So many awesome folks made this game come to life! I sincerely think we've got an awesome game.

However, the last several days has been A Lot of major game industry announcements and news! Comparatively, Solace State takes time to sit down with and reflect on. And we think we haven't found our audience yet.

This is where want to ask you to support us if you're excited about our message about a radical journey of optimistic advocacy. If you like the game, please review it! If you don't have money to buy the game, we welcome you to share in our excitement!

If you know streamers who're excited by magical realism meets intersectional hackivism or journalists who cover politics and art, we'd love to get connected! Please share this widely with your friends who're into this too! We want to share the joy of this game with more folks!

#solacestate #politicalgames #visualnovel #AAPI #lgbtartist #asianart #comingofage #gamedesign #gamerelease #indiegame

Though I'm the only one working full-time on this - on direction, art, design, admin, funding, writing, marketing - Solace State could not have happened without many very talented folks who have done their absolute damn best to bring this game to life. Time for some shout-outs!

#solacestate #visualnovel #gamerelease

The macroeconomics of journalism has changed significantly since 2018. What hasn't changed is the brilliant quality of writing by many talented writers around the world.

This week, @yveri at @ThePixelPost gave us our first heartfelt, full game review:

"In hindsight, the story of friendship and camaraderie told by Vivid Foundry is both a more interesting and more daring choice than what is offered by the majority of titles that define themselves as cyberpunk. And, in the midst of the almost permanent anguish, the way Solace State manages to tell the tragedy while showing compassion is a breath of fresh air, a little parenthesis where, for a few hours, we also manage to believe that another way of doing things is possible." (Google translated from French, sorry!)

You can read the full review here: https://thepixelpost.com/critiques/solace-state-critique/

#solacestate #writing #reading #visualnovel #activism #cyberpunk #gamewriting

I went against convention on a lot. This includes a deconstructivist take on cyberpunk: Not just cause it's cool, but that marginalized folks striving for change is at the core of "punk". The architectural density is not about fear of the unknown but is just how people live: Sometimes hurting others, sometimes uplifting others and healing unevenly.

There are so few games - so few entertainment media - that dare portray an East Asian woman as a frontline activist in a sustained movement. This was a deliberate choice, with overtly Asian & AAPI traumas. We're not your model minority. We're not your cyberpunk doll.

Solace State went against visual novel convention, too. I experimented so much! What I landed on is a visual novel powered by movements that feels like camera drones... which are used IRL by both the establishment & by protesters. So this is a protest game through and through.

#cyberpunk #visualnovel #indiegame #solacestate #AAPI #asian #politicalgames #activism

I've been really shy about talking about some of the game's progress, but I'm trying to give myself grace that I can only do so much. The game's been about rediscovering myself. I came out right in the thick of development, and I feel like I've finally acknowledged a part of me.

I loved writing Torrent's & Chloe's arcs. I explored their relationships with their families and the values they grew up with and push back on. Torrent, for example, struggles with being cast as the "good son". Their stories are self-assuredly Asian & it let me explore my roots.

#solacestate #AAPI #gamewriting #LGBT #lgbtartist #writing #reading

This is an incredibly personal project to me, Tanya Kan. I befriended activists, filmmakers, lawyers, scholars, and more who make it their life's work to fight against oppression. It's through this fictional, poetic game that I pay homage to their stories.

I'm really proud of writing the majority of it. I've drafted scenes over and over until the game reflects the core messages of healing through advocacy and care, of witnessing atrocities and coming out the other side with something to fight for, and people to share hope with.

I'm delighted that I stayed true to myself with a poetic, literary tone. It's a meaningful way for me to convey the intense heartbreak from being dismantled from a birthplace and wanting to find friendship and community. It's drawn from my personal story of loss and alienation.

#solacestate #gamewriting #gamedev #literary #writing #reading #activism