Far From The Tree
A downloadable game for Windows and Linux
A child changes everything—any parent would be quick to tell you that. But for Kieran, becoming a parent also means new fears—and old ones—visions of blood, visions of worst-case scenarios—new and omnipresent thoughts that threaten to swallow him whole.
How do you move forward, when you've got no name for what's happening to you? When you're afraid to even speak the words aloud?
A short visual novel about parenthood, relationships, past traumas, and undiagnosed OCD, featuring gay elfs.
A little under 5.5k words. About half an hour read time.
Made for menhera vn jam!
The PC version works for both Windows and Linux.
Content warnings:
Abuse, car crashes, death, blood, religious trauma
Contains mentions of childbirth and pregnancy, illness, implied SA, drowning (mostly metaphorical, but I want to include it just in case), and drunk driving.
No violent imagery is shown; everything is described in text, but this is about harm OCD and past abuse. Please take care of yourselves!
All art, music, writing, and programming was done by me. Some of the backgrounds are screenshots of my Sims 4 builds I edited in Clip Studio Paint! Soundtrack was composed by me using my keyboard and improvising a score via this virtual piano: https://virtualpiano.net/
Also, while you're here, please consider donating to Direct Aid for Gaza, the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, or helping families in Gaza, Sudan, and the Congo directly by checking out Operation Olive Branch. Thank you!
Download
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Development log
- Minor Update - Version 1.0.132 days ago
Comments
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Poor Kieran. It's difficult enough to find moments to rest and relax as a new parent even under the best of circumstances; add a healthy dollop of trauma and intrusive thoughts into the mix, and you've got a recipe for one stressful situation indeed, heh.
It warmed my heart to see Jason be so patient, caring, and supportive of him throughout it all, if nothing else~ As it turns out, having intrusive thoughts does not, in fact, make you an awful person, nor is there any shame in relying on others to help you process and work through them~
Also, have you ever considered learning to play the piano in a more structured way? You've clearly got a good sense of tone, if the soundtrack for this game is any indication, heheh~
Thank you so much!!!! And I did play for years, actually, but it's been a bit since I played on an actual piano!! I'd love to pick it up again when I can 🎶
There's something so sweet about this VN, I'm glad I chose to play it today! Not to say the angst there isn't also well-written and delicious (especially for someone who's been through some of those bad thought spirals in the past) but it's the relationship between Kieran and Jason that made this such a pleasure to read. They care so much!!! Even if they could stand to speak their minds more often, but that's how it is sometimes.
I love the sprites too, the character designs for these two are very cute and the expressions are very well made. I feel for Kieran, and for Jason's past, and reading something like this makes me happy :D
Ohhhh my goodness, thank you so much 🥺🌈!!!!! I'm not sure I can really express how much hearing all this means to me, but it makes me so, so happy you liked it and the relationship between Kieran and Jason ;u;... These characters are very near and dear to my heart, and this is definitely not the only thing I'm planning on making with them!! So it really does mean a lot to know other people can see how much they care about each other, and care about them too ;u;...