Hi, devs! A Heart of Butterblue got a review in the newest issue of ChoiceBeat: The Visual Novel and Interactive Fiction Zine. Check it out if you feel inclined: https://willyelektrix.itch.io/choicebeat-issue-12

i've tried downloading it once and it wouldn't start
deleted and redownloaded it. got through the 1st day but on the 2nd day, when i try to talk to someone, the convo just never starts and the game lags (indefinitely) :/ can't rate the game but it seemed promising

hi I'm having trouble playing the game on mac. It say it doesn't have the right application to open?? I've tried downloading on the launcher etc> PLz help

What a wonderfully-crafted visual novel this is. Everything regarding the story, the characters and the progression of what the reader knows about what's going on was done so well. I was led along and I learned what I needed to at just the right moment before figuring it out for myself, and overall I think the narrative and the 'twist' are very well constructed for a game of this length. Especially the 'other' Phebe and her own resolution.

I liked both Phebe and Peyton, though I could feel there was an almost tragic element to the story from the beginning, so I kinda braced myself for tragedy early on. You do that very well. At the end I was sad, but I was also happy that the sadness was genuine because the story was so well written.

Overall I really, really liked this VN, and I think you have a real gift. I'll happily read whatever else you upload in the future.

I really love the game so far but after having triggered Payton's scene when he gave me the flower, the flower isn’t in my inventory so I can't examine it in order to reach the true ending, help 🥹

This looks so interesting though when I click to sleep it hangs up. I'm clicking everything lol even used my keyboard for y (yes) So I reloaded and just went to town but when I click on the sherrif the text block is empty and no matter what I click nothing happens. Only thing that works is esc which takes me to title screen. From the comments here I see this isn't a problem for anyone else, so im confused :/

I am INCREDIBLY smitten! Oh my goodness what a lovely little story! I was never 100% sure what was going on, but I didn't feel totally in the dark either, and the concept is FASCINATING.

Even with the darker theme, there were so many heartwarming moments. [Also funny ones, I adore Fanny.] Peyton is just such a refreshing character in his simplicity. Very sweet, very patient, very attentive, but he never crossed into pushover territory. It never felt like he was a one-dimensional character, his dialogue was incredibly smooth and thoughtful and, even though it's a shorter VN, his and Phebe's relationship developed very organically to me. She gradually relaxed around him, it didn't feel abrupt or rushed because of how her responses changed slightly with each day. 

The portrayal of her emotions was very well done, it almost touched on unreliable narrator territory just because of how little she really understood about her feelings. I felt like her anxieties and discomfort were conveyed so well, without her having to actually verbalize any of it, just by how she spoke and the way her expressions would change. 

[The sprites are SO expressive by the way, Peyton's soft smile made me actually squeal the first time I saw it.]

The writing in general is also just very beautiful to me. The poetic repetition, the callbacks to certain phrases, the nightmare sequences are some of my favorite scenes purely because of the use of prose, the descriptions were surreal, it very much gave the impression of being strange and dream-like. I have aphantasia so I can't picture things, but it set the tone for the setting beautifully. Every morning after one of those nightmares, I would also feel a little uneasy, I kept waiting to see if something outside the farm had changed or gone wrong. The atmosphere was incredible. 

I took notes while I was playing, so I could keep track of the things that I found particularly interesting, and it felt like the word choice for specific scenes was noticeably intentional. I like that a lot! I write in my personal time, so I know how easy it can be to just throw synonyms around to avoid using the same words over and over again. With this story, though, it felt like there was a lot of intent behind certain phrases used, I really do think the wordplay was incredibly thought-provoking. 

When you describe dead flowers as CORPSES, you have my immediate attention LOL

The soundtrack is wonderful by the way, I didn't used to play VNs with sound on because I tend to get a little overstimulated with a lot of noise, but lately I've been making sure to keep the background music on so I can better immerse myself in whatever mood the writer is trying to set. The title screen song SLAPS, and occasionally I would just tab out and kind of bop along to the general BGM. 

Most of my notes are just me screaming about how precious and sweet Peyton is, I wasn't expecting to gush as much as I did since he isn't the type of character I gravitate towards. He was so conscientious of Phebe though, I loved how gently he interacted with her, I loved how he recognized that she would never be the one to call him out, so he took it upon himself to bring up his own mistakes/motivations to clear the air.  Absolutely the sweetest man, I should have attempted Hugh first because I don't know how I'll recover now LOL

The resolution was so bittersweet, gonna be honest I'm petty so I didn't want to see the old man get a happy ending, but for Other Phebe it was nice to see her be able to rest. I love the notion of using the butterblue flower as the new core, and I love that it was even hinted at in the journal that there could be something other than bones used. 

Speaking of, the set-up for the mystery was also very good. I don't think I was handed too much information too quickly, I did manage to guess what was happening early on, but I didn't get the specifics correct and there were other details I wouldn't have EVER been able to figure out. 

And Phebe was a delight as a character, I genuinely enjoyed reading her thoughts because her perspective, the way she looked at the world is so unique, it was interesting. Having a unique lens like that for a character to view the story through I think adds so much more to the experience, it's like there's an added layer of the mystery to sort through. I liked having to stop and think about her word choices for a minute, or certain reactions that I couldn't understand right away. Just a very engaging character overall, even though one might not think so at surface level. 

Evocative is a good word to describe this VN, I think. There was so much packed into the few hours I spent playing, I know I'll have to play it again now that I know what's going on just to see if there were any other hints that I missed. 

A beautifully strange, memorable experience! I mean that in the best of ways. I look forward to whatever you work on next, and I'm definitely going to go back and look at the other games you mentioned in the authors notes! 

I don't even have to read past the ao3 tags section to know i'm downloading this one cause idk what "that house is full of bees" means but i HAVE to find out LOL

i can't seem to buy the fishing rod no matter what i do ;-;

Hi! I've played other games from you and really enjoyed them! I was excited to play this one, but for some reason the mac file will not open and run on my computer? I'm not sure if this is an issue on my end or not, but I was just wondering if there was any way to fix it?

good game! i like the sheer range of these endings, you really get a sense of what these characters care about

(spoilers: ending discussion)

peyton's ending provides lots of good lore and lots of nice closure. a wonderful way to finish off my playthroughs. fanny's ending was delightful, and i'm pleased with how much characterization was fit into what might be considered a joke ending. but i think my favourite ending was hugh's. when fanny was like "hey maybe stop talking to him you will die" it was very exciting. i love when a game tells you someone is bad news and follows through on it! no "it's okay, he fell in love with you so everything will be alright actually" here. you're warned someone will kill you if you go after him, and then he kills you when you go after him. very nice.

i also like the dr. frank mentions... i wonder what he'd think of all this. seems a bit depressing for his tastes but on the other hand maybe he'd be happy to see his research being used successfully

Could You tell me what the Intro Music is? Really loved it and the story, got the 3 endings but I found this area with a question mark that never seemed to activate is this a bug? Or did I miss something.

I had been meaning to play this earlier, AND I REALLY SHOULD HAVE!!! It's a pretty fricking great story, aaaa. AND THE PRODUCTION VALUE WITH ALL OF THE PORTRAITS AND BACKGROUNDS AND AAAA. The game looks excellent, is a joy to play (gotta get all the money in the world, y'know!!!!), and the story...... It's excellent!!!!! Dunno how quite how to talk about it without spoilers, so just gonna, y'know, put a big gap here, pff. SPOILERY RAMBLING AHEAD!!!

Really love all the characters here!!! ...I mean maybe not Hugh, but he's got a strong character to him, y'know? You really hate him!!! And that makes him a good character. Peyton is just a sweet lil guy, I love him and how nice he is while being partially brooding. Fanny's extremely fun and kinda wonderful in her interactions with Phebe, I love her and her absolute lack of empathy of any kind. AND PHEBE HERSELF............. aaaaAAAAAAA. She's just. God. She's such a perfect character, from start to finish!!!! All of the characters bouncing off of her is so...... uhhhh........... I mean, fun in some ways and certainly not-so-fun in other ways, all interactions powerful overall. I love seeing everybody be so nice to her (mostly)........ EVERYBODY HAS TO BE NICE TO PHEBE!!!! IT'S AGAINST THE RULES TO BE MEAN!!!!!!!!!! I guess there's one thing that feels way too evil to talk about because it's just a raw spoiler, but I figure the name "Butterblue" is probably the obvious choice, right? But one must take their time in deciding a name!!! It's gotta be perfect!!!!

AND THE OTHER ENDINGS..... The Fanny ending's CG certainly got me to go "Oh" in slight horror, pff. It's almost haunting in a way, with how just...... absolutely stale and miserable it is. AND HUGH'S SURE HAD SOME FEELINGS TO IT HUH. Very intense. And both are very nicely paced to be obtainable right before the true ending, WHICH..................... I mean, I did get a little emotional. IT WAS SO GOOD................ Dunno how to point to my favorite part without it just being a raw spoiler, but...... the one before the awakening!!! That!!!!!! I really fricking loved that. BUT I ALSO LOVED THE REST OF IT, Y'KNOW.... Everything after that has such a powerful feeling to it......

ANYWAY YES. This is a good game. A very good game!!! I hope Phebe has an excellent rest of her life!!!!!!!! And!!!!!!!!! Thank you for making this game!!!!!!!!!!!

hii not sure if this is just a problem with my pc but i cant advance past the first day..? The morning after you first meet the characters, no matter if i go see Fanny or Hugh, when i click on the question mark to talk to them it just shows an empty dialogue box and it wont let me click on anything else or go back. so im just stuck there,,,, 

How do we fish?

I just played this, and it's quite a beautiful story. 

SPOILERS

My first playthrough was Peyton-focused, which definitely provided the most "complete" experience and was obviously more heartwarming, haha. I just circled around for a Hugh playthrough. 1) Ouch, you pulled no punches there. He is merciless. 2) It was fun to see all the little hints that added unease and mystery in the first playthrough with more context. 

...also, I just saw a comment that implies that hanging out with Fanny is a legit ending option, and I am here for it. She's so casually cutthroat but charming.

BUGS

I did notice a few bugs, though nothing that broke the game, fortunately. 

1) When I go to buy the fishing rod, it doesn't give any indication that I bought it. No money spent, for example. But I can start fishing, at least. 

2) There's a question mark in the farthest right area that doesn't seem to be linked to any text. 

3) Peyton continues to "wait at the crossroads" after the scene that is triggered when you interact with him there and start his ending. If you click him again, the scene at the ravine (?) starts again.

4) The game lets you pick up items when there's no room in your inventory, and I think they just disappear when you do. Related, if you click to X out one inventory item, it usually removes 2.

Another absolute banger from Heiden!

I found the atmosphere in this game especially enjoyable - I love the blend of sci fi, western, and horror that somehow turned out feeling so effortless and natural! The soundtrack really backs this up, it's kind of a spooky farmcore spaghetti western feeling that I was vibing to the whole time and it really set the tone for the story! 

I had a lot of fun figuring the puzzles of how to solve everyone's problems, and farming, and I adored Fanny's cold shriveled little heart and her unrepentant vicious greed, she's so interesting and gaslight gatekeept girlbossed her way into my affection <3

But Peyton and Phebe were the stars of the show for me - both their individual journeys as characters, and the slow and tender development of their relationship and the themes of them both being societal outsiders who learn how to deal with and ultimately support each other. I got Peyton's ending and it made me tear up with the combination of hope, sadness, healing trauma, and happiness. Loved them both so much!! There's a delicate examination of difficult feelings in this game, which I adored.

Play this game if you want a blend of farm simulator, creeping sense of tense horror every time it turns to 4 PM and you're not home yet (very effective at getting me to turn in on time and made me feel like such a rebel for sticking around to pick up a few more flowers), generational trauma, an examination of identity and sense of self, and sweet romance. :D loved it!

A eerily quaint but touching tale about slowly learning how to stand up for yourself. Phebe is your stereotypical doormat otome game heroine who agrees with everyone , but the repercussions of such a personality is on full display.  I also enjoyed the atmosphere of this game: the monotonous game play loop coupled with the yellow and green palette created a lulling ambience with just a hint of unease. 

As a certified villain lover, I went in the game expecting to like Hugh. I didn't.  However, I did like how f*cked up his ending was . I also found it hilarious that he was so horrible that even Fanny told you to stay away from him.

Speaking of Fanny, her ending was A .  I laughed at Phebe's employee-of-the-month smile in the ending CG. The two bonding over cloud gazing is so hilarious yet touching in a twisted sort of way.

Peyton is best boy. A genuine nice guy who also pushes Phebe to stand up for herself.  It was very sweet to see Phebe slowly and awkwardly warm up to him.

Expect some fanart doodle in the future.

-I feel like the amount of thought put into various aspects of this game is really impressive. The author's notes are worth it-- definitely read them. There's some srs wisdom there idk -- If I had a twitter I would screen some shiiiiit.
-It's hard for me to write something here without spoiling it but I would encourage players to think about the themes while playing it. There are a lot of games where the themes are entirely handed to you and this doesn't feel like one of those. But they're also not so obscured as to feel random or thoughtless. Very good balance.
-I knew I grew up when I finally managed to avoid the yandere in a game NOT TODAY SATAN
-The game is like western horror cute farm sim scifi. You'd think the genres would not work together but the game kinda nails it? -
-One of the things I really like about Heiden's games is the ability to move past cliches.
-Also can I just say the music is great?
- The farming sim owns my body (hmmmmm? Phrasing??? :3cccc) -- But really though I LOVE this addition to the game. Like I like that you can be very utilitarian and not farm too much at all. But I sure as hell wasn't. 
-I like that there is a character you don't date who still gives you an ending. 
-That goddess story insert was really cool even beyond the theme.
-I love the ending that I got ;u; It's nice to see something that isn't super saccharine but also isn't totally nihilistic. I guess this goes into the author's notes - but I really appreciate the middle=ground approach here.

That's what I can think of so far. I've played Elvine but now I do have to play Ziva! 

I absolutely could not stop playing this, but now I am stuck at Peyton's end T_T After the "..." choice, I just see the red background and don't seem to be able to do anything - I can access the inventory but that's about it.

I loved the slow build of the relationship between Phebe and Peyton, and the mysterious backgrounds of the characters and the town were enough to keep me planting bloody potatoes all day. The looming threat of nightfall was very tense in the beginning, until I got into a rhythm of the game.

Really enjoyed, but I have to know what happens!

Ngl Phebe was like a doll to me, she felt like she had no emotions but instead followed the will of what her father instructed her to do so, it's really intriguing and makes me want to know more of her past and what her and her father were like and if Phebe was a result or a casualty to the experiment Peyton has been referring to. Amazing demo, can't wait to see more~!

1. Thoughts on the characters so far?

Phebe - well I did share my thoughts above but she is quite eerie to me since I display a lot more emotions than her, makes me curious.

Peyton - I'm interested in his past and why he's entangled with Phebe's life, I'm actually really glad he was worried over Phebe cause this girl is like still water. And he's also really cool lmao.

Hugh - Just from those few minutes of interaction I could get a feel of his character, he's surely deeply entrenched in mystery and his constant usage of "dogs" makes me want to peek more but I might get my head chopped off, I sure do hope Hugh gets a soft spot for Phebe because man, if you didn't want people all over your business, stop being so mysterious!

Fanny - this woman is an icon, she's rough and blunt and goes by her own tune but it's entertaining to see that. None of the characters are the typical "good guys", everyone's got a secret of their own and are shaped by the wilderness of this town, Fanny looks to be more on the approachable side which is already saying a lot about the town. Great character A

2. Typos? 

None that I noticed, but I did notice that the characters' mouths would move despite there indicidating it was an action and not a dialogue, and the entire segment with meeting Hugh the sprites were kind of glitching in some ways and Hugh's mouth kept moving even though he wasn't saying anything.

3. Which of the two LIs are you most interested in? 

Honestly, both. I explained why in the characters but with the most chances I'll survive if I'm curious?? Totally Peyton because the man already has a soft spot over how Phebe just bluntly told the man "Ah yes, btw my dad is dead so yea, lol". Love that girl even if she unsettles me.

4. Would you be interested in being a beta tester for the finished game?

I'd be interested to! However I'm not sure how so unless you guys are patient with me or something I won't feel hesitant or burdened over my inexperience over it and would gladly help in any way I can~!

PHEBE IS A BABY AND I MUST PROTECC HER!!!

It was a good start hihi

1. Thoughts on the characters so far?

Phebe: BABY, ANGELLL😭😭

Peyton: A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG MAN ILY

Hugh: BOO GET OUT >:(( (unless you have a hat) 

Fanny: she's fanny- I mean funny. I like her

Dogs: woof

2. Typos? 

While I was playing I notice none. 

3. Which of the two LIs are you most interested in? 

I mean, Peyton is the true boyfriend material but I'm kinda interested/curious how things would turn out with Hugh.

4. Would you be interested in being a beta tester for the finished game?

Yes, count me in. >:D

And have a good rest!!!! you deserve it!!!! 

Hi  Heiden :)

 good demo of your visual novel,

Phebe life is hard, I feel sorry for her.

It seems Peyton has an issue with the grand father?

The Sherriff and Fanny, I am not sure what to think but they could have been nicer towards Phebe.

take time to rest :)