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development:

[team]

game design and programming: kanmiii

story and script: pooh

character and map art: jani

original soundtrack composition: priv

[software and resources]

created in Unity. uses the Merienda font which is licensed under the SIL Open Font License (OFL) included in the game files.

theme:

a submission for the thatgamecompany x COREBLAZER GAME JAM 2025, [fatal flower] tells a story about the different faces of generosity. we combined the thrill of murder-mystery gameplay with the heartfelt, story-driven elements of visual novels to answer this question through Ming and Yue's intertwined stories. 

 regardless of whether it is a grand gesture or a small moment, we believe generosity is the act of giving. it is giving from a sense of love for others, without reservation and without expectations. 

we hope that as you play our game in the eyes of Ming and Yue, you are able to witness that kind of love yourself.

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inspiration:

we drew inspiration from various ancient Asian cultures, with a primary focus on Imperial Chinese and Vietnamese elements. additionally, each of the game's cases is inspired by one of the Three Poisons central to Buddhist teachings, while chapter names draw literal and symbolic meaning from various flowers.

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characters:

🌺[Ming]🌺

17 years old. An outgoing apothecary who lives on the outskirts of town by the foot of the mountain.

🌼[Yue]🌼

17 years old. A shut-in former disciple of the abandoned temple at the top of the mountain.

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controls:

[overworld]

arrow keys - move around

z/enter - interact 

esc - check record to view evidence (investigation only) (1 - items, 2 - testimonies, esc - close record)

[trial]

left and right arrow keys - switch speaking trial participant

1 - replay character pre-refute dialogue 

2 - refute argument (must have evidence equipped) 

3 - check record to equip evidence (1 - items, 2 - testimonies, z/enter - select/deselect evidence, esc - close record)

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how to play:

[story mode]

witness the story unfold, progressing through cutscenes and dialogue to learn more about characters and the world Ming and Yue live in.

[investigation mode]

 roam around the available areas of the map to interact with and find evidence for the trial. learn more about each piece of evidence or testimony by reading through the interactions that occur when collecting them. 

[trial mode]

switch between different trial participants and listen to their arguments. look carefully for flaws and use the right evidence on the person with the most relevant argument to take another step in solving the case.

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comments? bugs?

comments, as well as sharing this game, are very appreciated! as a team, it was our first time making a game this big. however, as this was a three-week jam, we did not get to polishing every aspect of the cases and many art assets. additionally, as we had one programmer, it is possible that there may be bugs. we apologize in advance and thank you for your understanding. please let us know if you find any!

the game is designed to be played chronologically by chapter, but there is a chapter select feature on the start screen if you happen to run into an error or want to play in different sessions.

missing assets/known bugs:

not all character walking cycles, speaker sprites, and cgs are in; some text may overflow; some UI elements are not finalized; sometimes characters will be facing the wrong direction upon starting an area of the game, or start in a walking state, or have the wrong sprite; the record feature does not populate evidence for the third case in the investigation portion only; very rarely is it possible to walk into a "push back" event, change direction from the original direction within a small time frame, and get pushed back and forth continuously between two "push back" events... in this case, it would be necessary to restart the game from the chapter select menu

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gameplay guide (spoilers):

need help with a trial? click here to view the guide!

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content warnings (spoilers):

case 1:

contains references to poisoning (not graphically shown).

case 2:

initial murder and blood depicted in a non-graphic, pixel-style context. mentions of suicide and depressive thoughts of a character. features multiple morally complex and unethical characters. implied stabbing (not graphically shown).

case 3:

mentions of suicide and depressive thoughts of a character.