Hi,

Some of you might remember Traum, the very first game I wrote the story for. Well, our team took part in IGMC2018 (Indie Game Making Contest held by publisher Degica in order to find that "next big indie hit") with a game called Kiara. It's set in the same universe as Traum and acts as sort of a sequel for it. I was wondering if people here might be interested in trying the game out?

The IGMC rules required that the game needs to be done in a month and from scratch, so Kiara isn't that long and acts as a prototype or a demo for the full game, which we are making. It has fully custom art, assets and music. It also features voice acting during cutscenes, which is another first for us. As it was done in a month, there might be bugs.

Kiara is a unique horror/suspense puzzle/adventure game with emphasis on story. You play as Mina, a young girl who gets trapped in another dimension after her elevator ride goes awry. In exchange for her freedom, she must help trapped souls by piecing together their past from manifested objects.

The game can be found here:

Game Page

Rate Kiara here

Thank you for reading and if you try the game out, we'd really appreciate if you could give some feedback.

And there are some reports that the first puzzle may be too difficult. If you find yourself stuck, please refer to the walkthrough that can be found in the game's itchio -page. Thank you.

Thanks for sharing!

It's really great to have creative members here! :-)

Hmm, apparently the keypad puzzle is really, really tough. But we can't fix it until after the voting/judging ends.

Sorry about that. If you're stuck, the correct key can be found in the game's itchio page.

So far the people seemed to have liked the game, that's really nice! Gives us confidence to finish Kiara :)

Story trailer is up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AOOIJBivyI

So far Kiara's reception has been very good and people seem to want more. There's even some let's plays of the game, they're always a nice thing. Here's one:

Krinx TV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQhcA0rkvpg

The comments are very positive which gives us more confidence that the game has the potential. Of course there are bugs as the demo was made during one month (IGMC rules) and we're not allowed to update the file until the competition ends. There's nothing game breaking however and it's fully playable from start to finish.

While it's currently a prototype demo, we do have plans to make this a full game. If you want to help us, there's a way to do so:

The IGMC2018 user rating is now well under way and while Kiara already has some ratings, it could always have more. Users can give games ratings from 1 to 5 stars and this counts towards one category, the "People's Choice". The ratings count only for this competition and do not reflect towards the game's own rating in the itchio store.

In order to rate a game, you need to have an Itchio account (it's free). When you have one, you can go to the game's jam page and rate the game there. It's of course preferable that you play the game beforehand and then give your honest rating of it.

Here's Kiara's jam page
https://itch.io/jam/igmc2018/rate/336860

Every rating counts and I'd really appreciate if you'd have the time to do so. If we do well in that competition, it'd give us more possibilities to make Kiara a full, commercial game.

We're very proud of Kiara and hope you'd enjoy it too.

See you in the 10th floor!

Updated the devlog!

https://ruskatuli.itch.io/kiara/devlog/60339/kiara-demo-original-game-vision

Devlog post 2: What went right and what went wrong

https://ruskatuli.itch.io/kiara/devlog/60610/kiara-demo-what-went-right-and-what-went-wrong

Anyway, it's been really fun participating in that contest and I hope we do well. We have big plans for Kiara and hopefully we can, some day, make it a fully commercial game as we truly think it has great potential. Perhaps you'll see it on GOG one day?

But as I said previously, any feedback would be appreciated.

Thank you for reading and have a happy holiday(s)!

Final devlog for Kiara
https://ruskatuli.itch.io/kiara/devlog/60751/kiara-demo-concept-art-spoiler-warning


Also, we now have a website where you can find all our stuff in the same place. Feeling just a tad more professional. Maybe.

https://ruskatuli.wixsite.com/ruskatuli

Kiara was selected in the TOP10! That means it beat 320 other games and is eligible in the last two categories (Judge's pick and youtuber's pick). We're so humbled to be in such esteemed company.

https://itch.io/t/363989/judges-top-10

And Kiara finished in 4th place!

https://itch.io/jam/igmc2018/results/degicas-choice

I nearly missed this. I loved Traum and I will download this at once. Thank you again!

"The demo download has been removed from public"... :(

I am too late.

Any way to still get the game?

We took the proof of concept -demo down in order to polish it up. Since it was done in a month for the competition, it was kind of rushed. When we release the proper demo, I'll let you know!

Thank you for your interest, btw!

Let us know when it's finished! I want to spend money on you and your dev team!