Keep Her Alive

Sam is exhausted from cleaning up after her reckless writer, Bella, whose habit of going rogue constantly delays book releases—and costs Sam’s company dearly.

When Bella insists on spending a few weeks in a mysterious, supposedly haunted house to research her next novel, Sam is forced to confront a childhood trauma she thought she had buried. Determined to keep Bella safe—and herself from past fears—Sam reluctantly accompanies her.

What begins as a tense professional obligation quickly spirals into a chilling nightmare… and a delicate, forbidden tension that neither of them can ignore.

A story of horror, suspense, and simmering romance where every shadow hides a secret, and every heartbeat matters.

This project is in its very early stages. Originally submitted for Spooktober 2025, it’s now an ongoing endeavor. 

So far, I’ve been focusing on writing and implementing the first chapter in Ren’Py, my first ever project using this engine, so I was not able to work much on the art direction and art assets, but all of that is in progress, as I do intend to keep working on this project.

All current art is placeholder, but the final, polished artwork is being created by me. I had initially hoped to include a few non-placeholder assets for the jam submission, but—true to form—I underestimated how long everything would take and ran out of time.

I had originally implemented a point system for “survival” points, where each choice could reward the player with points that unlocked special scenes and alternative endings. There was also a similar system for affection, which influenced the romance aspect of the novel. 

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I had to remove those features. However, I’m already working on improvements, and the next version will include choices and branching paths supported by these point systems.

I’m working solo, cause as a beginner, I wanted to avoid leaving anyone on a team stranded if I couldn’t finish.

Characters were created by me using VRoid, and some backgrounds were crafted by me as 3D renders with additional post-editing. Other assets were sourced from Uncle Mugen’s Free VN Backgrounds: UNCLE MUGEN'S FREE VN BACKGROUNDS (WebP Packs) by Alte

The beautifully haunting music is composed by my friend @mayragandramusic, as always :3

Anyway, the whole process was an incredible learning experience, which was exactly what I was hoping to gain by joining the jam. On top of that, I had a lot of fun along the way.

I am definitely grateful for any feedback, so please let me know if you have any 🥰🥰