Cross promotion: One Day at a Time

Today, I want to talk about something that's not Now & Then. It's another game, developed by a fellow Ren'py dev, Zoey Raven. For those who don't know, Zoey does a lot of walkthrough mods, including one for Now & Then, so it was nice to take a peek into something into which he himself has put his blood, sweat, and tears.

About One Day at a Time

"In One Day at a Time you will take the role of an active heroin addict.  You live with your girlfriend Lydia who is also an addict. Along the way you will meet several other women and have the chance to romance, or corrupt them. There will be many important decisions to make  on your journey towards recovery. How will you choose to embrace your new way of life? This is entirely up to you..."

Gotta say that a story focused on adult addicts is a nice change of pace from the usual "high schooler/college dude shows up and meets a bunch of girls." In fact, that plot hook puts this game in rare territory. It's unflinching in showing the kind of life addicts and their associates live. These are morally gray people and you're given a pretty stark window into their lives. They live a life that's strung between fixes and finding the funds to pay for them. And occasionally, they think about getting enough food to survive to the next fix. Money pours through their hands on a daily basis.

While you enter the game already in a committed relationship with Lydia, it's not long before you come across others. In fact, you soon discover all of your relationships land on a very specific spectrum: the lover who's already an addict; the old childhood friend, who's new to this life; the old friend who cut off all interactions with you so she could get clean; the healthcare professional who's happy to deal to you; the good Christian girl who befriends you but keeps a certain distance as long as you're addicted; and the victims of your criminal activities--people you use just to afford the next fix and the guilt your actions create in their lives. In truth, a lot of your relationships are with people from whom you're buying drugs or screwing over to pay for your addiction. 

It's nice to see the MC isn't some blank slate, or your standard teenage pervert (though he does have an eye for the ladies). He's already wrapped up in his life choices and the player watches the world through his eyes. In his interactions with his friend Mary early on, the MC shows he holds no delusions about his existence; he regularly tries to warn Mary off from following his path, even if she's already well on her way to following in his footsteps. 

There's an underlying theme here about how being an addict shrinks your world. The people you screw over? The places you rob? These become off-limits once you've used them up. You can't go back to the hospital like a normal person because they know you're there for drugs. It becomes a dark cloud hanging over your every conversation and interaction. 

The writing comes from a place that feels informed, as if the author's at least seen these kinds of people in their own lives. These are people living on a knife's edge--one bad day from not getting their fix or even a bite to eat. Filling out the script is a fair amount of references that feel like the writer grew up in the 80s (or at least knows the era well enough). References to Joe Bob Briggs, Blue Velvet, and Mallrats come across as intentionally placing this in an older decade (like pre-2000) than it's modern setting belies. I mean, there's a David Bowie poster in the main character's apartment. 

If you're looking for more than the standard adult VN rife with tropes, there's some real meat to this one. You can find this game and its creator at https://www.patreon.com/zoeyraven. 

The latest release is Chapter 4 (which just landed today). Find it here.

Thanks,

- Kinderfeld