To The Wayside
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Is the price of freedom worth it? Elm has but a few months to find out... unless a human wouldn't mind sharing a monster's magical burden. Earn the locals' trust or die trying. Can Elm win them over without scaring them away? Or will their monstrous origins prove too much of a hindrance?
To The Wayside is a queer retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid in a visual novel format.
In this version of the tale, our protagonist is Elm, a leech-inspired monster wishing to explore the world outside of the swamp they grew up in. They find their opportunity through the aid of a witch, who allows them to take on a relatively human form in order to blend in amongst others.
Yet, the consequences are dire. Even as they seemingly have their wish granted, they face the difficulties of never being able to tell the truth about themself. While struggling to connect with the one they believe will grant them their happily ever after, they must desperately try to endure the effects of the enchantment. In the end, we’re left with this romantic tragedy, and it is up to the player to make the tough choices that could save Elm’s life.
- Read through 21k words of story content
- Play as a gender apathetic MC
- Overcome a slowly approaching affliction and an unrequited love triangle
- Explore 3 potential endings with a CG to accompany each
- Enjoy an original soundtrack
Please be aware To The Wayside includes subject matters unsuitable for certain audiences. We advise playing at your discretion if you are sensitive to the topics of death and violence.
Narrative Design: The Horizons System / Mx. RuK
Scriptwriting: dragontianna
Editing: VividRevolution
Art Direction: Mx. RuK
Sprites: Roh
Illustrations: Karma
Backgrounds: domesticdeity
GUI: angeltartz
Programming: EdgesSystem
Music Composition: Mateoninho
Sound Design: GEMINI PARALLELS / Diablo Luna / Audio Elk / danielsoundsgood
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Comments
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as I saw that somehow this gorgeous game didn't have much feedback yet I decided I had to play and give my opinion on it to the devs :3
first of all, UI for the main menu is so freakin creative and neat! Not only that but the game logo itself is just iconic in a way I'd expect from a popular VN from Steam that's like 19 dollars. Don't get me started on the ingame menu, it didn't need to be so detailed but I'm not at all complaining, quite the opposite.
Backgrounds: amazing, I can tell from the first glance that their was effort poured into each render
Writing: amazing and detailed, really puts the novel in visual novel
Characters: amazing, I really gew attached to them
Plot: literally i luv it smm, but i might b biased since i luv leeches and swamps lol
Overall: HOW IS THIS NOT MORE POPULAR YET
Wow! Thank you for your kind words!
The deadline for this project really pushed many of us to the limit, so hearing that it was all worth it is incredibly reassuring. We all appreciate you taking the time to write to us (and anyone else reading this!), because even with the analytics we've seen, nothing tops direct feedback!
We're so glad you enjoyed playing our game and we hope you'll stick around to see whatever comes next! 😄
No problem ^^! Hope your guy's next project goes well too, you're all so talented X3