The Mouse

This is a shortish alt-game about bullying and abusive relationships. It is illustrated with various hand-drawn illustrations.

You play as a character who is in a sort of abusive relationship, and who doesn't fit in. You have to deal with this relationship and how it affects the rest of your life. It can get intense, with some strong profanity.

It gave me a good sense of the emotion involved in the game, but it felt like it could use more polish.

I'd like to commend the use of art here. It is simple and not very anatomical but that's FINE. I think it adds to the story, giving a warm, emphatic sense to the world. I think a mistake people sometimes do, both when judging their own art and when judging others in illustrated mediums is that they judge the art separate from the writing, when visual art intended to be presented on its own and illustrations are trying to accomplish very different things.

So yes, the art is fine, I like having it there. Simple styles has its own challenges and aren't necessarily "easier" than more complex art. I am not as keen on the music, though. I prefer not having having music in IF, but the game has a pretty clear visual novel-influence, that's the sense from some of the design choices: A long, mostly linear intro, a few choices at key moments that shape the story, a save function with more slots than seems strictly necessary, and of course, the use of art and music.

I enjoyed it a lot and I very much recommend it. It may not blow anyone away, but there's a certain thing that I like in stories that I can't quite articulate, and this is more or less doing that thing.