Wish You Were Here!: A Fresh Start
Afterlife comes at you fast!
A group of friends find their friendships put to the test as life comes at them a bit too quickly to process. Riley, who has recently moved, navigates relationships with their friends while making sure they don't push themself too far in the process. The gang promised to always be together... but now, things are changing.
Wish You Were Here!: A Fresh Start was produced for the Hand Eye Society's Super FESTival 2022! This game features:
- 10 chapters of quirky fun! Everything is all good, all the time and your friendships are definitely OK in these strange times! Wish You Were Here aims to be a relaxing, cozy experience. Though the story is primarily linear, the choices you make impact the way all of conversations play out! 💖 👻
- Build your own character! The main character's appearance is customizable--yes, even in the jam version of this game. There are over 90 customization options to apply to your own funky li'l zombie! 🧟 👚
- Play at your own pace! Progress is saved at the end of the day, so you can return at any time you want! With 10 chapters to go through (and more on the way), there is no pressure to burn through it all in one sitting. There's even a summary at the start of each day to remind you of previous events! 💻 🌅
Playable in-browser or on Windows platforms only (download below)!
Developed by:
- Seamus Ly // Programming, Writing, UI
- caiabresebun // Character Art & Illustrations, Writing
With assets by:
- Cyberleaf Studio // Modern UI SFX
- lolurio // Melodrama Anime Music Pack I, Slice of Life Anime Music Pack I
game information
how to play
To play, press SPACE or use your LEFT MOUSE BUTTON to advance the dialogue. You can press and hold TAB to fast-forward through a conversation (this may not properly print the dialogue to the chat however!).
When you are presented with a choice, you will be able to toggle between choices by using the arrows below the speech bubble. To confirm a choice, click on the bubble itself.
If you want to view the chat log during a conversation, press the 
button. To exit the chat log, simply press it again.
social battery
You have a 'Social Battery' that gets used up with each conversation you engage in. You are able to continue chatting past your limit, but it will not recharge to full when starting a new chapter if you do. Some dialogue will change depending on how much energy you have, so be sure not to wear yourself too thin!
come back at any time
Whenever you log on, a recap of what happened the last time you chatted will be available to you so you can pick back up from where you left off. This is our way of telling you that you can take this game at your own pace!
Not everyone can sit down and sift through lots of text in one go, so be sure to prioritize yourself first. Your save data will remain until you decide to clear it from the Main Menu.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Wow, it's been a while! (v1.04 is out now)May 08, 2023
- WYWH! Jam Edition: Bug Fixes & Build UpdatesOct 16, 2022
Comments
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amazing game! ilove the artstyle the characters and everything
but there was a problem, on the web it doesn't load at all, so I downloaded and played through and when I got to the end it just turned black with the little moon in the corner I tried pressing it and it doesn't let me out or to the main menu
aa i had such a wonderful time playing this game!! i played it at a really timely point in my life and it hit pretty hard haha--but it was just what i needed to hear, i think !!
the art was so so cute (and the character customization was so fun! what a nice lil touch ^^), the writing felt so genuine, and i could see myself and my friends in each of these characters <3 i teared up a bit chatting with chico and i definitely teared up playing through Part 10 ;w;;
i did notice i had some bugs with dialogue options on Part 8 when talking to abi though! the first option was okay, but after that it tended to repeat old dialogue options (this is on the web build, btw!)
at the end of that day, i also noticed that it said i only had 1 conversation when i had talked to both chico and abi :0 the next day, the recap had the two conversation events, but they both showed up twice
also, i think i got stuck at the end of Part 9 ;o; after sending everybody messages, i went through the cutscene, but the "end day" button wouldn't advance--i even tried starting Part 9 with the scene selection (loaded without choices) but no luck :( (still on the web build! i didn't try it on the windows build)
Hello! Sorry for the time it took me to get back to this, I appreciate you being so detailed in documenting the bugs though, thank you very much ❤
I'll be looking into these bugs soon and will hopefully have fixes ready! Things have been quite busy, but I will be sure to let you know when a new build has been uploaded. Thank you again! :)
adorable game! all the characters are so cute and I love the music :)
sorry that I'm just like everyone else, here to report a bug :( on day 3, after I accept chico's offer, he says a line about xander seeming busy and no more dialogue displays after that
I'm still able to return to the main menu, and if I click harmonious again, my social battery is full even if I'd already had a conversation; I'm guessing that's unintended? happens on both browser & app
The fix to the Chapter 3 dialogue failing with Chico has been fixed, and a more detailed breakdown of what was happening has been posted to the game's update devlog!
Progress is saved at the end of a session, rather than once you complete a conversation. If you were at full battery at the beginning of the day, quitting mid-chapter and starting again would start you at full even if you've spoken to somebody that day. Upon investigating, we did find that there were some unintended effects that were not related to what you were describing (unless we've misinterpreted!) and those fixes have been pushed out as well.
Thanks for your kind words and for your patience with us while we figure this out! Any feedback is greatly appreciated so we can hopefully iron out all the kinks! 🙏
lovwe the game :) absolutely immaculate vwibes
ONLY issue is that wvhen i get to the chat wvith xan (on i THINK day four?) it just kinda breaks? gets to the line relating to abbi being disappointed and the entire thing just freezes
ivwe played it in both the browvser and dowvnloaded vwersions and it just isnt wvorking?
really lovwe the game so far tho :) hopin' itll be fixed in a bit lol
Hi! Sorry that there was a game-breaking error preventing you from continuing your session! A new build has been uploaded that should fix the problems you were running into, but if it persists, please let me know.
I hope you can finish up the game, and I'm so glad that you've been enjoying it so far! 💖 😊
sorry to inform you of this, my dude, but it still isnt wvorkin :p ,, got like an extra sentence out of the convwo but it still froze
dunno if its just somethin up wvith my devwice or not (i dont think it is but ya nevwer knowv) ://
Thanks again for your patience with us while we figure this out, and for checking both versions of the build just in case! :O
After testing it a few different ways as a team, we believe the issue should finally be resolved.
In short, it was stalling out as it was trying to grab variables that were non-existent at that point in the dialogue as a result of a faulty loading process from the Main Menu. The Scene Selection has been updated to be a bit more clear, and now when you load into a chapter from it, it should progress properly!
cool cool
vwery many thanks dude :)
lookin forvward to playing the rest of the game :D
This game is so very cool, it's incredibly relatable, and the characters are so cute. One issue, at least on the browser version, when you get to day Six, the game kind of breaks and freezes. Dialogue options seem to be missing for Chico and then you can't even leave the game. (Also, it somehow glitched where when you turn down Chico to take Abi's offer it takes Chico's offer anyway, during day...3?)
Either way, incredible job, just haven't been able to get through all the days just yet. I haven't downloaded the windows version, but maybe it's a centralized error?
Thanks so much for reporting the bugs, and sorry that it happened! 😔
A new build has been uploaded and should hopefully fix the issues you were having. If something else comes up, please feel free to let us know again and we'll try and fix it ASAP! 💖
heyo! really enjoying the dialoge, interface and cute art (fan of caiabresebun since b4!)
but I'm having the same problem on day 6 in the windows 1.01 version. more specifically, it was on the "hehe,, i'll be sure to make it to the next movie night" bit. I could still go to settings and stuff back to the desktop view in the game but when I came back, all the dialoge options were gone (I took Chico first after the group chat).
I needed a break anyway so it's cool but I'm def looking forward to seeing the rest of the game! :)
Hi! Thanks so much for bringing the persisting issue to my attention and I'm sorry you were still encountering it! ;o;
They should be fixed (for real this time!!) in the 1.02 version just uploaded! To help with getting back to where you were as well, a new function has been added that will let you jump to the scene you'd like after applying choices from the scene select menu (the clapper on the task bar on the desktop). It's sort of like a debug for convenience's sake since the game has a lot of parts!
Take your time getting through it! We really appreicate the kind words 😊 💖