My sleepiness/fatigue is certainly less than seen here (and I'm a guy...), but I can still relate to about 90% of this, though when I had an MSLT done, the diagnosis was ideopathic hypersomnia without narcolepsy... which is maybe even more of a non-answer than Rae got. They found some sleep apnea, too, but they don't think that the small amount of that would cause the level of sleepiness/fatigue that I'm dealing with.
In real life, I'm at the holistic doctor phase, where I'm taking a ton of expensive supplements that they recommended (plus Valtrex, since my Epstien-Barr antibody markers are really high) but I'm questioning its efficacy. He gave me a timeline of like 6 months before I can really hope to see an improvement.
I'm not sure to keep on going through the barrage of expensive doctors or not...
//Like Rae, I started bouncing between doctors about my illness in my early teens.
...And unlike Rae, I'm nearing 40 and still don't have good answers.
Im emotional maybe because I went through things like this less than a year ago, a different cause but universal experiences, the exhaustion- things just being too hard to do, the dismissive doctors, people telling you that it's all in your head and you look fine, not being able to go to school, losing your friends.
I went back to school but didn't have that happy ending, I wished a lot for a supportive parent and friends that didn't drift apart, but sometimes life just doesn't have those happy endings, y'know?
learning that you'll have a condition for the rest of your life, like a man with a knife standing in the middle of the room, you know he's there, you just need to accomidate for him and walk around, theres nothing you can do about him but you know he's dangerous.
rarely in life will you get that end, but I think a good equivilent is just to step back when things are going well, and take that moment to appriciate that hay, that man is still there, but the decor on this room is great!
This game was amazing and incredibly well-written.
While the main character was ultimately diagnosed with narcolepsy, this game definitely speaks to a variety of experiences when it comes to invisible illnesses. I started crying when she was finally diagnosed and talking about her experience with medications because it brought up my own feelings from when I was diagnosed with ADHD. The art is charming, the expressions heartfelt, and the pacing and mechanics speak really well to the content.
Thank you so much to everyone who worked on this game. It is lovely and so important. I hope you all continue to make content that speaks to the heart as earnestly as this does.
Such an important game. It's so frustrating when people expect you to be healthy when you're not just because they can't see it. </3 I'm glad you guys made this.
What a delightfully charming game! Excellent heartfelt storytelling to raise awareness for a problem and its auxiliary issues which typical serious games fail to do.
I can honestly say I've never played such a relatable game before (besides the fact that I still dont have a diagnoses yet, working on that), thank you to the creator for helping me feel seen. Love the story and the art style!
As someone who spent months figuring out I had Lyme's disease coupled with depression and anxiety (and I'm still working on it today), this was really relatable. I'm not sure what the other endings are, but I managed to get a good one.
This was really beautiful, so much I can't describe it in words.
This was a nice, heart-warming story. I really like how all the characters feel so real, Sadie looks like she could be found in any neighborhood!
I also like the very cute art! I also like love how the backgrounds are monotone while the characters have bolder colors, it really makes the characters stand out!
!Spoiler Warning!
I just love the mom's personality and how she handle things, she's a very understanding mother!
I also love the selfy at the end! SO CUTE! Could I make a fan-art for this game? I will post it on my instagram for you to see! (do you have instagram?)
Hi there! So glad you enjoyed the game! We love to hear from you and would LOVE to see any fan art you create! KJAM doesn't have an insta but a few of us do so if you tag ButYouSeemFine we would love to check it out!
Thank you very much! It seems like this is the only game you've made so far, but please continue to make games (somewhat) like this! I'd LOVE to see more games from you!
as someone with fibro, chronic fatigue syndrome, and a sleep disorder as well (though not narcolepsy), this game made me tear up! it's so beautifully done, and i could relate to pretty much every aspect of it. the doctors, the not being taken seriously, trying to balance meds. heck i even got accused of doing drugs illegally as well (though im not sure if that was the doctor being weird or being racist cause im latino or both).
anyways, AMAZING game, i loved it so much, and i really liked the positivity and love in the ending i got. i always really appreciate when i find games like this that shed light on such an important issue. absolutely wonderful. <3
I was diagnosed with a disorder called POTS when I was eleven and I went through just about everything Rae did in her journey with invisible illness. My journey sent me to doctor after doctor, gave me handfuls of diagnoses, and way too much trauma to cover in just one therapy session. I lost so much that I used to love as a child and was forced to grow up earlier than my friends. But now I'm graduated from high school, working on my degree in the arts, and learning to love my new normal every single day. When Rae kept asking if she should keep searching, all I could think of was driving half way across my home city thousands of times and crying in shitty parking lots because yet another doctor failed me. At that time, I wondered if it was worth it to keep doing...anything. The repetitive nature of Rae asking again and again if she should keep trying hit so close to home. And the day when you finally get the diagnosis and it comes crashing down in on you that your life will never be reversed, there will never be a quick fix to what is wrong...I can't lie, that absolutely got to me. Like what Rae's mom said, someone told me something during my worst time with POTS that really stuck with me. "Every breath you take and every step you make despite your illness is a revolution." The ending I received truly encapsulates that for me, and I hope the devs go on to do even greater things. <3
This was really amazing. I actually related a lot to this story. Although I don't have narcolepsy (my mom does, though), I do have clinical depression.
I'm not quite sure when it started, but as time went on, I just started losing interest in doing the things that I used to love. I even started holing myself up inside because it felt like the energy was just physically drained from me.
I actually also love writing, and I hope to become an author, even though I only write fanfiction online. Even now, despite how much I love pouring my heart out in words, I have times where I'll go weeks or even months at a time without writing anything, because I just can't muster up the energy or the motivation to do it. It always makes me feel like I'm letting people down.
In the end, I still haven't found any medications that help 100%, because there isn't really any magical cure for depression, and I still have days where I just don't have the strength to get out of bed and I just feel empty inside. But I still know that I do have family and some friends that do care about me, and it does help me through the days.
I hope this game will help other people out there who also suffer from some sort of invisible illness, and let them know that they aren't struggling alone.
oh this was beautiful. the art is sweet and the story has made me cry (out of relatable feels, but also just because her mom is so supportive). i have only played 2 endings so far but i will try more soon.
Wonderful game. It really showed some of the hardships of having to deal with an invisible illness. As someone with an invisible and chronic illness, I felt very close to Rae and like the struggles were very well represented. Plus the art was cute. I'll probably play it through again, making different choices. Thank you. :)
Very well made game, would love it to be even longer. The logical end as a teenager though is a bit dumb... Your mother will support you no matter what, a small understandable feud in a car won't make her abandon you.
Really loved this game, you covered the issues behind invisable illness really well. Sorry I was a blubbering wreck for parts of my playthrough. Thank you so very much for making the game and shining a light on this issue it really is good to see someone doing that. Hopefully it helps people understand a little better just what some people have had to go through or still are.
I would of really enjoyed it if it worked for my tech type but by reading the comments i bet it was brilliant. By the way i followed you because why not.
This was amazing and really touching, I actually had a similar experience (Lyme disease and everything) and this was just super validating, not to mention well drawn. Thank you.
I enjoyed this, though I wonder if you plan to add a text skip/skip to next choice option as currently it is a bit long to replay for the other endings?
Oh. My. God. The story in this was so good, it is not often that a story makes me feel for the mc as much as this one does, maybe its because mc looks and acts so much like my sister, or perhaps because the mom is so similar to my mother. Whatever it is, i loved this and it touched me personally.
I feel like my eyes got rather hot playing this at time. The art is charming, and by the time I got to the end, I was smiling softly. Thank you very much.
I noticed that Rae's sprite will sometimes have a hairclip, and sometimes not. Just something to keep track of if you update it. I'd be happy to see more stories from you guys. <3
This is very touching and has magnificent story. I never went through what Rae did in the story, but it broke my heart to see what she went through and made me cry so much later on in the story. I highly recommend playing this game. 10 / 10
I usually never leave comments but I just wanted to say that this was such a sweet and well-done game. As someone with a an invisible illness this really spoke to me. I think I got the good ending and although I was curious to see what the other endings were I couldn't bring myself to play through them haha. Thank you so much for making this game; stories like this are so important.
Superb writing - the story touches you emotionally! And i loved that you ended the game on a positive note. I played the Android version. Here's my playthrough:
Unfortunately relateable. Well-done, and well-handled. It would be nice if the game didn't turn the sound back on at the start of every chapter though -- it's actually the alarm clock noise I was trying to avoid.
this game was lovely and very wholesome. as someone who has struggled with many, many people not believing that i do suffer from my illness, i can really understand what the protagonist is going through. i really cared about what was going to happen, and even though it is a pretty short play, i enjoyed it very much. the art style is simple but in a good way, and the colour choices were pleasing to look at.
i love visual novels in general, but ones that are short and sweet are even higher on my list. this one was pretty charming, but the characters could of used a bit more development (in my opinion) but i do understand that that was not the main focus. another criticism i have is that it would've been nice to have less black screens, but the game was still a fun play nonetheless. (and high quality for a free game!).i really hope to see more games like this in the future, especially exploring such important topics such as non-obvious illnesses and/or disabilities. great work! :)
Thanks so much for the feedback! We're hoping to add some cinematic illustrations for some of those fade to black screens in a future release, so keep an eye out! :)
Powerful narrative; hits very close to home. I was diagnosed with JRA at Rae's age, over 15 years ago now, and it struck me how universal some aspects of juggling chronic illness and adolescence are no matter the diagnosis. I cried a lot more than I expected to—it was extremely cathartic. My most heartfelt thanks to your team for creating this game!
I really enjoyed this. I usually get bored with visual novels, but this one was so captivating and the interactivity was a really nice feature that made the story feel all the more real. Very nicely done, great job!
Oh my god, this was beautiful. I'm absolutely in love with this. I cried *so hard* almost no one would believe it. I mean, I cry a lot in general, but this was absolutely breathtaking. I beat it in only half an hour, but my heart was *breaking* for that entire half an hour. I sincerely hope the developer this was based off of got the best ending in real life. I can only begin to imagine just how painful that was, searching, and searching, and not finding any answers. Absolutely breathtaking game. 5/5.
If I may ask, is this your first project? I'm assuming not, as it's well made. I've been looking into trying my hand at making a game myself, but it's been very hard. Sorry to bother, but do you have any advice?
I could not have missed them! I'm a huge musical nerd, heh
It's our first project! We're actually a group of four people, though, which made making the game an easier task. We used Unity and a third party engine (VN Engine) to create our game within our timeline (which was 6 months). It depends on the type of game you want to create, but there are lots of free game engines out there! https://conceptartempire.com/free-game-engines/
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My sleepiness/fatigue is certainly less than seen here (and I'm a guy...), but I can still relate to about 90% of this, though when I had an MSLT done, the diagnosis was ideopathic hypersomnia without narcolepsy... which is maybe even more of a non-answer than Rae got. They found some sleep apnea, too, but they don't think that the small amount of that would cause the level of sleepiness/fatigue that I'm dealing with.
In real life, I'm at the holistic doctor phase, where I'm taking a ton of expensive supplements that they recommended (plus Valtrex, since my Epstien-Barr antibody markers are really high) but I'm questioning its efficacy. He gave me a timeline of like 6 months before I can really hope to see an improvement.
I'm not sure to keep on going through the barrage of expensive doctors or not...
//Like Rae, I started bouncing between doctors about my illness in my early teens.
...And unlike Rae, I'm nearing 40 and still don't have good answers.
This Game.
Im emotional maybe because I went through things like this less than a year ago, a different cause but universal experiences, the exhaustion- things just being too hard to do, the dismissive doctors, people telling you that it's all in your head and you look fine, not being able to go to school, losing your friends.
I went back to school but didn't have that happy ending, I wished a lot for a supportive parent and friends that didn't drift apart, but sometimes life just doesn't have those happy endings, y'know?
learning that you'll have a condition for the rest of your life, like a man with a knife standing in the middle of the room, you know he's there, you just need to accomidate for him and walk around, theres nothing you can do about him but you know he's dangerous.
rarely in life will you get that end, but I think a good equivilent is just to step back when things are going well, and take that moment to appriciate that hay, that man is still there, but the decor on this room is great!
(that wasn't the best allegory)
Wow.
This game was amazing and incredibly well-written.
While the main character was ultimately diagnosed with narcolepsy, this game definitely speaks to a variety of experiences when it comes to invisible illnesses. I started crying when she was finally diagnosed and talking about her experience with medications because it brought up my own feelings from when I was diagnosed with ADHD. The art is charming, the expressions heartfelt, and the pacing and mechanics speak really well to the content.
Thank you so much to everyone who worked on this game. It is lovely and so important. I hope you all continue to make content that speaks to the heart as earnestly as this does.
Such an important game. It's so frustrating when people expect you to be healthy when you're not just because they can't see it. </3
I'm glad you guys made this.
What a delightfully charming game! Excellent heartfelt storytelling to raise awareness for a problem and its auxiliary issues which typical serious games fail to do.
This game hit very close to home with me, and i can say that i thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. (i will also admit that i did cry...a lot.)
I can honestly say I've never played such a relatable game before (besides the fact that I still dont have a diagnoses yet, working on that), thank you to the creator for helping me feel seen. Love the story and the art style!
As someone who spent months figuring out I had Lyme's disease coupled with depression and anxiety (and I'm still working on it today), this was really relatable. I'm not sure what the other endings are, but I managed to get a good one.
same here
Its cool, but never got to finish it... every time I clicked save it wouldn't let me continue...
This was really beautiful, so much I can't describe it in words.
This was a nice, heart-warming story. I really like how all the characters feel so real, Sadie looks like she could be found in any neighborhood!
I also like the very cute art! I also
likelove how the backgrounds are monotone while the characters have bolder colors, it really makes the characters stand out!!Spoiler Warning!
I just love the mom's personality and how she handle things, she's a very understanding mother!
I also love the selfy at the end! SO CUTE! Could I make a fan-art for this game? I will post it on my instagram for you to see! (do you have instagram?)
Hi there! So glad you enjoyed the game! We love to hear from you and would LOVE to see any fan art you create! KJAM doesn't have an insta but a few of us do so if you tag ButYouSeemFine we would love to check it out!
Thank you very much! It seems like this is the only game you've made so far, but please continue to make games (somewhat) like this! I'd LOVE to see more games from you!
could you give me your instagram too? I would like to see your fanart! :D
that was really nice :)
as someone with fibro, chronic fatigue syndrome, and a sleep disorder as well (though not narcolepsy), this game made me tear up! it's so beautifully done, and i could relate to pretty much every aspect of it. the doctors, the not being taken seriously, trying to balance meds. heck i even got accused of doing drugs illegally as well (though im not sure if that was the doctor being weird or being racist cause im latino or both).
anyways, AMAZING game, i loved it so much, and i really liked the positivity and love in the ending i got. i always really appreciate when i find games like this that shed light on such an important issue. absolutely wonderful. <3
This was something truly beautiful.
I was diagnosed with a disorder called POTS when I was eleven and I went through just about everything Rae did in her journey with invisible illness. My journey sent me to doctor after doctor, gave me handfuls of diagnoses, and way too much trauma to cover in just one therapy session. I lost so much that I used to love as a child and was forced to grow up earlier than my friends. But now I'm graduated from high school, working on my degree in the arts, and learning to love my new normal every single day. When Rae kept asking if she should keep searching, all I could think of was driving half way across my home city thousands of times and crying in shitty parking lots because yet another doctor failed me. At that time, I wondered if it was worth it to keep doing...anything. The repetitive nature of Rae asking again and again if she should keep trying hit so close to home. And the day when you finally get the diagnosis and it comes crashing down in on you that your life will never be reversed, there will never be a quick fix to what is wrong...I can't lie, that absolutely got to me. Like what Rae's mom said, someone told me something during my worst time with POTS that really stuck with me. "Every breath you take and every step you make despite your illness is a revolution." The ending I received truly encapsulates that for me, and I hope the devs go on to do even greater things. <3
This was really amazing. I actually related a lot to this story. Although I don't have narcolepsy (my mom does, though), I do have clinical depression.
I'm not quite sure when it started, but as time went on, I just started losing interest in doing the things that I used to love. I even started holing myself up inside because it felt like the energy was just physically drained from me.
I actually also love writing, and I hope to become an author, even though I only write fanfiction online. Even now, despite how much I love pouring my heart out in words, I have times where I'll go weeks or even months at a time without writing anything, because I just can't muster up the energy or the motivation to do it. It always makes me feel like I'm letting people down.
In the end, I still haven't found any medications that help 100%, because there isn't really any magical cure for depression, and I still have days where I just don't have the strength to get out of bed and I just feel empty inside. But I still know that I do have family and some friends that do care about me, and it does help me through the days.
I hope this game will help other people out there who also suffer from some sort of invisible illness, and let them know that they aren't struggling alone.
oh this was beautiful. the art is sweet and the story has made me cry (out of relatable feels, but also just because her mom is so supportive). i have only played 2 endings so far but i will try more soon.
thanks for making and sharing this game!
Wonderful game. It really showed some of the hardships of having to deal with an invisible illness. As someone with an invisible and chronic illness, I felt very close to Rae and like the struggles were very well represented. Plus the art was cute. I'll probably play it through again, making different choices. Thank you. :)
Very well made game, would love it to be even longer. The logical end as a teenager though is a bit dumb... Your mother will support you no matter what, a small understandable feud in a car won't make her abandon you.
Really loved this game, you covered the issues behind invisable illness really well. Sorry I was a blubbering wreck for parts of my playthrough. Thank you so very much for making the game and shining a light on this issue it really is good to see someone doing that. Hopefully it helps people understand a little better just what some people have had to go through or still are.
Much love
Sarah and Matt
That was so good! Loved the Hamilton parts, and it was so great to play. Nice work!
I would of really enjoyed it if it worked for my tech type but by reading the comments i bet it was brilliant. By the way i followed you because why not.
This was amazing and really touching, I actually had a similar experience (Lyme disease and everything) and this was just super validating, not to mention well drawn. Thank you.
I enjoyed this, though I wonder if you plan to add a text skip/skip to next choice option as currently it is a bit long to replay for the other endings?
There are other endings? :0
Oh. My. God. The story in this was so good, it is not often that a story makes me feel for the mc as much as this one does, maybe its because mc looks and acts so much like my sister, or perhaps because the mom is so similar to my mother. Whatever it is, i loved this and it touched me personally.
PS mc= main character
I feel like my eyes got rather hot playing this at time. The art is charming, and by the time I got to the end, I was smiling softly. Thank you very much.
I noticed that Rae's sprite will sometimes have a hairclip, and sometimes not. Just something to keep track of if you update it. I'd be happy to see more stories from you guys. <3
This is very touching and has magnificent story. I never went through what Rae did in the story, but it broke my heart to see what she went through and made me cry so much later on in the story. I highly recommend playing this game. 10 / 10
I usually never leave comments but I just wanted to say that this was such a sweet and well-done game. As someone with a an invisible illness this really spoke to me. I think I got the good ending and although I was curious to see what the other endings were I couldn't bring myself to play through them haha. Thank you so much for making this game; stories like this are so important.
this hits me in my soft spot
Superb writing - the story touches you emotionally! And i loved that you ended the game on a positive note. I played the Android version. Here's my playthrough:
Unfortunately relateable. Well-done, and well-handled. It would be nice if the game didn't turn the sound back on at the start of every chapter though -- it's actually the alarm clock noise I was trying to avoid.
Duly noted. We'll look into fixing that for a future release! Thanks for the feedback and thanks for playing our game. :)
Very touching, the way the story goes, really makes you feel the pain of not having answers for something thats destroying your life day by day.
and I thought I sleep a lot
I had fun playing it I will play more soon.
this game was lovely and very wholesome. as someone who has struggled with many, many people not believing that i do suffer from my illness, i can really understand what the protagonist is going through. i really cared about what was going to happen, and even though it is a pretty short play, i enjoyed it very much. the art style is simple but in a good way, and the colour choices were pleasing to look at.
i love visual novels in general, but ones that are short and sweet are even higher on my list. this one was pretty charming, but the characters could of used a bit more development (in my opinion) but i do understand that that was not the main focus. another criticism i have is that it would've been nice to have less black screens, but the game was still a fun play nonetheless. (and high quality for a free game!).i really hope to see more games like this in the future, especially exploring such important topics such as non-obvious illnesses and/or disabilities. great work! :)
Thanks so much for the feedback! We're hoping to add some cinematic illustrations for some of those fade to black screens in a future release, so keep an eye out! :)
Powerful narrative; hits very close to home. I was diagnosed with JRA at Rae's age, over 15 years ago now, and it struck me how universal some aspects of juggling chronic illness and adolescence are no matter the diagnosis. I cried a lot more than I expected to—it was extremely cathartic. My most heartfelt thanks to your team for creating this game!
Thank you for making this game, it was absolute beautiful. I cried a lot more than I'd like to admit. I look forward to seeing your future projects!
I really enjoyed this. I usually get bored with visual novels, but this one was so captivating and the interactivity was a really nice feature that made the story feel all the more real. Very nicely done, great job!
Oh my god, this was beautiful. I'm absolutely in love with this. I cried *so hard* almost no one would believe it. I mean, I cry a lot in general, but this was absolutely breathtaking. I beat it in only half an hour, but my heart was *breaking* for that entire half an hour. I sincerely hope the developer this was based off of got the best ending in real life. I can only begin to imagine just how painful that was, searching, and searching, and not finding any answers. Absolutely breathtaking game. 5/5.
that was a really powerful game, great job!
Thank you so much!
As a person with serveral mental health issues, It was hard for me to play this game, but I had a lot of fun.
((Extra points for the Hamilton poster in Rae's room ;) ))
((And all the other little hints to it, hell yeah))
Thanks for playing through the game, even though it was hard. We really appreciate it.
Hehe, we're big Hamilton fans! Glad you noticed our references. ;)
If I may ask, is this your first project? I'm assuming not, as it's well made. I've been looking into trying my hand at making a game myself, but it's been very hard. Sorry to bother, but do you have any advice?
I could not have missed them! I'm a huge musical nerd, heh
It's our first project! We're actually a group of four people, though, which made making the game an easier task. We used Unity and a third party engine (VN Engine) to create our game within our timeline (which was 6 months). It depends on the type of game you want to create, but there are lots of free game engines out there! https://conceptartempire.com/free-game-engines/
Hope that helps!