really serve much of a purpose, houses and rooms - like the school - that are too big and a lot of locked doors. That is definitely something I have to work on - I need to find a good balance between having things to explore but also not having too many things that are unnecessary. Same with items such as the phone.
I am glad you liked the story! To be honest, the game play was mostly just used as a tool to get this story told, which is also why the puzzles are so mediocre (if you can even call them puzzles). I do think I need to work a lot on becoming better at thinking of puzzles, so I completely agree with you on that front.
Another thing that a lot of people have already told me is that I should work more on creating tension - by creating a danger/threat, opportunities to die basically and as you put it "scary moments". That is also something I need to get better at.
Getting into spoiler territory here:
My intention was that Haru's headaches that she was talking about in the beginning of the game, show that she is slowly beginng to remember.
Basically the whole game is just in her head. There is no one singing, the town isn't really cut off and empty. There is nothing supernatural happening.
It is basically Haru's brain's way of getting her memories back (I know, that's super cliche). That is why a lot of things in the town don't make sense and seem very surreal, that is why people know things they shouldn't and why looking in a mirror reverses a tape.
To be fair, you made a very good point. That does not explain why she was just laying passed out in the middle of a street and no one called the hospital or anything. Cause that bit was set in reality.
If you didn't have the phone, basically nothing would have changed. I mean there wouldn't have been a glitch jumpscare but that's it. (Like I said, in retrospect the phone is kinda useless.)
And you can get pen and paper in the school if you didn't pick it up in the orphanage.
Don't worry, like I said, this kind of feedback (while admittibly hard to hear) is exactly what I need to improve and grow as a creator!
It is incredibly helpful, so I am really grateful for your critique.
This will not deter me from making more games in the future, it's the opposite actually, it makes me want to continue so I can improve and experiment and continue developing games.
I’m glad you took it so well. Thank you for typing your response. I was originally nervous about posting so many critiques because I didn’t want to offend anyone. This calmed my nerves a bit.
I can’t wait to see any future games you might potentially work on!
Aw, no you didn't offend me at all. I could tell you were just trying to share your thoughts, and like I said, I appreciate the criticism a lot.
Thank you!
great art love the story :)
Thank you, that means a lot! :3
Interesting little game, loved the story and the puzzles
Thank you so much for playing my game!
I am glad you had a good time.
Your game is amazing. I love your story and drawings. I'm looking to translate your game into Korean.
Please replied me if you are interested. Thank you!
Aaah, thank you so much! Though, the art was drawn by my friend Niwa (she is linked on the game page).
Thank you so much for your offer, however would that require me sending you all my files etc? Because I am not sure I am comofrtable with that.
I love it, very atmospheric and rather interesting since you can interact with a lot of stuff. Can't wait to finish it~
Though I must say there's too much lighting for a low end computer to handle.
I am glad to hear you enjoyed yourself so far. Tank you for playing my game!
I really enjoyed your let's play, I can't wait for part 2.
That is kind of weird, because I have a low end laptop and I am not having any problems running it. I'll try to look into it! Maybe I can find a solution.
Just saying, when you install the font, you do have to restart the game, like you said in the video. That is why the text is cut off in your video. (See how the font for the menu is different? That is the font the text is supposed to have).
It is how it is with any software, if you have updated it/changed something, you have to close and re-open it for those changes to be "activated".
Yeah it's just old graphic card issues. Also I'm recording （ﾉ´д｀）
Yep, very atmospheric that I scream when someone appears :u
Either way it lacks the volume control but that's all, everything else is awesome!!! Your first game??? APPROVED
Though I kinda wish to have more interactions with the orphanage kids~
but oh well~
are you make this game with solo? it's nice :"
Yeah, I made this game all by myself (except for the art). Thank you!
i really like this game it was very fun i thought that haru was a ghost or something the ending was very sad
Thank you, that means a lot!
I am glad the ending had its intended effect.
Is this game available in spanish?
Sorry, no. I only speak German and English (and French if you squint) so it is unlikely that it will get a Spanish translation.
Is this game avaible for mobile devices?
Lullaby is an RPG Maker Game, intended for playing on a PC. But while the game is not made for mobile devices, there is a way to play it on your phone.
I found a youtube video that explains how to play RPG Maker games on your phone:
Though to be fair, I haven't tried that myself, so I don't know how good it works. But I maybe you can give it a shot?
Thank you
I really like this game the story was very compelling and kept you guessing till the end I kind of thought that Haru was a ghost stuck in purgatory.
I also loved that the music wasn't playing all the time and wasn't too loud as it really added to the atmosphere.
I hope you will make more games as I will definately play them.
My video walkthrough
Thank you for playing my game! I am so glad to hear that you liked it.
I am so happy to hear that! The atmosphere was really important to me, so I am glad it had its intended effect.
I am looking forward to seeing you on any of my future games!
Made a short review of the game its pretty fun and i do understand the bugs in rpg maker engine since i also develop games in there but overall the game is really spot on i love how you notice all of the attention to detail like washing hands and taking a bath even if its a small difference it lands a big impact to the game it just means you did't leave every tilesets hanging very well done
little minor things tho
maybe adding a much more loader footstep sounds next time or a slight tone of bgm in every place since the game is relatively silent in terms of atmosphere
Thank you for the review!
And also thank you so much for reccomending it. I am glad that you think my game is enjoyable.
I am glad you appreciated the little things I put in Lullaby, I really like making a lot of things interactable.
The footsep sounds are a little quiet because I didn't want them to overwhelm the player, sorry if that in turn made them too hard to hear! I need to be more careful with that, your feedback is really helpful with that.
Every place/room does have BGM/BGS except for the library (well and during the big reveal at the end) which I thought made sense since it's always quet in a library.
Maybe they were hard to hear? I will defnitely keep the volume in mind for the future!
One last thing: seeing the video I do have to say - and I have mentioned that before (it's even on the game page) - I think you didn't install the font "Asparagus Sprouts" before launching the game., so the text is cut off sometimes. That has happened to a few people sadly, and it is pretty easy to fix, just wanted to let you know.
Again, thank you for playing Lullaby, and thank you for the feedback!
hello thanks for the reply :D yes i manage to use the font in the game off cam its really fun i do however want to see a longer version in the near future
Haha, stay tuned. I learned a lot while making Lullaby, so my next game will probably be better. (and longer)
Well, seeing that the one issue I had got fixed, I can safely say the game's fairly interesting. not bad for a first try. I'd suggest putting in some lore within the game about Haru prior to her accident. That would allow you to create a normal and good ending where you have to find all the lore to unlock the good ending. That's my two cents anyways.
Here's my channel for other games I have played. http://www.youtube.com/c/Levont
Thank you so much for playing my game and thank you for the feedback! It's really helpful.
(Just a small note: From what I can see in the video, you didn't install the font correctly. If you have the game already openened and install the font while it is open still, it won't work. You'd need to restart the game. That is why a lot of the text is cut off in your video. If you opened the game now, it would work fine cause you have the font installed now.)
That is a really good point, in retrospect there should have been more hints/information about Haru's past before the "big reveal". I will defintely keep that in mind for my next project for sure.
Multiple endings are a good idea, but since it was my first game, I thought it was a bit too ambitious to go for multiple endings. But any future game might have more than one ending.
As to what you said in the video: I am really glad you liked the atmosphere! That was very important to me.
Once again, you bring up a good point. I really should put some sort of danger/something to cause more tension in my future projects. Like you said, a monster (for example). Or an antagonist or Witch's House style deaths.
Oh my gosh, thank you so much for the playing my game (and for posting a playthrough)!
Also thank you for the feedback. I think I kinda overdid it with the "exploration" bit of the game and made too many maps. That is defenitely something I am going to keep in mind for my next one.
And thank you for letting me know about the bug! I am going to fix that immediately.
Edit: The bug has been fixed!