Say it in Red | Episode 41: Indie Game Compilation Track - Volume 1

Dear Listeners, 
Have you ever found yourself at the end of a tiresome day with scarcely an hour for personal leisure? Have you ever sought, to seemingly no avail, a story that can slake the particular cravings of your heart? Most importantly, do you like Visual Novels? We certainly hope, since this episode finds us talking about nearly a dozen. 

It's time for our inaugural Indie Game Compilation Track episode, in which Sara, Runa, and returning guest KT Kelly discuss 11 different Indie Visual Novels (alongside a couple of RPGmaker horror entries). We want to not only showcase the amazing breadth of work coming from Indie developers but also talk about some of our favorite games, many of which touch on subjects, characters, and experiences we rarely get the chance to see in games from larger studios. You can find a list of each game we played below and we encourage you to play along with us, and go searching for other Indie visual novels as well! Our goal with these compilation track episodes, which we're hoping to do at least twice each year from hereon out, is to not only highlight some of the incredible indie VNs we've played recently but also to get people excited about the things happening in Indie Visual Novel development spaces and encourage you to go look through itch, find and follow creators, and discover small indie games that you can love with all your heart.

Most of these games are free and if not, fairly cheap (though please tip the creators if you are able), and you can read most of them inside of an hour or two. In fact, we want YOU, dear listener, to pick at least one of these games to play after you listen, and then tell us about it at sayitinredpod on twitter! 

Here's the full list of games we played, alongside their timestamps and creator social pages:

Amelie: 00:03:10
Game Page: https://twoandahalfstudios.itch.io/amelie
Creator(s): Two and a Half Studios | https://twitter.com/twohalfstudiosA Year of Springs: 00:06:40
Game Page: https://npckc.itch.io/a-year-of-springs
Creator(s): npckc | https://twitter.com/npckcHanna, We're Going to School: 00:21:12
Game Page: https://kastelpls.itch.io/hanna-school
Creator(s): Kastel | https://twitter.com/kastelwritesApparition: 00:28:40
Game Page: https://cartyrs.itch.io/apparition
Creator(s): Carter | https://twitter.com/cartyrsCute Bite 00:31:40
Game Page: https://hanakogames.itch.io/cute-bite
Creator(s): Hanako Games | https://twitter.com/hanakogamesRe: Kinder - 00:40:10
VGPerson Translation: https://vgperson.com/games/
Creator(s):  ParunDon't Toy with Me: 00:55:00
Game Page: https://karmic-punishment.itch.io/dont-toy-with-me
Creator(s): Karma | https://twitter.com/karmicpun_devMilk inside off a bag of Milk: 00:57:40
Game Page: https://nikita-kryukov.itch.io/pmkm
Creator(s): Nikita Kryukov | https://twitter.com/nkt_krkvUs Lovely Corpses: 01:08:20
Game Page: https://dmarielicea.itch.io/uslovelycorpses
Creator(s): D. Marie Licea | https://twitter.com/dmarieliceaMissed Messages: 01:18:45
Game Page: https://zephyo.itch.io/missed-message
Creator(s): Angela He | https://twitter.com/zephybite77 Oleander: 01:27:00
Note: Runa was absent for this discussion, from the emotion of [Frozen in a Spotlight]
Game Page: https://runa-liore.itch.io/77-oleander
Creator(s): Runa

Please check the content warnings for each game before playing.

Other games Mentioned during this episode:

Dead Girl's Notebook, by Aria
https://aria-of-flowers.itch.io/dead-girls-notebookLong Live the Queen, by Hanako Games
https://www.hanakogames.com/llq.shtml