Welcome! to where your mind keeps fine Lost souls wander, in darkness confined, In shadows deep, where secrets entwine, There's just one world. It's this asylum's bind.

There is only one world for you. And it is the Inkwell Institute.

Inkwell Institute is [will be] a 2.5D, story-rich “point&click” puzzle game, inspired by such creations as Fran Bow, Sally Face and Don’t Starve. in this game, you will step into the shoes of four young adult children battling their own demons and help them uncover the secret that lies behind this mysterious establishment.

who is aclypse?

To make a quick elevator pitch, Hi, aclypse is an alien whose mission on this Earth is to introduce it to things unseen by the human kind. behind this persona lies a young student interested in art and design, the creative field of music and modern and futuristic inventions. (and they are a huge coffee addict to be honest). aclypse is an artist, diving headfirst into the world of coding, with the aim of creating a captivating, [choice-driven] point-and-click puzzle game.

What is Inkwell Institute?

Inkwell Institute has gained the reputation of one of the best Psychiatric Hospitals in our time. Throughout the course of our history, everybody has struggled with grief, loss, and human cruelty. Worldwide conflicts such as wars were a result of this human nature.

But in Inkwell Institute, we’ve developed a safe place for patients of all ages, all genders and all sorts of mental uniquenesses. You can study here, make friends and get help with your problems. That is, if you behave according to our rules…

How was the idea born?

During one dark time in my life, I picked up the book “The Gray House” by Myriam Petrosyan. If I had to briefly summarize it in one sentence, I’d say “1000 pages of the daily life of handicapped kids who, despite their frequent arguments, help each other out when someone’s in trouble”. I’ve hated reading this book almost until the end. thank god I’ve finished it though, because I found myself in a huge need for people who have similar problems to mine, who will understand me and support me. I found a comforting place in this House.

that’s why I set off on this journey of creating a whole, mysterious world of “broken” teenagers whose lives are on edge and who are seeking support from those who are similar to them. my biggest aim with this project is to build a supportive community of [young adult] people who are seeking support and understanding from other, similar people.

Hence if you’re willing to find out the story behind these four kids, or all of the above sounds like you, join us on this journey.

what have you done so far?

i am currently focusing on the visual side of my game (as my high school final project), therefore I mainly only have character designs, background designs and the whole visual style figured out (see snippets below). I’ve also started coding the first scene in Unity, but since coding requires many problem-solving tasks, I’ve already encountered tons of problems with it. (oopsie '^^)

Nevertheless, I’m determined to acquire new knowledge and develop my game-making skills along this path, and if you want to follow me on this journey, be sure to follow my itch.io, TikTok (where i’ll be posting quick video progress) and be sure to support me on KoFi!

i’d like to also make it a choices-matter game, but it depends on how challenging will be the code-problem solving.

a quick note about the assets shown – as many people know, game assets are redrawn over and over again, all the time, as the game develops further and further. i'm aware these assets will change their look as well. a (perhaps) good note for you – if you support me on Kofi, you can have an influence on the final look of these assets!

ko-fi benefits?

• early updates about the progress
• exclusive scenes (all behind the scenes and troubleshootings)
• all the design process, development, sketches, "deleted scenes"... (character sketches coming soon!)
• dialogue snippets
• visual elements snippets
• possibility to give me ideas for the story, updates and more
• polls, where your opinions will shape the game's direction
• determine the journey of Inkwell Institute
• cat content (across all platforms honestly)

what is the short-term plan?

• have a sort of “pitch deck” ready by the end of March/start of April
• publish the demo in 2+~ years (game development is HARD, and taking into account I’m a newborn coder and a busy student, this deadline is too tight. That’s why I'm seeking support from you :) )
• publish the game to itch.io, Game Jolt and who knows, maybe even on Steam
• develop a wholesome, supportive community
• acquire a talented team of enthusiasts ;)

question of the week

I’d like to make my devlog a bit unique by adding more interactiveness. therefore I will ask a “question of the week” at the end of each devlog post. you can respond in the comments, maybe share a personal experience in my DM’s or open up a whole conversation.

the question of this week is:

“If you were to live in a group of people similar to you, what characteristics would you share with them?”

I am also preparing to launch my YT channel where I will be publishing any art-related content, and I’d also love to post some videos about the Inkwell Institute development process. I have an extremely busy schedule and video creation takes a lot of time, hence I plan on posting the first video in May~ (probably towards the end of it.)

i want to treat this devlog as a sort of my “personal diary”, therefore I will update every week (across different platforms but mainly on itch.io and KoFi) and inform you about what progress I’ve made during the week.

in the meantime, follow my instagram, itch.io, tumblr and tiktok, since i will post to these platforms most often

you can also find me across many different platforms to see my art, creations and 3D models: linktr.ee

if you’d like to shorten the time of the development, be sure to support me on Ko-Fi, check out my games on itch.io, buy my products (gumroad, artstation, sketchfab) or order art commissions! (coming soon)

I invite you to join me on this winding path. It's going to be challenging, perhaps even at times, impossible, but together, we can turn this dream into reality. I'm not merely developing a game; I'm crafting a whole world, and your input is invaluable.