In My Orbit: You’re in space and the only thing that answers your distress call… is a dating app?
Stranded in space, haunted by existential dread, and still swiping through dating apps? That’s the wild, hilarious, and heartfelt premise of In My Orbit, the chat-sim otome by Studio Reignbow. What started as a game jam project quickly rocketed into a fan favorite, blending cosmic loneliness with playful group-chat banter, mythological deities, and some unexpectedly spicy twists.
We sat down with Astro (narrative designer, game director, and lead writer) and Lovmura (artist, editor, and character designer) to talk about how they built the game’s distinct personality, from chaotic character chemistry to its bright, retro-inspired art style. In this exclusive Q&A, the duo shares the inspirations, behind-the-scenes struggles, and community-driven surprises that are shaping the future of In My Orbit.
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Highlights from the In My Orbit Podcast
Astro: I knew most of the team from school. We actually all went to art school together. Three of us did. Lovmura and I met in art school and then another one of our members, Van also we met in art school and our sound guy slash coder and our editor, are people we met through well, I met the sound guy through Vtubing. Zuchi and our editor and other main writer, Edit is their name, which is not going to be confusing at all when I talk about Edit at all, met them through Van.
So together we put together a little team. I was talking to Lovmura about making a visual novel because I’ve wanted to for the longest time and I was like, there’s a jam, do you want to?
Lovmura: There’s a jam, yeah. And I was like, finally, it’s time. It’s finally happening.
Astro: So In My Orbit is you are stranded in space, you haven’t had contact with home for being Earth for like five years and then suddenly as you are trying to contact aliens deep space you get a mysterious pop-up ad on your computer that is not dissimilar to those porn ads you get all the time. And the main character clicks on it and voila, they are talking with aliens in deep space. The rest of the game just proceeds from there. It goes all over the place.
Astro: So when I first pitched the idea to everyone it didn’t have the spicy stuff in it. That kind of came along when I added Van and Edit to the program. They were like “what if it was like your vibrator died” and I was like, okay, you know what, we can work with that. I’m chill with it. And what I think inspired it really truly is just like, that’s life right now for a lot of us.
It’s hard right now with the way that the world is currently. So the existential dread is like a bestie. It’s like my best friend. So it’s not hard to write about it. And I love space. I don’t know if you can tell by the name, the fact that my name is Astro. Or if you saw my branding anywhere. Like, I love space.
Lovmura: I was gonna be in here as well when we were talking about, we love visual novels that focus on the group chemistry between the love interests as well. So I think that lightheartedness really comes from that. We wanted them to have these conversations that felt real and fun and like how a group chat would actually interact with each other.
Lovmura: I don’t know if we would do it again, but it was a lot of literally like going back and forth and everyone works on the same thing. Like the way we did the character sprites was literally like we would have Astro sketch something and then I would polish it up and then Van would finish.
So it ended up kind of like amalgamating into its own distinct style from there. I do think that we already had some aesthetics in mind just from like when we had the Pinterest boards we had kind of an idea of like what we wanted to keep. I know we probably wanted it to be bright, because we were trying to make it funny and cute.
Astro: We were like, we want this aesthetic to be a retro feeling so like we went 2000s with it. Because we just like the 2000s vibe. I love that cheese and it’s also really good for a spacey sort of environment like all that chrome and weird pants and open clothes and all sorts of things like that. That era of futurism is also very colorful compared to the others. I also kind of wanted to hit the nostalgia factor with colorful see-through technology like old Game Boys, old game controllers, or those Apple computers. That’s really represented in Mercury’s design with the see-through, circuit-board look.
Characters in In My Orbit
Astro: The way that Mars came together was entirely through Edit and Van. Entirely through them. Jupiter, I already kind of knew who I wanted, how I wanted them to be before I started writing. Because Jupiter is referenced from a friend of mine. And so is Mercury. Mercury is also referenced from someone I know. Both of their inspirations came super easy to me.
And a lot of the stuff that got filled in later was because the whole team was working on it together, all three of us in the writing team. Iit was kind of like a mashing of those characters that I was talking about from the other visual novel that didn’t get made and the newer inspirations of where we wanted to take it.
Astro: This was something that actually, Van, Edit, and I have gone a lot around in circles and because Van and Edit love Mars. My God, they love Mars. And I know you’re not supposed to have favorites in your babies, but if they had favorites, it would be Mars. And we spoke a lot about how do we get this edgy guy to also be endearing? And that’s why we invented the cutiecumbars.
We gave him an obsession with a cute like Hello Kitty–like cast of characters so he would have that softness or show off that he has a side that is not just blood and death and war and gore. Because we want you guys to fall in love with him. He’s a little edge boy, but he’s not all the time. Maybe he has a sensitive side. He likes cute things. Maybe he’ll like you.
Astro: Writing for Jupiter was maybe the easiest character I had a head times writing for. Jupiter in his over-the-top flirts is pretty not the same, I’m not saying it’s the same, but we are very similar when it comes to flirting with people. Also, I have a little beef when people are like, this character’s such a DILF, and it’s like a regular guy who’s muscular.
I’m like, okay. This is me being like, actually here’s a DILF, here’s a real DILF, enjoy that. I think that was important to a few of us on the team, that we wanted Jupiter to be like an actual dad. Got tired of people calling other people DILF when they’re not even dads. Like, come on, where are the kids? Jupiter has a billion.
Lovmura: My favorite part of Jupiter’s writing is his tech illiteracy, like when he acts like an old man.
Lovmura: I got a name. I got a name. I’m gonna say You Sung. You Sung from Mystic Messenger.
Astro: Yeah, he’s like literally purple you son from Mystic Messenger. Like a lot of our inspiration comes from other visual novels that we’re so into so we were like, how do we pay homage to characters that we love in this without making them 1000% the same character? Mercury is Yusun from Mystic Messenger if you’ve played it. He’s also inspired by other people I know in real life.
Because I asked him for help with dialogue when I was stuck in a scene. I don’t remember which scene that is specifically, but I remember asking him and being like, hey, can you just pretend you are stuck, you’re an alien and you’re talking to another alien and we’re stuck in space together and he was like, Yeah.
As far as visually, we also kind of knew that we wanted Mercury to be like this really like cute almost cat boy type like beat. We enjoy the aesthetics of hacking and I think we all had like Pinterest boards dedicated to each character specifically and then we would synthesize them down into something. So that’s where Mercury ended up being, just cute little hacker boy.
Exclusive SneakPeeks
Astro: When we first came together to work on the game jam, we were like, if the response goes well, we will consider making a full game. The response was so kind and enthusiastic that after our first meeting back, we were like, “are we making a full game?” and it was like, yeah, totally. The Atlas thing was also interesting because we put him out there as like a character that was really just a vehicle for story. And he ended up being also a reference to Dramatical Murder.
To everyone who correctly clocked that Atlas looked like Alba, congratulations, you’re correct. We didn’t think that he would be so immediately beloved, but now, voila, he was born. He wasn’t planned. Like, that was a baby we weren’t ready to have. And yes, I can say that we are working on an Atlas route now because of the way the community has been responding to him.
Lovmura: We were not ready. We drew him so fast. We were just like, we need a character, we need a character.
Astro: You guys are getting an Atlas route, but we’re also introducing the rest of the planets. Pluto, Venus, Saturn, and Neptune are going to be in the game. I don’t know if they’re going to be datable. I don’t know if I have that much writing in me. But definitely we’re considering doing a Kickstarter.
We are doing a second release of the demo with the rest of the characters in it to show that they’re going to be in the game. Depending on the response to that demo, we might end up having stretch goals to add those characters as part of datable routes. We have a lot planned in terms of story and where it’s going to go.
Astro: What do I want to tease here? Definitely, definitely keep an eye out for Prometheus’s evil corporation and its connection to Atlas. It may play a bigger role in the story than you may realize.
Astro: I hope that you can enjoy In My Orbit and those characters—as crazy as this sounds—like friends. You’re not alone in outer space. You have people who are in a group chat who care about you. Not just in In My Orbit, but also in real life. Socialize, you know. Don’t worry about not being able to find love either, because Buzz is there for you.
Lovmura: Keep an eye on our socials, please. Please. We have things planned.
In My Orbit has already cemented itself as a uniquely bold entry in the otome scene. What began as a jam project is now evolving into a full release with fan-demanded routes, expanded cast, and even bigger cosmic chaos.
As Astro and Lovmura remind us, the heart of the game isn’t just the laughs or the thirst—it’s about finding connection, even when you’re adrift in the void. Whether you’re here for the comedy, the group chat antics, or the hidden romance twists still to come, one thing’s for sure: In My Orbit has only just begun its journey across the stars.
Stay tuned, keep your eyes on Studio Reignbow’s socials, and prepare your orbit—because the hottest singles in the galaxy aren’t done with us yet.
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