A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android

STORY

"Let him alone. Can’t you see he’s thinking of the days when he was happy."
(Waiting for Godot)

After moving the hearts of Hades and Persephone with the sadness of his lyre, Orpheus is granted the opportunity to take his wife Eurydice back to the world of the living, with one condition: he must not look back until they’re both under the sunlight.

It sounds easy enough, so Orpheus starts climbing through the dark tunnels of the Underworld, hoping to finally reunite with Eurydice. But when he hears anything but the echo of his own footsteps, a question starts to haunt him:

Is Eurydice really behind him?

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FEATURES

- A desperate Orpheus who wants to get out of the Underworld as soon as possible to see his wife again! (will he succeed...?)

- A kinetic novel that takes around 5 minutes to complete! (502 words heheh)

- A parallel between the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and the play Waiting for Godot! (now you get the title!!! hehehehe)


CREDITS

- Story, art, programming, GUI: Helen/Len (@lenlen403)

- Voice actor: Ryan X. Messcher (website)

- Editor: LastxFantasy (twitter)

- Sound engineer: olivia/lunamakaio (twitter)

- Music: Bucolic Acrylic - Dan Bodan (Youtube Music Library)

- Sound effect: Pixabay Sound Effects Library


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This was my first project to feature animated assets and VOICE ACTING (LIKE!!!!!!!!!!!1 A DREAM COME TRUE!!!!!!!!!!). Hope you guys like it :') Thank you for all your support <33


The game was made for the O2A2 VN Jam 2023, a micro Visual Novel jam with strict asset limitations and a 1000-word limit.

StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, Android
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(16 total ratings)
Authorhelen
GenreVisual Novel
Made withRen'Py
TagsBlack and White, Kinetic Novel, mythology, Short
Average sessionA few minutes
LanguagesEnglish
InputsKeyboard, Mouse
AccessibilityOne button

Download

Download
WaitingforEurydice-1.1-pc.zip 63 MB
Download
WaitingforEurydice-1.1-mac.zip 29 MB
Download
waiting.for.eurydice-android.apk 44 MB

Development log

Comments

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(+1)

There are so many mythology-inspired entries this year and I think I like it. The feeling of helplessness you get from the lack of interactivity works really well, and I like the ambiguity of the ending.

Thanks!! Yeah, it was funny because me and other two people were posting about our projects on twitter and then we're were like "are you also writing about mythology???" because we didn't plan it LOL

(+1)

This was such a wonderful take on the story! The voice acting and the art really completed everything. I understand how, especially in this game, you as the player really couldn't do anything and you just had to watch Orpheus. It made me sad :,( Such a cool idea and really done well!

(+1)

Ahhh, thank you!!! ^_^

Yeah............ The hopelessness is real..........

(+1)

Finally got around to playing this and ACK, well done Helen. I love this particular myth and you adapted it splendidly. <3 <3 <3

(+1)

THANK YOU SIR!!! It's my honor to hear that from you 🙏🙏

(+1)

Ever since playing this game white just seems more lifeless to me now.

Truly, encapsulated into this game are all the fears, the longing, and the love Orpheus has for his beloved Eurydice and oh! How you captured it all so poetically!!! Ah it was just so lovely Len!!! The imagery of it all, about how the world mourns with Orpheus, that even the beautiful things in the Earth are no longer beautiful because Eurydice took the beauty of it all in her death...ah! I couldn't help but be instantly moved Len!!! I just cried on the spot! 

And I do love the ambiguity presented here! It works a lot for both those who know the original myth and those who don't. Truly, the ending was just perfection! More so that even the menu screen changes to reflect it! Ah! such a wonderful detail! And also so symbolically powerful that it's just white now, as if it feels empty, lifeless, paralleling how Orpheus must have felt like right now. 

JUST, AAAAAAHHHHHHH IT'S SO LOVELY LEN!!!! I REALLY LOVED IT!!! YOU DID A GOOD JOB WITH THIS!!!!! <3 <3 <3

Thank youu dearie ❤️❤️❤️❤️ ^^ 

Yeah, Orpheus' soul was extremely impacted by that loss, and I felt that the monochrome palette would convey that in a better way! 

I'm really happy you liked it (to a point it made you cry!! omggg). Thank you again!! 

(+1)

I REMEMBER THIS STORY FROM WHEN I WAS A KID. So I was very excited to play this!! And you didn't disappoint at all! What wonderfully poetic writing, and the voice actor did such an amazing job putting so much emotion behind all the words. The whole composition of everything, from the slowly moving sprite always there ahead of you, always walking, never looking back, and the gentle lull of the music as Orpheus expresses all of his fears and heartfelt thoughts. It was incredibly poignant, and I was left the whole time with this... not sure how to describe... visceral feeling of longing tinged with fear for what could possibly come???? Unsure. But it certainly did a number on my mind and heart by the time I got to the end.

LOOOOVE the end. How we're just. Left there. Wondering. Unsure. Left to interpret things either how we hope or how we fear. And we can just see Orpheus's face for the first time. And all the things he'd been saying during the walk written upon his face and you just hope hope HOPE that things could somehow have all worked out and he could somehow be made to smile and made to achieve his heart's desire.

Just absolutely lovely and really moving. A wonderful experience and a delightful look into this story, turning it into a tangible experience rather than something we simply read about from a detached third-person perspective. Really fantastic job!! 🥰💕

AAAAAAAAA THANK YOU!!!! I'm really glad that the feeling of longing and fear popped out, because it was exactly what I planned for this game to feel like!! 

This story is dear to my heart and I wanted to make justice to how complex the situation would actually feel.

Thank you again!! :'))

(+1)

。゜゜(´O`) ゜゜。
I can always count on you and your games to make my heart go HNGNGGNNGGGGGGGGGNGNGGLGNGNVNGN (/pos)
CLUTCHING MY CHEST RN ;~;

This was so beautiful! Your writing, as always, was so wonderful <3
I loooved the visuals, the movement of Orpheus as he walked was a really nice touch! The voice acting is incredible, such a great job! The emotion, aaaaa!

When he turned around at the end for the final scene eUGH so emotional ;-;

another absolute banger of a game, wonderful job!!! <3

(+1)

SKFSKJGNSEN thank youuu <333333


(+1)

The music/sound effects mixed with the voice acting was really sweet! I loved the cadence and pace at which the lines were delivered too, it really set the mood! I also really love the amount of greek myths this o2a2!

Good job yall <3

(+1)

Thank you ❤️❤️

(+2)

WOW, POETIC, simply POETIC. Is there anything else that I can say? The writing is so good; the emotions were so PALPABLE! I loved the sheer AMOUNT of emotions that were able to be conveyed in this admittedly short game - Orpheus' indignation at Hades, his grief at the loss of his wife, his skepticism at Eurydice's presence, his hopes for the future...all brought to life by some stunning acting by the VA! At the end, my heart wept for this man. Was he a tragic figure who lost his wife because he turned around a second too soon? Or was he a lost soul, mourning a wife that was never really there? Either way, the ending really pulled at my heartstrings, especially hearing the confusion in Orpheus' voice! 

The art was really lovely! The shading on Orpheus' sprite was BEAUTIFUL, and the pale blue tones really conveyed such a melancholic, lonely atmosphere! The use of complete white for the ending conveyed SUCH a strong emotion - of emptiness, and of desolation. The swaying of the animated sprite was very immersive, and I thought that the framing of the sprite was so interesting - how we only see Orpheus' back. It's appropriate for the tale, and also further compounds that feeling of distance and alienation. 

Really great work, len!! Thank you for giving me the chance to read the script :)

(+1)

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm really glad the emotion came in so strongly! And I also loved the VA interpretation of the lines! Really beautiful :')

Thank you again for the nice comment <33

(+2)

HELEN UR SO GOD AT WRITING POETIC STUFF

LIKE OMG I WAS DYING WITH SO MUCH UNCERTAINTY AND ANXIETY DUDE...

EVEN THE ENDING I KINDA GOT THOSE VIBES... LIKE I DIDNT KNOW HOW TO PROCESS

I LOVED THE ATMOSPHERE, THE VOICE, AAANNDDD ANIMATED ASSETS???? SO COOL!!!!!!!!! ALSO THE WRITING

I ALWAYS FOUND THIS STORY SO SAD...

HELEN U AND THE TEAM DID A AMAZING JOB I LOVE YALL SM *hug em' all*

(+1)

THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU <333333333333

(+3)

It was an amazing entry!! The writing was excellent, poetic, the art was gorgeous (the lighting on Orpheus' sprite)!!! The voice acting was amazing, the actor did an amazing work!! And the music was carefulyl chosen!

The story was heartwrenching! At first a trip in the poetic words of Orpheus and then, instead of the poet, we see the man, we see his fears, his doubts, his questions, and we follow him trying to overcome them, trying to reassure them. I also enjoyed the game having an ending up to interpretation! Was Eurydice there but dragged into hell because Orpheus turned back too soon? Has she never been there? We don't know, and that's what's good!!!

Congrats on the entry, len, it was so good!!!!

(+1)

Thank you!!!!!! That means a lot coming from you!!!!! ^_^

(+2)

Now, that gave me chills, like, literal, physical chills.

This is a WONDERFUL retelling and I'm always there for Orpheus and Eurydice. You really got the feeling of uncertainty and doubt here, the feeling of that odd anxiety... also, the "Didi" got me so SOFT. Beautiful work. 

(+1)

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! <333 I'm glad you liked!!!!!!!!!!!