Shibboleth
This game contains themes of religion, the end of the world and death; proceed with caution.
The cult in which Cassidy Attaway spent most of her life was right: the end of the world finally came. At first, Cass tries to outrun the apocalypse; however, once she crosses paths with her sister, May, now changed into an angelic being, she's given a choice on which hinges her eternal life.
["Shibboleth" is the fifth game in Oneiron series, although it doesn't tie into the main storyline. If you want more about Cass and May, you might enjoy my previous year's entry in the series, "Pride". If you'd want to check out the main storyline and meet Cass again, check out previous entry in Oneiron series, "Let's Get Bitter Together".}
Dedicated to Miriam, who'll never play this game. Hope we can dance together in a world without fear one day.
Special thanks to everyone who supported and believed in me.
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i found you, naarel
in all seriousness though, this is horrific, i am terrified, and i am like a minute in.
god please save me
At the moment, I don't know what to say, just gosh??? this was just so well done??? I was scared in the best of ways???? AAAHHHHHHHHH
I AM JUST SO UNSETTLED!!!! JUST FROM THE WHOLE ATMOSPHERE!!! AND THE SCARY SETTING!
But gosh, the desperation here is just so heartbreaking between the two sisters. Even in the face of the end, it's still their heartbreaking conclusion (or not conclusion as this is still an open ending?) that just breaks my heart.
Also, I don't have context yet for the Oneironverse aside from bits and pieces I see on twitter, but what I can say is from those and from here, just wow...the richness of the lore just abounds from the details.
(ALSO, THE CHOIR MUSIC SHALL TRULY HAUNT ME TO MY DREAMS)
AH forgot to comment here too after playing upon release... but as I told you on Discord, great atmosphere and very unsettling in all the right ways. Impressive work especially given the fact that you made it so quickly and all by yourself! <3
Ooh, this is really interesting! The spooky BGM adds to the unsettling atmosphere, and the 'angelic' character sprite is successfully spooky. It's all very creepy; you did a really good job getting the horror vibe down!
You did a good job!
WHOAH this game certainly spooked me, it was so unsettling and haunting... Loved the ambience and how the ending seem to be left open-ended on purpose. Great job!
I was expecting a jumpscare for some reason but glad it didn't happen LOLOLOL
Hi henlo, thanks for playing <3 To be honest, when I was making this game I didn't think it'd end up being this unsettling (like, I didn't think people will see it as somewhat horror-y, and yet here we are), but I'll take it. Certainly didn't plan any jumpscare to be there as I'm not a great fan of them myself
I absolutely love the atmosphere that was built here - everything from the ominous background, the demon sounds, the haunting sprite...it all really contributed to the sense of "this is the end, isn't it?"
After playing Pride, the emotions in this were simply monumental. I really felt for Cass as she desperately wants to reconnect with her sister, even if that isn't possible, and I loved how, even as the world is ending, fundamentally the game is about this very personal relationship between sisters. I am INCREDIBLY impressed with how much emotion (and lore) that you managed to fit into only 1000 words! Like with Pride - both choices end the same way, and it's fitting. Cass isn't able to reconnect with her sister, even if she wants to - because May doesn't want to. I love how the "world ending drama" reflects the "personal drama" in that way; Cass isn't able to change her fate no matter what.
Really great work Naarel! That demon choir is going to haunt me in my dreams...
Hi hi Chatter, thanks for playing! Especially thanks for playing Pride first, I know it's not exactly the best I've ever done but I think it really can add some tiny bit of context for Shibboleth, so, again, thanks for checking out Pride too.
Now, I'd like to say, it's not entirely true that May doesn't want to reconnect; if she didn't, nothing here would happen. She does want to reconnect, except, she has conditions for this reconnection, and those are conditions that Cass simply can't (and doesn't want to) meet. In the end it makes no difference, I suppose, and you can argue it means she doesn't actually want to reconnect.
Oh damn! So powerful and packed with emotion. I love how it blends world-ending stakes with intimate personal drama. My only complaint is that the ambient music is quite ear-blastingly loud but honestly that's thematic for the game.
Hi, thanks for playing! I'm sorry about the music, it was my first time actually making a track myself and I forgot about making it less... blaring. I'll try to fix it sometime soon. And I'm glad you enjoyed both endings of the world <3
Ohhhh, the atmosphere in this 👌
I felt it so much, the way Cass has to choose between what she believes in and appealing to her lost sister, it was so heavy and gut-wrenching. 🥲 You managed to show this whole conflict within the limitations of the jam and I think that's very impressive. ^^
(I chose not to bend in the end, I'd rather suffer the consequences than go against myself lol) (and also nooooo, how could you do that to Eva and the others ☹️) (please tell me this is the worst possible timeline or something ;A; )
Hi, henlo! Glad you enjoyed the atmosphere there (if you can call it enjoyment, considering how heavy it is). I was a bit scared that the choice and the conflict are going to end up being a bit flat, so, happy to hear it's not as bad as I thought.
(And don't worry about Eva and others, it's just a nightmare. I couldn't fit that in the script itself because of the restrictions, but it didn't happen. When "Shibboleth" happens, everyone else is fast asleep and vaguely safe!)
Well... It was... intense! The conflict between Cassidy's affection for her sister and her religious trauma is really well crafted in the game! I appreciated the fatalism a lot: the fact that, no matter what, Cassidy cannot overcome what she really believes or feels and is doomed to the ending she gets echoes a lot to a lot of things I enjoy in stories (the tragic concept of fatum really speaks to me!).
The background was amazingly chosen, it really looked like the end of the world somehow, haha! Also, the sprite was amazing!! A great mix between the horrifying appearance of angels (although they are rarely portrayed as such nowadays) and a more human figure which would confront Cassidy to the sister I suppose she lost in the foundation? I really need to play Pride to have a better glimpse at the whole picture though!
Oh, and speaking of titles: what's the meaning of Shibboleth, if I may ask?
Overall, a great entry with heavy themes, and perfect use of the restrictions of the jam, especially considering you made this game in just one day, wow! (+) the logo looks VERY GOOD????????? Damn, your calligraphy skills really show!!
"Intense" is a good word, yeah... and I enjoy a bit of classical tragedy as well, so, glad we agree on that!
The background is a heavily edited pic I took on one of my walks. When it comes to the sprite, I naturally took some biblical inspiration (fragment from Ezekiel that went "In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings"; Silvercross Society is fixated on fours, for various reasons, so I already knew I'm going to give May four faces (one conveniently on the back, of course).
I forgot about the second pair of wings. My bad. Uh... I mean...May has only two wings, since due to her desire to save Cass anyway, she's a bit of an... incomplete angel. Not fully pure, I suppose.A shibboleth is a phrasing/saying/word that, if said a particular way, weeds out outsiders, in short. In the context of the game, it's the verse from the Covenant of the Shield (one of two holy books of Silvercross Society). May, being an angel, can sense true faith, so she can also sense if the verse is being said correctly (or, with faith). Since Cass couldn't gather enough faith, it outed her as a non-believer.
And thanks! I'm still learning how to make logos by hand, it's pretty fun but gods know it can be infuriating...
GOSH I FEEL LIKE MY WHOLE MIND IS NOW REVERBERATING WITH THIS. It's filling up all the nooks and crannies with a surreal otherworldly dread....... 😭 (ok but I like it alkdjfalkds)
Everything about this was so expertly crafted to imbue this sense of unavoidable doom, to the point that I'm now filled with doom myself as I bring myself back to reality to write this. From the ominous red sky, to the haunting and surreal music, to the terrifying end-of-the-world-style sprite. My mind immediately goes back to all the horrifying world end moments I've experienced in other media that has haunted me since, from the moon falling in Majora's Mask to the red star falling in the Kirby anime series (YES I KNOW KIRBY DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT WOULD BE EMOTIONAL BUT ACTUALLY IT WAS REALLY INTENSE ALKDFJAS). Stories like this always sit on my heart for a while, and this was no different, especially the haunting way you presented it and the inevitable doom despite which choice you make. Also just the... sadness woven through everything. Sadness beyond the obvious end of the world and weighing heavily upon this estranged relationship and what must have occured to cause this type of rift between them and the trauma they both endured.
The way you wrote everything to give us small clues without revealing everything created so much room for my mind to develop possible scenarios and wonder about the world of lore beneath it (even despite the lore I already know from having played LGBT!). I really want to know more now about Cass and what exactly happened. I just love how you intersperse so many details and lore bits all across your games so you can slowly piece the chars and different woven narratives together! It really feels like its own dreamlike universe.
A really fantastic little game with a gut-wrenching emotional punch that will definitely sit with you for a while! I really enjoyed this. ALSO I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LITERALLY DID THIS IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS LDKJFALSKDJFADSF
Hi, henlo, gods, I'm both happy and sorry that it hit you so hard.
First of all, let me confess that "Shibboleth" would probably not exist if it wasn't for you because when you said "it feels like playing a dream" in LGBT review, I started to wonder how it'd be like to play a nightmare, so, it kinda is here because of you, thanks for that!
I also gave May's sprite the weird white outline partially because of OW sprites having one, so, that's also on you. Thanks again.Also I'm glad that the Literal End of the World thing is so strong here; after all, there's got to be a Strong Impression to something that's really tragic and unavoidable.
Don't worry, I know Kirby can be intense. Never played it, but I've heard things.The world is breaking, the relationship is breaking, everything is going down in flames, I'm glad it is as sad to others as it is for me.And I love putting little puzzle pieces together in various entries! I have a whole picture, yeah, but leaving all those tiny bits here and there to be put together by others is really enjoyable, especially when it's being noticed <3
I promised myself I won't do a game in a day again. I disappointed myself but I'm happy I didn't disappoint everyone else lolEverything about this was SO INTERESTING! I also really love how there wasn't necessarily a good end - the emotions behind the religious trauma and stuff was so real too...just everything was very well done! (rip sis though lol)
Thanks for playing, glad you found it interesting! I didn't want a "good" ending to exist here, it just wouldn't feel in line with the story.
A bit of that religious trauma is homegrown! That's why it's real, I suppose.Also, nobody dies actually, it's just a nightmare (which I couldn't explain in the game due to the word limitation). Well, you can argue there's a bit of dying inside involved...
THE Background track was SO Sureral, it really adds to the oversall vibes of this so much omg
Thank you! I made it out of an old acapella cover I did back in high school
I am so impressed with the amount of world building you were able to create with such a short story! It feels sort of like when you enter a dream and somehow know everyone there and are already in the middle of something. I have to say the crying sprite made me very emotional ;~;
a very impactful experience, great work!
Thanks for playing! Worldbuilding is, for better or worse, a passion of mine. This is all set in a wider universe in which all my other VNs take place, so, it is entering with everyone already knowing everyone (though I hope it's not too confusing...).
May's crying sprite was actually a last minute addition, it wasn't planned but I thought it'll be great, so, it's good to know it achieved what it was meant to do
Loved it!
Surreal and sad, really feels like a nigthmare
Glad you enjoyed it!
It is, actually, a nightmare, so, I'm glad the right vibe went through.