Alice In! - Should You Play?

As you may or may not have noticed, over the last week or so I participated in Jamsepticeye.  A 5 day challenge to build a game around a specific theme. Voting was limited only to devs who participated so I didn't bother making any kind of cross promotional posts during the event as it would serve no real purpose.  However now that the event has concluded I wanted to give Project Red fans a few answers about what exactly Alice In! is, how it's related to Project Red, and of course answer the question; Should you play it?

Warning! Spoilers will be mentioned beyond this point.  If you want to play this prototype build of Alice In! blind, please do so before reading this article.  If you don't mind some light spoilers or have already played the game, continue reading for more information.

How does Alice In! connect to Project Red?

Alice In! is set within the same universe as Project Red.  In terms of timeline this game is effectively a Prequel to Project Red covering the weeks before Red awakens in Wonderland.  It technically goes beyond Red's first night in Wonderland but as we follow Alice's story that becomes somewhat irrelevant.  While Red is not the main character, she DOES make a cameo or two and of course the game builds off and expands the existing lore.  In terms of returning characters or concepts, Cheshire as well as her lore book returns to this game. However unlike in Project Red I have provided the FULL story of "Legend of the Grinning Cat" for you to enjoy.

In terms of new concepts, this game includes the debuts of, Alice, of course, as well as The Mad Hatter, The Jabberwocky, and The Queen of Hearts, with the White Rabbit appearing VERY briefly near the end of the game for a single shot.

Is this the canon version of Alice In?

Short answer. No.  Long answer.  Yes and no.

The jam version of Alice In! was designed to be built in 5 days.  Naturally this means that it cuts corners, leaves things out, condenses things, etc.  However virtually everything that you experience in this build will be present in the final game.  So it's more a case of, it's canon until I remake the game after Project Red.  At which point things may happen slightly differently, in different ways, or with refined writing and of course, art.

How much does the game jam version cover of the full Alice In! story?

Great question!  Alice In! - Jam Version is effectively act 1 (of a 3 act story) of the game in my mind.  To compare it to Project Red, it is similar to playing that games first 2 chapters.  These set up the story and characters, while featuring their own kind of gimmick gameplay.  Unlike Red however these chapters are meant to be more of a KH2 kind of thing.  Play as Roxas for a while just doing a daily life that meets a tragic end.  Then go on your wacky adventure in Wonderland.

Does the game include NSFW content?

No.  The game was created for a jam so, these things are not nsfw generally. There are some pretty obvious hints as to where the optional nsfw content would appear though as I didn't shy away from those sorts of themes despite the jam context.

Should I play Alice In?

This ultimately depends on you and what you want.  If you want to get a teaser of the future of the Lost Girls Fables story, well this is exactly that.  Take a break from Red and experience something different and new.  Meet Alice for the first time and the Mad Hatter, and even get your very first interaction with Dotty, the last heroine that completes my trio.  There's a lot here if you just want more lore.

If you want nsfw content.  There is none.  If you want voice acting.  There is none.  If you want new music, I DID include new tracks that are not found in Project Red. If you want good combat, well, that's been watered down.

I will say, even for those of you who might just wish to wait a few years for the final version of this game, I don't expect the core mechanic to survive currently.

One of the things I was unsure of over this past year was how I wanted to handle the day to day gameplay loop for Alice.  I leaned towards this sort of style I'd seen in a number of other life sim style games.  I'm not sure if it has a specific name.  But having tested it out for this jam I found it to be a little bit restricting.  There were certain events I really wanted to do but couldn't really convey without letting the player walk around an actual space.  So this jam version will always exist as a sort of "what if" idea of how the game might have ended up.

So ultimately, it's up to you and what YOU'RE looking for.  New lore, new characters, hints to the greater verse.  Go for it. Just don't expect a super polished quality game on par with Project Red.

If you want to keep things a surprise?  Then don't play it.  If you're only here for the lewd portions of my games, you won't get that.

Regardless I hope this has helped you understand what this new project is.

Now I've gotten a nice little break from Project Red thanks to all this.  But I think it's time I return to the end game. 

Thank you for your patience and letting me indulge myself in a little side quest!