Since then, Amy’s first art featured Matt holding a playing card for a unknown reason. Amy stopped using traditional art when she joined bootyfinder deviantART, and mostly draws on her tablet now. Amy uses paint tool sai and photoshop to draw and Flash MX 2004 to make her Sim Dates.
Most of them were dating sims, but there were a couple of visual novels/point-and-click adventures taking place in the same universe as her dating games, featuring characters who crossed over. Many fans who grew up with the Pacthesis games wonder where she went. Her DeviantArt profile’s comments are full of people asking for another game or wishing her well, whatever she may be up to. Even on other social media, former fans reflect on their many late nights playing her games and the fun little interconnected world that they all existed in. Others talk about how Pacthesis introduced them to the dating sim genre — and to fandom in general.
Fan Feed
At that point, Amy had only made three games, but she’d sunk many late nights into them and wanted to continue. Mochi Media gave her enough to “cover a few bills,” she said, and she would continue to submit her games till Mochi Media closed down in 2014. “This game was so cute that I actually started to play this type of games ,” reads a 2010 comment on the Wonderland Days Sim Date page. Star Days begins with a grieving Tara, whose childhood friend Lee has passed away from a terminal illness.
Your amazing father decides that this would be the perfect day to get you a man! He presents you with a machine that will give you the man of your dreams. All you have to do is answer a few questions and the machine will select the most suitable partner from anywhere in the universe and teleport them to the castle. Yes, the machine essentially kidnaps whoever you choose, and with no other choice, they go on a date with you. Note that this tier works best if you are an active supporter, I want people to feel like they are really getting their money’s worth each month. In 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade, Amy’s older brother Matt taught her how to draw.
By supporting creators you love on Patreon, you’re becoming an active participant in their creative process. As a member, you receive exclusive content, community access, behind-the-scenes updates, and the pride of fueling work that matters to you. As of August 2020 Pacthesis returned from they’re hiatus with the debut a new project, Violet Goes to the Beach, on WEBTOONS. As of 2021, Flash games are no longer supported by Adobe, so many old links are now broken.
Number Days was the culmination of nine games’ worth of world-building , so Pacthesis could indulge in her offbeat humor. It was also full of cutscenes, animated sprites, and more complex endings and routes than her previous titles. One of the most satisfying endings happens when you choose not to romance anyone, and instead, just build up the friendships between the whole group. Pacthesis released Number Days Sim Date in 2012, and it became the last one to launch during her most prolific period.
That alone doesn’t seem particularly novel; Flash game creators proliferate on DeviantArt. But Pacthesis’ games catered to a specific audience of tween and teen girls. Today, I’m going to talk about how I got into Flash dating sims and how that would later lead me to visual novels. The Tumblr user behind otomesweetheart talked to Polygon about how the genre has changed since the Pacthesis days of the late aughts and early 2010s.
Because her games took up a lot of my childhood, I thought it’d only be right to include another game of hers on this list. Star Days is Pacthesis’ latest game, and might be potentially her last game, as she’s moved onto creating a webtoon. While I may have my issues with Cafe Rouge now, I can’t deny how much fun I had with it when I was a kid. I remember eagerly awaiting the newest chapter with bated breath.
App version of a semi-interactive novel about outer space weightgain. It’s not perfect, but you’ll have a fun time with it regardless. Beyond that, it’s expanding the character’s interactions with the player, giving them more conversations and events, and fine tuning their design.
Memorable Parent Figures in Visual Novels
It’s really nice to see how much Pacthesis has grown since a game like Wonderland Days Sim Date to Star Days. You’ll see rewards immediately, within the first month of you signing up for this tier, I’ll be aiming to have the character concept art complete, and some storylines and conversations done. The character should be added to the game by the next major update after that.
Though she opened up about her age, her favorite color, and her preference for coffee, Pacthesis never revealed her full name. Keeping personal details close to the vest was common during the nascent days of social media, when signing up for a service did not require using a full name. Though many wanted to know more, she only revealed her face in drawings. In Other Age, you play as a young princess celebrating her sixteenth birthday.
The one I had the most fun with is the murder mystery, where your date is accused of murdering someone despite him just being teleported to the castle and you being with him the entire time. There are a couple of issues I had with the game, and they lay with the characters and the writing. Personally, I feel like no one outside the main love interests is developed enough. They’re essentially characters that fill space on the screen. So, when some of these people get killed, you don’t really care, which is a major issue.
Discovering games so tailored toward your interests is a special moment, and many fans still recount it with fondness. Amy’s notes for Star Days reveal a lot of could-have-beens. She wanted more cutscenes and more world-building, but had to cut most of it to focus on the main story. Part of it was simply not having enough time and running out of steam. After studying other Flash games, she discovered in-game advertising networks and eventually started to publish her games under Mochi Media, a now-defunct network for browser games. Amy wanted to design games for girls from the get-go, she told us, even if she used a male protagonist in her first effort.
When the final chapter was released, I felt, at the time, satisfied with what I got. A complaint I have about early otome titles is that the heroine is nothing without her man. She’s a damsel in distress that needs saving because she isn’t capable of doing anything herself. This comes into play during the game’s final chapter, where you confront the murderer.