A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux

Story:

You're a high school troublemaker who was caught committing a petty crime. During your winter break, you had two options: fish trash out of a polluted river for a week or pay a hefty fine. Being as broke as you are, fishing it is. Luckily, you’ve been paired with two cute guys! Not-so-luckily, something doesn’t seem quite right with this water… Well, it’s probably nothing. Let’s hope you can "catch" a date with one of the boys by the end of the week before your community service is over!

Reel Me In is a short horror dating sim visual novel… with fishing?
Made for Winter Visual Novel Jam 2023.


This game contains body horror, death, and strong language.

Trigger Warnings: Ommetaphobia, Trypophobia 


Features:

  • Certain decisions will heavily affect how the game plays out
  • 2 love interests
  • Gender-neutral player character
  • 6 Endings
  • Fishing mini-game with collectible “fish” (Can you catch ‘em all?)
  • Around 30 min per playthrough


Credits:

Developed by renbie

Additional Resources:

Music from ChillMindscapes
Backgrounds & sound effects from Pixabay
GUI template and HyperCard graphics from Eliot Gardepe
Huge thanks to the playtesters: HusbandoGoddess, Zejbo, and Maddie


I hope you enjoy and if you do, please rate or leave a comment if you can! Your support means everything to me!

Updated 19 days ago
StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Rating
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars
(29 total ratings)
Authorrenbie
GenreVisual Novel
Made withRen'Py
Tagsbl, Dating Sim, Fishing, Horror, LGBTQIA, Otome, Pixel Art, Ren'Py, Romance, Yaoi
Average sessionAbout a half-hour
LanguagesEnglish
InputsKeyboard

Download

Download
Reel-Me-In-2.0-pc.zip 226 MB
Download
Reel-Me-In-2.0-mac.zip 220 MB

Development log

Comments

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I really like this game and how unique it is. I didn't expect it to take such a turn towards the end. I especially like both Kaito and Yun's personalities and how they're both likable in their own way. This seems to be your first game and I think you did super well. I hope that you make more games in the future.

(+1)

Thank you so much for checking out my little game and your super kind words!! That means so much to me!!♡♡♡

Im disturbed. 5 stars

(+5)

thank u! (。•̀ᴗ-)✧

(+1)

OHMYGOD😭. (imthefish)

(1 edit) (+2)

I found this game by chance and I LOVED every second of it! First up, the graphics and the UI??? Hello??? They are literally so good and so unique! The moving background and the sprites really made the game feel more alive! I also find the interactions between the players, Kaito, and Jun really fun. Each characters are so likable in their own way, but I have to say, I fell for Kaito hook, line, and sinker (haha get it? get i--)! He's just so lovable. The RNG seemed to realize this and it kept giving me fishes that Kaito would like LMAO 

Before I get into spoiler talk below, I want to say that I did a quick doodle of the boys. It's a bit scuffed, but I really hope I did them justice 😭



(Spoilers below)



Somehow, I didn't expect the slimy endings. I did play this at 2 AM, so my brain wasn't working as effectively, but this made the reveal so much more shocking. I went for Kaito first and the shot of the black parasite/goo overtaking him jumpscared me so hard, but I loved it! The shot was so unsettling and creepy in a good way! The fact that Fukuoka seems to be doomed even in the good endings made me feel so bad for the boys. Well, at least they seem happy to be dating the player before shit hits the fan...

Edit: If there's one criticism that I can give, it's the fact that there's no log. I sometimes accidentally clicked twice and completely missed a dialogue, so a log to show previous dialogues would be nice (Unless there is one and I completely missed it... in that case, I'm sorry and ignore this part ;;)

All in all, I just really love this game! There's a lot of love and care poured into it and it definitely shows! I've also read your postmortem devlog and found your story to be both relatable and really inspiring! I'm glad that you found joy in creating things and I certainly hope to see more from you in the future. I'll be wishing the best of luck with your upcoming project! Thank you for creating this fun little gem and sharing it with us!! :D

(+1)

Oh man, this comment genuinely made me tear up. I cannot describe how much your insanely kind words mean to me, especially coming from someone as incredibly talented as yourself!! While I can’t help but feel undeserving of such praise, I am so, SO happy you enjoyed it!!

I have been staring at your drawings non-stop and I’ve made both of them my lock/home screen on my phone ♡╥﹏╥♡ You are so talented and captured them perfectly, I never imagined someone would enjoy the boys enough to draw art of them, thank you SO much holy shit!!!

(Spoilers)




I was so nervous putting this out that the horror wouldn’t actually scare anyone, so to hear you were jumpscared (as strange as it sounds) fills me with such relief lol!! Also, I was wondering if anyone would pick up on the fact that the “good” endings aren’t all that good in the end, so once again I am so happy that came through! I 10000% agree with you on the log, unfortunately the implementation of the fishing game completely broke the log/rollback so I regrettably had to omit it, but I am for sure including one in every project after this; I really apologize to you and everyone else as I know how annoying that is!!

Once again I seriously cannot thank you enough, this just made me so overjoyed. I hope you have an absolutely wonderful day/night!!! ♡♡♡♡♡

(+1)

OOH! I am honored to have my art be used as your lock/home screen!! Thank you! I'm really glad to hear that nailed the drawings! I also want to let you know that you are also VERY talented and that you're underselling yourself, and this game is proof of that! (It's sometimes easy to forget that though, so I hope whenever you look back to my art or other people's comments, you'll be reminded of that :D)




(spoilers below)


Don't worry about the horror, it really felt creepy to me and the unease during the good endings is so good! (I'm literally repeating myself sorry LMAO) 

I had an inkling that you had to omit the log for a good reason, but still thank you for taking my comment about the log into consideration!

Lastly, you're welcome and take care! Best of luck with your endeavors!! :DD

(+3)

I love this game so much. The aesthetics of this are just so good!! The music also made the experience very enjoyable for me. The boys are also so easy to love!! Though I have to admit that I like Jun a tiny bit more ;p Took the time to get all the endings and I definitely enjoyed each one. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful game!!! Definitely looking forward to future works from you ^^

(+1)

No, thank YOU for playing!! Hearing you guys enjoyed it means the absolute world to me! Thank you so so much for your support and kind words!! ♡╥﹏╥♡

(1 edit) (+1)

Created an account just to comment!! This game was sooo cute and I fell for Kaito!! He's super sweet and silly and I adored him sm more than I expected ><!! I really love the pixel art and!! I love the fishes!! As someone who likes pixel art, fishes, and slight horror, this game was so fun for me! I enjoyed all of the routes and endings! I also liked the game pacing and the game mechanics, I started fishing just for fun lol! Thank you so much for creating such an amazing game!!

Also!! Am I by chance allowed to make fanart of them?

WOW this is the nicest thing ever, thank you so much for your incredibly high praise, I am SO happy you enjoyed it! I’m glad there are also others out there who enjoy the niche of horror fishing lol!

And absolutely you can, I would be overjoyed at fanart!!! Thank you again!!♡♡


(1 edit) (+1)

They're both so fricken cute ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-
If I had to pick a favorite I'd say Kaito, he's so PRECIOUS adsfhgjj
LOVE the unique art style & story, I became way too invested in collecting different fish than I should've lol.

(+1)

omg thank you soooo much for your immensely kind words! It makes me incredibly happy knowing you enjoyed the guys and the fishing!!♡♡

(+2)

AGHHH I LOVE THIS SMSMSMSM ITS GIVING JUNJI ITO BUT WITH CUTE BOYS! Ohhh Jun, my beloved <3

That is like the highest compliment ever, thank you so much!! Glad you enjoyed it! ♡♡♡


(+1)

Me and my friend spent all night playing this absolutely gorgeous game. The characters and story were captivating and beautiful and we both attached to the characters in a matter of seconds lol. I really truly hope to see more of Kaito and Jun in the future or any more works you may do <<33

(+1)

This is the sweetest thing ever, I cannot thank you enough for your insanely kind words! I'm so happy you guys enjoyed it and liked Kaito and Jun!! ♡╥﹏╥


(+1)

this game is so cutee i had a really good time playing it , i still cant get over how cute jun is  q w q

(+1)

Thank you so much for your kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed! Thanks for playing!!♡♡

(+1)

This made for quite a memorable experience and I sincerely enjoyed playing (even though I did quite poorly. lol). ^_^; I'll play again and try for a better ending next time. :3

Wow, thank you SO much for checking out my little game and your kind words in your review! ♡♡ I'm so sorry you struggled figuring out the mini-game at first, you do get a little tutorial if you tell Kaito "no" when he asks if you know how to fish, but I probably should have made that more clear haha! Oops!

You're welcome, it was my pleasure! Ohh ~ Gotcha, that makes sense. Thanks for letting me know! ^_^

(+2)

Really enjoyed this game! I love the black and white artwork and the body horror elements were superb. I played through every ending and Kaito is my favorite, even though the RNG refused to spawn any fish I could give him T_T awesome job <3

(+2)

This comment makes me incredibly happy, thank you so, so much!!! I’m so glad you liked Kaito despite the bad rng haha!♡

(+1)

To my own surprise, I spent the whole evening doing the fishing of garbage ... and I liked it! I felt stupid but could not stop)) I hope that we will still see your new projects and get no less pleasure.

(+1)

I'm so happy I filled your evening with trash lol!! Thank you so much for your support! ♡

(+2)

I love how unique this is! The horror elements are creepy and the characters are charming, and I love the art!!!

(+1)

Wow, thank you so much!! I'm so glad you enjoyed ♡