Shared Beauty
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Shared Beauty is a dark fairy tale about jealousy, friendships lost, and aging, set in a fictional medieval German village.
Once upon a time, there was a poor village—one you and your friends hope a marriage to The Honourable Odan will save.
In an attempt to help the beautiful Faralda secure the noble's heart, you convince her to undergo a spell of youth and beauty. The noble falls head over heels for her, and all seems to be well.
It's only when the rest of you notice signs of premature—and rapid—aging that the spell's real cost is known.
Will you sacrifice your life for the village's—and love's—sake? Or will jealousy and desperation consume you?
9k+ Words
4 Endings
Beautiful Character Art
Background Art inspired by Lotte Reiniger's animations
Dynamic Cinematography
Winner of Best Itch Page and Best Thumbnail, Nominated for Best Cinematography in Spooktober VN Jam 2023.
Violence, Death, Blood, Manipulative Behavior, and
Gerascophobia (Fear of Aging).
Contains flashing imagery. Player discretion is advised.
- Direction, Writing, UI, Programming and Marketing by NiAsobu
- Character Art by Akua
- Editing by Allie Vera
- Logo, UI , Programming, Staging and Branding by ingthing
Tools Used
- Easy Renpy Gui by Fenik
- Action Editor
- Snowfall by tofurocks for particle effect
- Bloodsplatter FX Pack © 2020 Mia Rosado (BlueRoseSonata), CC-BY 4.0
Helpful Tutorials during development:
Upcoming game:
Download
Install instructions
This game may cause a 'do you trust this?' window to pop up upon installing. To solve this...
MacOS
- (Option 1) Go to settings, and click ‘open anyway’ in the privacy setting for trusted apps.
- (Option 2) Right-click/CTRL and click on the game icon, click ‘open’ once, then click ‘open’ again.
Windows
Click the ‘more information’ button, afterward click the ‘run anyway’ button.
Comments
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Do you know how great your game is!! Whether it's in terms of music, art style, or character portrayal, the only thing is that the protagonist is too miserable... (qwq). I feel a bit sad playing it, but it's not contradictory to him being a very, very good game
If you stumbled upon this page, don't be fooled by game's short length. It may be short but it manages to convey the message very well and the script is brilliant. It has amazing atmosphere and beautiful art<3
Hi! I'm a translator student, and I want to translate this game for my final bachelor's project. Do you have an email address, so I can contact you? Your game is stunning! :)
I've got all the endings and must say I adore the art, atmosphere and game overall. [spoiler?] In the end the protagonist cannot get a good ending for herself at all, which was unexpected, yet added so much to the beautiful story :]
Oh my gosh, the atmospheric!
The Art!!!! Stunning!
Very atmospheric dark fairytale with amazing visuals and beautiful character designs. The team did a great job!
I really liked the plot and setting, and the story base was quite unique imo. I'll share some additional thoughts on the characters -
Ok, so I know that in these sorts of stories the simplistic sort of audience tends to hate and villainize characters like Siglind and Miltraud. But nobody wants to die, and for very good reason. Though they, especially the protag, were super dumb to not read the entire thing with caveats.
Also even in the 'good' ending, while Faralda is a nice person, she isn't really repaying Isgard for all she did. Instead of doing her best to find the witch or find a cure for Isgard using her obviously big influence on Odan, she is merely shown naming her kid after her true friend. Although maybe she did try to do so, and it just wasn't shown. And her finding the cure to ageing effects would've weakened the impact of the protag's choice.
Odan sucks, he's hot and good to his wife but clearly has no qualms bleeding the poor villagers dry until Faralda wins him over. But that's well in line with how many among the nobility used to behave.
In short, every character in this story is flawed and realistic. Nobody is a true hero or selfless.
What a haunting story! The abandoned witch’s cabin with her eerie spells and the faceless protagonist give off a feeling of a place lost to history! The facelessness of most of the characters does so well in emphasizing how unseen the protagonist feels she and her fellow villagers are compared to Faralda and Odan. (I felt for the villagers that gave up their best food for someone already rich.)
I only wish there was more about the mysterious witch or a longer reflection of sorts before the end.
Spoilers The world and magical phenomena in Shared Beauty has captured my imagination! I wonder if the three of them got Faralda’s beauty after the end. Also if the witch became more wrinkled at times and younger later, does that mean she was killed to return the beauty to others?
Thank you so much for your kind comment!
An astonishing story of jealousy, bitterness, magic, and violence--I was completely drawn in. Beautiful character designs and movement, and characters that are at once both incredibly flawed and relatable. I love how often the characters in this story KNOW that what they're feeling or the way they perceive a situation is flawed and unfair--and we watch them struggle to come to terms with those feelings.
I've only gotten two endings so far, and I'm keen to get back to it and discover what else is writhing under the surface here.
Thank you so much for playing and this kind comment! I'm glad they are relatable as the writer and director. Can't wait what you think of the other two endings! Especially the Legacy Ending
An enchanting and haunting dark fairytale! I always enjoy stories that explore the cost of magic, and this does so with aplomb. Taking inspiration from Lotte Reiniger's art is also a brilliant choice: the grayscale backgrounds and the use of cutout silhouette sprites make Faralda and Odan stand out that much more as belonging to some world that is brighter and beyond reach for the other characters, and the half-NVL ui serves to add even more to the storybook quality. Beautiful work all around!
Aaaaa thank you so much!!
(Just copy-pasting what I said in spooktober page cause I truly did enjoy this game)
After completing the game and collected all 4 endings, I was honestly blown away by how much quality there is in this game. The writing, the UI, and the small animations were so effective and immersive. Truly a dark fairytale with no 'true' happy ending. Though, very believable given the circumstances. It's like 'getting hit with reality' when we see the consequences of the characters' actions and how there's no real way out of it. Either they go with the solution or live with what they've done. Even the 'best' ending was still tragic (but sweet) since Isgard, the protagonist, still has to live with what she's done despite doing the right thing. Though, I do appreciate how there's no last min solution to give a happy ending that would have felt forced.
I really liked the heroine we play as too. Especially how she's got some vices like her jealousy and how cold she can get depending on your choices. Yet can still do better and does have a soft side. It's amusing how much of a 'side character' she was while Faralda felt more like a 'main character' with her kind nature, beauty, and capturing the heart of the stoic noble. Something you'd see in a regular romance story. Small note: I would've loved to see more of the two girls' friendship! I enjoyed the few scenes they had.
It may have been a short game, I still enjoyed everything about it and would LOVE to check out a longer version or more games from the dev!
Thank you so so much for checking out our game and enjoying it!! Especially enjoying all the things we paid attention to. I'm also super happy you wanted to see more of the characters I wrote! You can check out more of my games here https://night-asobu.itch.io/
Literally all i can think about is how pretty odan is hahahahaha
I'm sure I can think of other things to say about this VN but he is just too pretty...
My heart...
Aaaaa.........
If Spooktober had a 'most handsome character' rating category, I think Odan would win hands down (at least, in my heart)
Thank you for blessing my unworthy eyes with such a beautiful bishounen 🙏🙏🙏
Oh, and the music and cinematography in this VN are top notch! The presentation is really good all around; you did a great job!
EBIIII! Thank you so much!!! Akua really did an awesome job with his design and sprite! I'm super happy you like our team's game!!!
A beautiful and haunting story. I didn't have time to do all the routes during stream but I went back to get all the endings off stream! The cinemaphotography is amazing and you really feel for all the characters involved in the story. The suspense really built up as a OH BOY WHAT DO WE DO NOW? The gallery is also super cool!
Honestly I'm a lil conflicted because I kinda wish we had a glimpse of Miltruad and Siglind's appearances considering the role they play in this is (in my opinion) pretty big and might give more weight when you er... don't follow their lead. BUT I do understand the nature of this VN to be very storybook like and for the focus to be on Isgard, Faralda and Odan. The usage of silhouettes for everyone else really highlights Faralda's beauty.
P.S. Apologies for thinking Isgard was a male character at the start of the playthrough. I didn't remember the character images at the time :')
Thank you so much for playing our game and even going back to get all the endings! The silhouettes do fit the eerie atmosphere we wanted to create for our story, but it was also a decision regarding scope, to finish it in a month! But your point is valid, Siglind and Miltraud do play a huge rule.
Well, dark fairy tale is right...
What a delightful game, I loved it! The art is great, the story is even better, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It's been a while since I've gotten so invested. Great work!
Here's my little take. No facecam or commentary. I did it in small bite-size bith to make the tension last...
Thank you so much for giving our game a try and getting invested. That always makes my writer's heart happy :3 Also really thankful for the let's play!
This game has been a beautiful experience from start to finish. I played alongside two members of my own team, with one of them reading along, and we were amazed at how gorgeous the GUI was!
Then, as we went through the story, I became more and more immersed, theorizing what could be happening and reasoning. It was absolutely captivating! I was devastated upon getting the traitor ending first, but gosh those cinematics are soooo cool! We went ahead to get all the endings and by the last one, Legacy, I cried, you made me cry! I loved it, it broke my heart in a beautiful way.
The moral of this story for me is: Read the instructions and side effects properly before performing a spell with your squad.
Thank you so much, your comment really warms my heart!! I think getting the Legacy Ending last is a pretty good way to finish Shared Beauty. Our whole team reads the comments, so you appreciating our work really means a lot.
(Copied from my Spooktober rating page review to help this game within itch.io's algorithm!)
Shared Beauty is exactly what it advertises itself to be: a dark fairytale with no happy conclusion (I think? - I got 3 out of the 4 endings, and they were all very sad). This isn't a bad thing at all - it means it got across its tone as intended.
The character art is lovely - especially the CGs. I love the way the key visuals in the game were rendered: they felt very professional. And speaking of visuals - the cinematography in this work was lovely too. I could tell you really used the Ren'Py Action Editor well here - especially in scenes with little gestures like Isgard, Faralda and the other village girls walking to Odan's tent.
I genuinely wonder how you did it - because I've begun using the Action Editor itself and while its a very useful tool, it can get very... fiddly at times, haha.
I also think the presentation of the in-game UI adds to the "fairytale" feeling - with all of the dialogue and descriptions taking place in one NVL window. There aren't many NVL-only titles for jams like these, so I'm glad to see this form of visual novel get a bit more love.
On the writing front; I do really like the central themes of beauty and envy, especially when it comes to Faralda. Faralda's beauty makes the other village women jealous, but she's a genuinely sweet and thoughtful girl... which makes seeing her fate in some endings all the harder.
All in all, well done! Thanks for bringing this title into the world.
Thank you so much for your in-depth review! It's so rewarding to see so many things we paid attention to being mentioned. Our team really worked hard! Our wizard ingthing really did her magic with Action Editor. She brings that same expressive use of Action Editor in her own visual novel Of Sense and Soul as well!
One thing I can mention is that I prepared the BGs in layers, so she was able to manipulate the depth of each one.
"Dark fairy tale" really is the perfect descriptor for this game. The story is haunting, the endings are gut-wrenching, and the simple, monochrome style with splashes of colour really suit the atmosphere. Wonderful work!
ENDYSIS!! Thank you so much! I really loved your game kit, so it makes super happy to hear you liked our game!!
AH, right back at you! Thank -you- so much for playing my game! ;-;
This hurt a lot. It was such an amazing story, though. I loved the storytelling of it all with the cinematography and artstyle -- so beautifully tragic.
(I also really wanted to say that I absolutely love the logo - the S and the B entangling each other to represent the title, ugh so brilliant.)
Thank you so much for playing it! It's always great that my writing evoked emotions in others. And the wonderful logo was made by ingthing!
This game was amazing. I loved the art style, the setting, the writing was really great as well!
I did a lets play of only one of the endings, and personally I don't know if I could bare to see the others. I'm so glad I got the ending I did!
You can check it out here, I have made sure to link the game so people can support you!
Feralda really is beautiful.. and I think that some people could relate to the bitterness or jealously that might come from seeing someone like that. Even if that person is your dear friend. I think it's a human emotion, and it was captured wonderfully.
Wishing for your success!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! Really rewarding after working a month on this game with my team. And even making a let's play! That really made my day
Drama? Check
Historical setting? Check
Mystery? Check
Omnious spells? Check!
I'm definitely gonna play this
Happy to hear!! Can't wait for you to play it!