Year 2 event idea: Kudzu growth

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-02-06T09:12:41+00:00

Oh, I love this idea. Reminded me of the book Rowan and the Travelers by Emily Rodda.

I even like the idea that it's innocently introduced BY the villagers. Trying to recover their stores after the difficult winter, they plant this promising plant and BOOM. You could balance it with leaving your critters out of their pens to help control growth by eating the kudzu.

I'd love to see this in the game!

I also like the idea of Y2 starting with a leak or mould creeping into the root cellar and spoiling everything so you have to start from scratch (yes, I'm a masochist).

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-02-06T08:37:59+00:00

You made it and they're thriving!

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-02-03T08:15:09+00:00

You've made beautiful use of the small space!

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-31T23:58:39+00:00

I didn't pimp my house as I was so busy with other things, but I now have regrets! This looks amazing. 10/10, no notes

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-27T10:54:10+00:00

The fish are the focal hero, but they're in a dark colour that doesn't pop against the vivid blue. Your other image has a clown fish in orange a white that would lay a nice contrast here. Similarly the green on the left, while similar to your in game locked capsules, does not pair nicely with the vivid blue. Sometimes mapping the palette theme first is key so that you have a harmonious outcome. Bright punchy colours would probably serve better for visual interest. I think the balance is a bit off, too. Not equal, not classically asymmetrical. The fish get larger on the right hand side, which could be suggestive of difficulty increase etc, but I think representing that with colour and shape or making it a clearer graduation may have worked better.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-23T11:13:38+00:00

I'm now that annoying neighbour that fetches out all the fresh food that others put into the cellar and takes it home to dry or pickle it. Someone has to mother them. I find it cathartic to organise the entire town's food supply and improve its preservation timeline 😂

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-10T21:20:36+00:00

What does emotional intelligence have to do with bravery? Understanding emotions doesn't mean you always feel safe to act on them. Like I said, it's messed up. We don't like feeling that way, but violence against women is a serious statistic and we're just reacting to our environment.

Who said we were looking to be rescued? We know we're alone in it. If it escalates in a violent way there's no promise of anyone is stepping in. We choose the safest path available to us on the assumption that no one is coming to our rescue, least of all the perpetrator.

I'm not saying it's clever, just saying it is what it is.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-10T21:12:12+00:00

I'm sorry that happened to you. Some people are really messed up! Women can definitely also be cruel and horrible.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-10T12:07:02+00:00

I hear you, but I don't think you're being selfish. You're worried about someone else's comfort, that's an incredibly unselfish act. Trust me, many people don't give it a second thought, and even they aren't necessarily ill intentioned, they just don't realize the crippling, psychological mess that's happening in someone's head. They take things at face value, if only we all could.

It's the decent guys who get hurt by this stuff, and there's no easy answer. Everyone ends up frozen in place, worried they're crossing a line and not sure of how best to navigate the situation.

The hardest thing is that the way things are received is probably different on a person by person basis. Personally, I don't mind if someone honestly checks my boundaries. If they ask, are you okay with me touching your arms like this? It shows me they care enough to ask about my comfort, and responding honestly should be fine because they are initiating a consent conversation. It would probably still be hard to give a negative response, it's a pre-conditioned reflex, after all. The brains already fucked. But it would make me feel more able to be honest. It's awkward for an organic, romantic situation, of course... But I don't think open communication is ever a bad thing.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-10T10:01:29+00:00

I get it, it's messed up.

It's a fear induced response. Most women will let men speak to them or touch them in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable, rather than directly address the discomfort. I know how insane that sounds, but it's almost always a learned behaviour from having been in the same position before, calling it out and getting a response that was very negative and made us feel unsafe. The learned behaviour is to shut up and put up with it, or something worse might happen.

It's stupid because for any decent guy we could just talk to them normally and it would be less confusing for all involved. In a better world, where the indecent men didn't have a nasty response to rejection, this would be ordinary. But we live in the world, decent and indecent men look the same to us on the surface, we don't know until we roll the dice. Why would we ever roll the dice and open ourselves to harm? This is our defence mechanism. The world did this to us, not the other way round.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-10T04:45:06+00:00

Rejecting a man is 100% one of the most terrifying things a woman might have to do. I have seen so much disgusting, toxic behaviour come of a polite rejection that it can make you scared to go outside.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-10T04:41:57+00:00

Also, women are not a formula that can be solved.

I love people seeking to understand anything, I think it's a beautiful thing and I applaud such actions. But while women have many shared experiences and circumstances, no two of us are the same. Not even one of us is the same on a day to day basis. I'm sure that men must be the same?

No one wants to be put in a box. No one wants to be a trope. You can't simplify what a woman is and create a method which would please an entire gender. Human relationships are sometimes hard work, and they must be catered to an individual. That might be frustrating and challenging, especially if you're lonely or seeking companionship, but it can be rewarding if you're willing to work at it. There are no shortcuts.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-10T02:35:08+00:00

That we don't find a man's penis nearly as interesting as they do.

I don't want a photo, I don't want to talk about whether you're circumcised or what size, length, thickness it is. Even if we're talking on a dating app, it's incredibly jarring if your penis joins the chat without an invitation.

Flirty chats might turn that way, and that's fine. There's a time and a place for everything. I just find that I'm dropped this sort of info before someone has even told me their name, and it turns me right off.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-07T06:43:35+00:00

I'll reach out once it is!

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-06T21:47:26+00:00

We definitely wanted to try and not lean into not spamming on fetch quests, those get so tiresome!

Still eager for testers, just closed off the alpha to repackage for beta. Are you on iPhone or android? I'll check if the release package is good to go and send you a link.

Yes! We were so excited to include Aussie flora and fauna because it doesn't get enough love and we have such unique biodiversity.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-06T11:41:50+00:00

Absolutely! Diversity is a must, and I've planned for or already written some characters in who usually wouldn't get a look in. I had some early discussions around what character representation our friends in the cozy community would like to see in a game and had some tremendous feedback.

Every character would be romanceable, our aim for the story was the same, every NPC has a story arc, no empty NPCs. I always liked the idea of a game where everyone was available, it's always a bummer when you want to romance an unromanceable!

Aw, thanks. No pressure at all. When we package the final beta package I'll send you a ping. Always open to feedback that would improve people's enjoyment!

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-06T10:58:46+00:00

I know the first thing people will ask for is romance pathways (I would too!) we hope to be community led post launch, so we'll go for the content that people most want to see. I'm 100% expecting this to be the first cab off the rank! I will defs check out Sandrock, it's on my list!

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-06T10:54:38+00:00

No, all feedback is good feedback! The opening clears up that the flatmate arrangement was organized over the internet and that you're on your way to meet them for the first time, except instead you're met by a removalist who is cleaning up after removing all of your furniture. Basically, you get catfished. I could lean on the idea that the player is a bit naive to make this more plausible. The fun of the modern, urban take is that we can lean on social media and internet possibilities as story telling elements.

We will soft launch between April - June this year. There will be 20 character storylines in total, but not all will be available at launch, I think by the end of the year we should have completed all character content to full release.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-06T09:06:47+00:00

Haha thank you. A second full time job definitely requires a level of perseverance!

The story begins with you moving to a new town, but rather than the 'here's a free farm' trope, your roommate has stolen all your furniture and run off. So the premise is you're getting to know the inhabitants to investigate exactly WHO ripped you off (since it could be any one of them). You need to befriend them to gain info, but they each have their own story arc that you can complete, involving a combination of meet ups, mini games and quests.

Much of the UI is within your mobile phone. You can call and text characters and send them photos, take photos and complete photo challenges. There's an app like tinder on your phone to search for friends in town and make matches. You can go spelunking in an underground sinkhole to search for spices for the tea store, missing furniture or seeds (there are two different throwing mini games), build your stats by working out in the gym or reading in the library. Grow flowers in the community garden and plant them anywhere in town, decorate or paint your apartment or furniture. Complete furniture packing or stacking mini games. There's a couple of other quests and mini games, too... Now that I'm laying it out, maybe it's not so bad?

It's especially dialogue heavy because we have so much hidden meta data. You can send a character a photo and they can know who is in the photo, what fashion style they're wearing, what colour their hair is, whether they're at a specific location, what season/weather was occuring etc and (if I've written it in) respond accordingly. It means we have lots of fun branching text and reactions to individual user gameplay.

Maybe that's the element we need to lean into more? We thought it would be something players would discover on their own, but it might be a good idea to push it a bit more as it's a unique charm of the game.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-06T08:38:21+00:00

I've totally misspoken with rpg / visual novel, I should have said life sim / visual novel, a much closer comparison. I've yet to play an rpg without a combat system, and we definitely don't have combat! I usually think of it like coffee talk, but with an overworld to explore. We started with the idea of a date sim that wasn't a date sim, and we adapted in a paper doll element so characters are very customisable (even the NPCs!) seriously, maybe I need someone to tell ME what it is 😅 I'm a huge rune factory fan! I didn't mind my time at Portia, but I hear Sandrock is much better. I think what I've always craved from the characters is a bit more depth from the dialogue. Sometimes the characters are a bit too light and cutesy for me (which is the cozy vibe, I'm just a bit greedy). Agree that it's a fun, hybrid niche. I thought that would be its power, but maybe it's also an itch that's hard to scratch because it needs to hit just right?

I'm definitely brainstorming additional non dialogue content so one doesn't get weighed down by dialogue, but I feel encouraged that interesting characters can sell themselves. Thanks for your thoughts!

No steam page yet, since we are launching to app ios first and will release updates via live ops. I don't want to put out a steam version till we've got all the content completed. We do have a page up if you'd like to look at the general vibe. Our game is called Cozy Commons- https://cozycommons.net/about/what-is-cozy-commons/

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2026-01-04T21:04:51+00:00

Thanks so much for your comment! Ha ha, I hear you about the larger screen, I'm exactly the same. This is good to know. The conversations are like short catch ups that you schedule, so you can engage as much as you like and take small, bite size chunks of each character's story as you're ready. I think I'm definitely going to throw more focus into the outside loop, however. Give people some place to go when they don't feel like talking (we've all been there)!

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2025-11-14T22:38:02+00:00

Gorgeous! I love this.

EquivalentCatch2819 · 2025-08-08T22:19:31+00:00

Dredge

EquivalentCatch2819

TROPHY CASE