A Wish of Snow – A Winter Romance to Melt Your Heart
Imagine this: You stand in a grand ballroom, the world outside blanketed in pristine snow. The nobles around you seek your attention, but your heart is elsewhere. Your mind drifts to the mysterious stranger from your last winter ball—will fate bring him back to you once more?
If you found this scene intriguing, then A Wish of Snow might be right up your alley. It’s a short visual novel made for a game jam, and we had the pleasure of interviewing the developers, asking them about the story, characters, and challenges they had to face when making it.
Floramisu: “Hi, I’m Floramisu, but you can call me Flor. I’m the director, lead writer, and character designer of A Wish of Snow. I’m from Argentina, and I have a history with visual novels. I used to make visual novels in PowerPoint before I really got into it. Now here I am making proper visual novels with Ren’Py. I brought this team together and led them to the development of this game.”
Jazz: “And I’m Jazz from the Edges system. I am the animator and the programmer for this game.”
Floramisu: “It was one month. We started a bit earlier to recruit people and plan ahead the concepts of the characters, but the jam itself, making the assets, that was one month.”
Otome.com: Did you spend the entire month working on it or did you finish early? When did you submit it?
Jazz: “On the last day, actually!”
Floramisu: “It was New Year’s, so you can imagine it was also party preparations for some of us while we were finishing up the itch.io page.”
Floramisu: “Well, A Wish of Snow is a short fantasy otome centering on Solange, a noblewoman with a heavy-duty thrown upon her, and her reunion with a mysterious gentleman she longed to see. Yearning, especially during wintertime, is an experience many could relate to, as well as being confined by external expectations. So we really wanted to show these themes in the story in something that’s cozy and also mystical.”
Floramisu: “Well, when going into this project, I knew that I wanted to create something that felt a bit like a romantic fairy tale. You know, the magical winter, a mysterious love who may be more than he seems, a faithful meeting—all of those things really inspired the story. Fairy tales like Cinderella and even a tale about a frozen queen lived as bits of inspiration here.”
Floramisu: “Firstly, we wanted to introduce Solange’s conflict as a character to set the scene—her feelings and her duty. Along with this, we wanted to give a small peek into her yearning with the snowflake. There is someone she wants to see again. This will make the player wonder a bit more about the person and be expectant. So when they finally see him in the second scene, they might be excited and intrigued. It was actually a hard balance, I will admit. We tried to show more of Solange’s excitement, but also her sadness over the events of the past. For me, at least, the best part comes in the balcony scene, when they finally drop their metaphorical masks. They can finally reveal more of what the player had surely been hoping to learn about them—their dynamic, their true feelings.”
Jazz: “And then from a more technical end of things, motion sells emotion. So I was definitely focusing a lot on getting them to come closer together and further apart as the scene pushed them further apart and closer together.”
Floramisu: “First, I’d like to give credit where credit is due because Sekkusu and Mustacheskulls are such incredible artists that helped make this game a reality. I wasn’t actually certain on the specific art style I wanted when I started this project. For Eirwin, I had a vision. I wanted his colors to remind one of ice, crystals, and snow. I also added a few diamond shapes to add to that theme of ice crystals. Despite the cold colors, I wanted him to feel approachable and kind. So I tried to limit how many pointy things I added to his design and kept most of his silhouettes soft and cute.”
Floramisu: “Solange took a few more attempts to figure out. Since this game is set in a fantasy world, I didn’t have an exact reference. I searched historical and modern ball gowns for inspiration for her dress, and she went through quite a few outfit changes in the initial sketches until I landed on the one you see in the game.”
Floramisu: “Definitely. I’m currently working on a big non-otome visual novel based on the Hymn to Demeter, a Greek myth. But Michael Reiter and I are discussing making a game set in the same universe as A Wish of Snow but with a summer spirit and a different kingdom.”
Jazz: “I’m working on finishing up Impulsive Decision, a Yuri game we released a little over a year ago, but it was incomplete at the time. In addition, I’m working on a horror otome about a werewolf hunter turned vampire hunter called It Attracts Them.”
For those who love seeing the creative process in action, like us, we have a treat for you! The developers have shared behind-the-scenes concept art of Solange and Erwin. Alongside this, we also got a look at the early background concepts of the interiors, like the ball room. As always, we love giving you a glimpse at these early points in a game’s development.
The passion behind A Wish of Snow is undeniable, and the developers are incredibly grateful for the support they’ve received. Floramisu shared how every comment and review brings her joy, and she hopes more players will give the game a chance. Meanwhile, Jazz had some encouraging words for aspiring game developers: Just go for it. Creating a game is a challenging yet rewarding experience, and their journey with A Wish of Snow proves that even a short visual novel can leave a lasting impact. You can download the game for free here from Itch.io.
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