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# arimia

my various projects and thoughts

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://arimiadev.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [How I Prepared for a Con in Under 12 Hours Solo (Selling Gay Visual Novels)](https://arimiadev.com/how-i-sold-visual-novels-at-a-convention-2026/)
- [How to Contact Streamers about your Visual Novel](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-contact-streamers-about-your-visual-novel/) - Finding and reaching out to streamers about playing your visual novel can be scary, but it doesn't have to be! Really!! Take my hand it'll be ok
- [How to Make Visual Novels](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-make-visual-novels/) - A quick overview on how to make visual novels including terms, engines, communities and more.
- [2025 Year in Review](https://arimiadev.com/2025-year-in-review/) - 2024 was a year I set out to tie up loose ends, but 2025 ended up being a continuation of that. I still had several projects that needed wrapping up in 2025 and was able to make great progress on them. ...As well as a few side ventures. Releasing the full (longer) version of Asphodelium
- [Developer Interview - Crafting a Killer Lawyer in of the Devil](https://arimiadev.com/developer-interview-of-the-devil/) - Earlier this year on February 6th, 2025, visual novel players got the 1st episode in the 5 part detective cybernoir visual novel, of the Devil. In just under a month, the game received over 500 glowing reviews, praising the game's mystery, pacing, cinematography, characters, and more—despite only episode 1 being out. Now, episode 2 has
- [I played 40+ more visual novels for Halloween](https://arimiadev.com/i-played-40-more-visual-novels-for-halloween/) - I judged 40+ Halloween and horror-themed visual novels for an annual competition and this is my advice.
- [Digital Book Burning - How Visual Novel Devs can Mitigate Harm](https://arimiadev.com/digital-book-burning-how-visual-novel-devs-can-mitigate-harm/) - We're currently in a new age of book burning—digital book burning, where mass censorship is upon us. Rather than censoring bigotted, hateful views that call for violence against marginalized groups, certain groups have pointed their aim at anything they deem problematic, including eroge, queer works, and more. First it was Steam, and now it's itchio.
- [What does a modern visual novel release look like?](https://arimiadev.com/what-does-a-modern-visual-novel-release-look-like/) - Or, "how I ended up releasing 2 commercial visual novels in the same week". Visual novels, sound novels, and adventure games have been around for a handful of decades now, with their presence in America & other Western countries being around 3 decades long. A lot has changed in the gaming and doujin industries respectively
- [Otome Games Celebration Postmortem (or, I held a Steam festival)](https://arimiadev.com/otome-games-celebration-2025-postmortem/) - An overview of Otome Games Celebration and how other developers can run their own Steam festivals.
- [Free VS Commercial Visual Novel Development](https://arimiadev.com/free-vs-commercial-visual-novel-development/) - Visual novel development is a joy - you get to create your own stories and bring them to life in a medium that relishes in the marriage of stories with visuals. For some people, making visual novels and releasing them for free as a hobby is enough. For others, they make visual novels as a
- [Volatility of Social Media](https://arimiadev.com/volatility-of-social-media/) - Social media and most websites you don't "own" are volatile and can be gone before you know it. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
- [2024 Year in Review](https://arimiadev.com/2024-year-in-review/) - If 2023 was a new leaf for me, then 2024 was a year of tying up loose ends. I started off 2024 with multiple unfinished projects that needed wrapping up—more than I like having open at any time. Canvas Menagerie was entering its 2nd year of development, I was in the midst of finishing Asphodelium—which
- [How to Finish your Indie Visual Novel](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-finish-your-indie-visual-novel/) - Starting development on an indie game is hard enough, but how do you actually finish and release an indie visual novel?
- [Developer Interview — Developing Slay the Princess](https://arimiadev.com/developer-interview-slay-the-princess/) - I sit down to talk to the developer duo for Slay the Princess and Scarlet Hollow, horror visual novels that have breached into mainstream gaming.
- [How to Market Visual Novels](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-market-visual-novels/) - Visual novels are a growing medium, but how do you market them? This is a guide for marketing indie visual novels, regardless of skill level.
- [I played another 50+ visual novels in 1 month and here's my advice to devs.](https://arimiadev.com/i-played-another-50-visual-novels-in-1-month-and-heres-my-advice-to-devs/) - After playing 50+ indie visual novels in 1 month, I've compiled a list of advice for visual novel developers and ways to avoid common pitfalls.
- [How to Make a Visual Novel Solo](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-make-a-visual-novel-solo/) - Making an entire visual novel is hard enough, so could you imagine making one by yourself? Solo visual novel development is hard, but not as hard as you might think. As a visual novel developer myself, most of my games are made solo - you can see my portfolio here. But how do we define
- [Comparing the Visual Direction of Tsukihime VS Mahoyo](https://arimiadev.com/comparing-the-direction-of-tsukihime-vs-mahoyo/) - A look at the visual direction differences between Tsukihime's remake and Mahoyo and how visual novel developers can learn from them.
- [Witch's Halloween 2021](https://arimiadev.com/witchs-halloween-2021/) - Halloween's my favorite time of year and this year I made even more Halloween art than normal. I also got back into traditional art in October! I haven't drawn traditionally regularly since high school, but it's been a nice stress reliever to use my notebook for drawings just for myself. Though, here's one I'll share.
- [introducing Battle Action Fantasy, a tag for shounen anime lovers](https://arimiadev.com/introducing-battle-action-fantasy/) - Lots of us grew up with shounen anime and manga, whether it was something like Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokémon or Naruto which in turn inspire our own stories. We want to make games that evoke the feeling that you're reading a story straight out of Shounen Jump. For that, we've created a new tag- #Battle Action
- [why does aniplex want mahoyo to fail](https://arimiadev.com/why-does-aniplex-want-mahoyo-to-fail/) - I love visual novels. being a long time fate/stay night fan and only having heard of mahoyo from hushed whispers about its cinematography, I was super invested when it was announced to be coming to the west and I could finally play an official version of it. however, a lot of people interested in type-moon
- [How to Sell Visual Novels at Conventions](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-sell-visual-novels-at-conventions/) - An overview on how to sell indie visual novels and merch at anime conventions.
- [Developer Interview — Marketing A Date with Death](https://arimiadev.com/developer-interview-marketing-a-date-with-death/) - I sit down to talk to the lead developer of A Date with Death, the hit chat sim visual novel about romancing the grim reaper.
- [How to Make a Visual Novel in a Weekend](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-make-a-visual-novel-in-a-weekend/) - Making visual novels is hard, but making them for game jams is even harder. Here's advice for VN devs on how to finish their games quicker.
- [Talking to Your Visual Novel Players](https://arimiadev.com/talking-to-your-visual-novel-players/) - Whenever you reach out to a company's support line or interact with their social media, you're engaging in their public relations personnel. These people are trained in customer relations and depending on their exact job, they're usually well versed in different aspects of marketing. But for indie game devs, we don't have the luxury of
- [Tips for Marketing Visual Novels in 2024](https://arimiadev.com/tips-for-marketing-visual-novels-in-2024/) - List of tips that you should keep in mind while marketing you visual novel in 2024
- [Advice for Leading Visual Novel Game Jam Teams](https://arimiadev.com/advice-for-leading-visual-novel-game-jam-teams/) - Advice on how to lead visual novel game jam teams from 35 visual novel developers.
- [Where are visual novel developers going to after Twitter?](https://arimiadev.com/where-are-visual-novel-developers-going-to-after-twitter/) - Survey results from over 50 visual novel developers on their thoughts on the changing social media landscape.
- [Developer Interview — Crowdfunding & Creating Our Life](https://arimiadev.com/developer-interview-crowdfunding-creating-our-life/) - An interview with the lead developer of GB Patch Games about their Our Life visual novel series, focusing on their marketing and successful Kickstarter.
- [2023 Year in Review](https://arimiadev.com/2023-year-in-review/) - 2023 has come and gone—it feels like it was just a week ago that my grandma was complaining that Thanksgiving and Christmas were too close together, and now it's January. I spent the last 2 weeks of 2023 sick (I still am), which made it go by like a blur. 2022 was a fresh slate
- [I played over 100 visual novels in one month and here's my advice to devs.](https://arimiadev.com/i-played-over-100-visual-novels-in-one-month-and-heres-my-advice-to-devs/) - I've compiled a list of advice for visual novel developers based off of trends we saw while playing through game jam entries and ways to avoid common pitfalls.
- [Marketing Visual Novels on TikTok](https://arimiadev.com/marketing-visual-novels-on-tiktok/) - A deep dive into marketing visual novels on TikTok with advice and examples from visual novel developers.
- [Developer Interview - Scene Direction in Of Sense and Soul](https://arimiadev.com/developer-interview-scene-direction-in-of-sense-and-soul/) - An interview with ingthing, the developer of Of Sense and Soul, on scene direction and cinematography in indie visual novels.
- [Social Media Marketing for Indie Games - Twitter 2021 Guide](https://arimiadev.com/twitter-indie-game-marketing-2021-guide/) - It's hard to get started marketing indie games but this guide will make Twitter a lot easier! See how to start marketing your indie games on Twitter.
- [Social Media Marketing Plan Template + Marketing Funnel](https://arimiadev.com/social-media-marketing-plan-template-and-marketing-funnel/) - A free to use social media marketing plan template for indie game developers and a look at a marketing funnel for indie games.
- [should I market my visual novel?](https://arimiadev.com/should-i-market-my-visual-novel/) - One question I get asked a lot is "should I market my visual novel?". Today we're diving into reasons why you should market your visual novel.
- [Why Marketing Your Indie Game is Important](https://arimiadev.com/why-marketing-your-indie-game-is-important/) - Marketing is rapidly becoming more and more necessary as part of game dev- but why? ​Designing an indie game to be unique while also having a defined aesthetic is growing increasingly more important as time goes on, as the indie game market (and game market in general) is constantly expanding at a seemingly exponential rate.
- [The Importance of Landing Pages for Indie Games](https://arimiadev.com/the-importance-of-landing-pages-for-indie-games/) - There's a new restaurant being built in my town- it's a refurbished old warehouse, so it's less being built and more being brought up to code. This has been going on the past few months, with the parking lot and landscaping recently being completed, so it was apparent that the restaurant was going to open
- [You're marketing your visual novel - and you don't even know it.](https://arimiadev.com/youre-marketing-your-visual-novel-and-you-dont-even-know-it/) - Marketing visual novels is not a step in development but instead part of the entire dev process. Today we're talking about branding and target audiences.
- [Where to Publish Your Indie Game](https://arimiadev.com/where-to-publish-your-indie-game/) - Finishing a game is a hard feat- but figuring out where ​to publish it can be even harder. Working on a game from start to finish is a harrowing task with lots of road bumps, but once your finished, some devs are left with a question- what now? What do I do with my game
- [Marketing Fundamentals for indie game developers](https://arimiadev.com/marketing-fundamentals-for-indie-game-developers/) - A quick overview of some modern marketing fundamentals for indie game developers.
- [How to Make Your itch.io Page Stand Out](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-make-your-itch-io-page-stand-out/) - Tips on how to edit your itch.io game pages to stand out.
- [4 Things to do Right Now to Kickstart Your New Game Dev Twitter/Instagram](https://arimiadev.com/4-things-to-do-right-now-to-kickstart-your-new-game-dev-twitter-instagram/) - Thought I'd make a quick post this week on a list of things you can do right now to kickstart your brand new social media account. I got the inspiration for this when someone in Devtalk+ was asking me for advice on their game dev / art Twitter that they hadn't used for years so
- [Enamored Risks Postmortem](https://arimiadev.com/enamored-risks-postmortem/) - Enamored Risks was my / Crystal Game Works' NaNoRenO 2020 entry. At the time of writing this (or at least, starting), we released it a couple days ago and are currently working on the Steam build. A few stats on the game: It's a little over 52,000 words It has 3 routes- 2 male (Finn
- [How to Easily Make a Dress-up Game in Ren'Py](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-easily-make-a-dress-up-game-in-renpy/) - Since I recently released a dress-up game in Ren'Py, I thought I'd make a write up on how it was done! Since Ren'Py can now (mostly) port to web, it's a decent choice for making standalone dress-up games or having a cute little minigame in your visual novel. Hint: The majority of the time
- [Opinion- Why You Should Run Game Dev as a Business](https://arimiadev.com/opinion-why-you-should-run-game-dev-as-a-business/) - Rather than an editorial, I want to preface this as being mostly opinion, as this is something that I have argued with people about before. I also want to preface this by saying I only mean this about games planning being/on Kickstarter and commercial games- games made just as a hobby are not what I mean
- [9 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Game Dev](https://arimiadev.com/9-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-i-started-game-dev/) - We all have the feeling of "oh, I wish I knew that sooner!" or "why didn't someone tell me this when I started?!" whenever we enter a field. There are plenty of things I and my colleagues wish we knew before we started game development. But, fear not! I've compiled a list taken from my
- [Boys Love Media Survey Results](https://arimiadev.com/boys-love-media-survey-results/) - A very long and indepth look at the boys love / yaoi community in 2020 with over 200 user responses.
- [Game Development Checklist](https://arimiadev.com/game-development-checklist/) - Often when developing games we find ourselves in a bubble of development. We trick ourselves into thinking things are set in stone when they aren't. We start believing that we have to do things a certain way. Everyone does it eventually. So I created a series of questions to ask yourself while in different stages
- [Free to Use Battle CGs](https://arimiadev.com/free-to-use-battle-cgs/) - Free to use battle and fight cut-in images for your games, videos, art, and more.
- [Marketing Indie Games on Amino](https://arimiadev.com/marketing-indie-games-on-amino/) - My experiences with Amino and takeaways from it One of my college roommates (still) spends a lot of time browsing newer social media platforms- one of them being Amino. I knew it was an app that Gen-Z uses but that was about it. And then another friend said she used it and that there were
- [Underutilized Aspects of Marketing Visual Novels](https://arimiadev.com/underutilized-aspects-of-marketing-visual-novels/) - I've been on a small writing hiatus the past few months, given our extremely successful physical game Kickstarter over at Élan and continuing to work on Canvas Menagerie. While I've been "away", more indie devs have swarmed the scene, both new and old, making grander projects than before. Some of these projects have slipped into
- [Stop Tweeting Like This](https://arimiadev.com/stop-tweeting-like-this/) - Yeah so here's my real article for February. Time and time again, I'll open up Twitter (already a bad move) and look through my feed- when I want to look for new visual novel projects, I look through Lemon's feed, as she retweets stuff for visual novel developers. Every so often, I'll see something along
- [Tuesday Morning's Newsletter Sucks](https://arimiadev.com/tuesday-mornings-newsletter-sucks/) - Tuesday Morning has one of the most generic corporate newsletters I've ever had the displeasure of signing up for. Today I'd like to deviate from my normal articles and look into your brand and shaping your channels around it...
- [what to know before hiring a marketer for your game](https://arimiadev.com/what-to-know-before-hiring-a-marketer-for-your-game/) - Marketing is hard, but you don't need me to tell you that. If you've attempted any kind of long-term project, whether it be a Kickstarter, a commercial game, or just a big undertaking, you've probably said this line: I need a marketer. every developer ever I said that very line 5 years ago when I
- [2022 Year in Review](https://arimiadev.com/2022-year-in-review/) - 2022 has come and gone before I even realized it. It's still December, right?! Looking back on 2022, in order to actually review it I have to go back to 2021 to see how the stage was set... 2021 was a wrap up year, the most tumultuous year of my life, and the end of
- [Tagging Visual Novels on itch.io](https://arimiadev.com/tagging-visual-novels-on-itch-io/) - A look into how the tagging system on itch.io works and how to figure out good tags for your games.
- [making game development backup plans](https://arimiadev.com/making-game-dev-backup-plans/) - Whether you're working solo or with a team, it's important to sit down and make backup plans. Why and how? Let's look at that today.
- [Partnering with Similar Audiences](https://arimiadev.com/partnering-with-similar-audiences/) - So a few months ago I ordered some stickers from Shutterfly. In case you're unaware on who they are, they're a typical photo print site where you can upload photos and get it printed on about anything. Anyway, they were having a sale so I said sure and tried them out. The package was a
- [your target audience is not everyone and that's good, actually](https://arimiadev.com/your-target-audience-is-not-everyone-and-thats-good-actually/) - How are you pitching your visual novel to potential players? Is it working for you... or against you?
- [Spoiling Content while Marketing](https://arimiadev.com/spoiling-content-while-marketing/) - Marketing is how you communicate to people what your game is about. Naturally, this means "spoiling" some of the meat of the game. But how much is too much spoiling? How do you know what will hook the player and how much is too much information? Today I want to look at why spoiling some
- [Social Media Marketing for Indie Games - Instagram 2021 Guide](https://arimiadev.com/social-media-marketing-for-indie-games-instagram-2021-guide/) - Instagram is a visual-first social media platform owned by Facebook. It has one of the highest userbases out of any social media platform with over 1 billion monthly active users as over 2021. Why Instagram? As I said before, Instagram is one of the most actively used social media platforms and has a wide array
- [2021 Year in Review](https://arimiadev.com/2021-year-in-review/) - As 2021 fades away from calendars and is replaced with 2022, it's time to look back on it one more time before moving on. As my annual tradition, I want to recap what I've done this year and reflect on it. I'll be honest, this was the worst year of my life. I struggled to
- [2020 Year in Review](https://arimiadev.com/2020-year-in-review/) - Phew. The year from hell is almost over. I think it's safe to say this year was not what anyone expected nor wanted. At the time of writing this (December 27th) I've moved back home and been in isolation with my parents since spring break in March. But I want this to mention the good
- [5 Free Tools For Indie Game Marketing + Bonus](https://arimiadev.com/5-free-tools-for-indie-game-marketing-bonus/) - We talk a lot about marketing concepts, but rarely what tools you can use to market indie games! Here's a list of 5+ tools for indie game marketing.
- [Fanart Compilation, 2](https://arimiadev.com/fanart-compilation-2/) - Another compilation of various fanart drawings I've done.
- [40+ Game Dev Social Media Post Ideas](https://arimiadev.com/game-dev-social-media-post-ideas/) - Run out of ideas for what to post about your indie game? Here's over 40 game dev social media post ideas!
- [Social Media Marketing for Indie Games - 2021 Guide](https://arimiadev.com/social-media-marketing-for-indie-games-2021-guide/) - Hi, I'm Arimia. I've been learning digital marketing ever since my first commercial game, That Which Binds Us, didn't sell as well as I expected. Nowadays I do social media management at Studio Élan as well as my own studio Crystal Game Works. I get asked a lot how new devs can promote their indie
- [Marketing Visual Novels FAQ](https://arimiadev.com/marketing-visual-novels-faq/) - A collection of frequently asked questions for how to market visual novels and other indie games.
- [Cutting Visual Novel Scope - Examples](https://arimiadev.com/cutting-visual-novel-scope-examples/) - I've talked before about cutting the scope in indie games and how important is. If you haven't seen my last rant on it, you can read it here. For those unfamiliar, scope is the entirety of a project. The scope of a project comprises everything from the artwork, the writing, the amount of characters, the
- [Cutting (and Adding) Scope from Games](https://arimiadev.com/cutting-scope-from-games/) - Scope is something that every game developer struggles with at some point. Even after releasing several games, you can always get caught working on a project with too much scope. Today I'm going to talk about what scope is, how to manage it, and how to cut (or add) scope to a game project. What
- [How to reuse 1 piece of content for marketing](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-reuse-1-piece-of-content-for-marketing/) - A quick example guide on how to reuse a piece of content for indie game marketing across various social media platforms.
- [How to Find Game Jam Teams](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-find-game-jam-teams/) - A quick overview with examples on how to join teams or find team members for game jams.
- [The Road Ahead](https://arimiadev.com/the-road-ahead/) - NaNoRenO has finally wrapped up and we've survived another March. It was a lot less hectic than last March when we were grappling with the start of a pandemic. I've known since before NaNo started that this would be my last big team project that I'd lead, but I didn't fully know why I felt
- [Fanart Compilation, 1](https://arimiadev.com/fanart-compilation-1/) - Compilation of fanart from YGO and DGM late 2020 to early 2021.
- [2020 Social Media Calendar for Indie Games](https://arimiadev.com/2020-social-media-calendar-for-indie-games/) - So a year or so ago I released my version of a social media calendar for indie game marketing. Now, I've spruced it up a bit. What is a social media calendar? A social media calendar is basically a cheat-sheet for marketers to look at to figure out what to post that day. Don't think
- [Yes, You Can Start Marketing Too Late](https://arimiadev.com/yes-you-can-start-marketing-too-late/) - Marketing is something you should be doing constantly while a game is in development- but at what point is it too late to start? If you remember one thing from my articles, remember this- marketing should be seen as an integral part of game dev, much like programming and visuals, and should be done all
- [What We Can Learn from Manga Marketing](https://arimiadev.com/what-we-can-learn-from-manga-marketing/) - A few days ago I had to clean up our storage unit. One of the boxes I took home was part of my manga collection. As a new rule of thumb I don't work on weekends (but I'm writing this on Saturday- whoops!) so I spent the day rereading some of then. Since I'm a
- [Duality of You](https://arimiadev.com/duality-of-you/) - Haven't done a stained glass piece in years, so I figured it was about time. Sorinne's stained glass, a mirror image, called Duality of You.
- [Sketches, the Tetralogy](https://arimiadev.com/sketches-the-tetralogy/)
- [My Experience with the 2020 Summer and Autumn Steam Game Festivals](https://arimiadev.com/my-experience-with-the-2020-summer-and-autumn-steam-game-festivals/) - This summer Steam introduced their games festivals, tri-annual events on Steam where users could try out demos for upcoming games. Anyone who's a Steam publisher can enter them and the demos are featured on Steam. For indies, it's a win-win. However, with the second Steam Game Festival now coming to a close, it's clear this
- [10 Years](https://arimiadev.com/10-years-on-da/) - As of November 2nd 2020, my deviantART account is 10 years old. It's kinda weird seeing it roll over to double digits- after all, this is my oldest online account (that I still remember, at least). But what feels even stranger to me is looking back and thinking about my different mindsets at different points
- [FGO Summer 2020](https://arimiadev.com/fgo-summer-2020/) - Even though my family is still in self-isolation, I couldn't help but get in the summer mood with the new Fate/Grand Order event. And here's a tiny Jeanne chibi. I spent 120+ SQ on her but to no avail... well, at least I got NP 1 assassin Ushi and NP3 lancer Ibaraki.
- [Sketches, Act 3](https://arimiadev.com/sketches-act-3/) - Side note: over the years I've lost a lot of ability to draw traditionally, but I still sometimes prefer to sketch out ideas traditionally, especially for concepts that won't see their game for decades...
- [Finding Your Game's Audience](https://arimiadev.com/finding-your-games-audience/) - You're far enough into development to start marketing your game fully- great! ...But who are you going to market it to? Sometimes when people are sad that a game didn't do well, they mention "it was marketed well", yet it didn't do good. The sad truth is, more often than not if a game doesn't
- [First Ludum Dare Tips](https://arimiadev.com/first-ludum-dare-tips/) - Is this your first Ludum Dare this weekend? Don't fret! Here are some tips on how to survive your first LDJAM!What is Ludum Dare? It's a tri-annual event that runs for 48-72 hours where you make a game in the time limit! So, this is your first Ludum Dare. You're thinking, "I want to become a
- [Nothing Takes 0 Time (Or 0 Effort)](https://arimiadev.com/nothing-takes-0-time-or-0-effort/) - We often try to fool ourselves into thinking that projects can be easy or be quick- but, as we all get older, you have to learn to say no.Whenever we agree to anything of any magnitude, we have to all remember that everything- no matter how many seconds- will take time from our day. Agreeing
- [How To Make Twitter Painless for Marketing](https://arimiadev.com/how-to-make-twitter-painless-for-marketing/) - Twitter can be a great place for easily getting the word out there- ​but only if you know how to use it right. According to Statista, in 2018 Twitter has had on average 335 million active monthly users. That's a lot of potential consumers, but that's also a lot of potential competitors, all vying for
- [Why Game Jams Matter](https://arimiadev.com/why-game-jams-matter/) - Often we think of game jams as small, random events that game developers enter just for fun and bragging rights- but, they give developers so much more than we bargained for. Game Jams are events held every single day across the world and online with thousands of different themes and time constraints. Some last 2
- [5 Social Media Posts You ♥ Must ♥ Make For Your Game's Launch](https://arimiadev.com/5-social-media-posts-you-♥-must-♥-make-for-your-games-launch/) - Launch day is hectic— what do you post besides the ​launch announcement?! ​ Having survived many, many launches of varying degrees of success, I feel your pain when launch day comes near. You've probably got a checklist of stuff to do, announcements to announce, posts to post, updates to update, but your mind
- [Quick Update - Odd Times](https://arimiadev.com/quick-update-odd-times/) - I just wanted to make a quick update post to talk about the past month, what my next few months hopefully look like, etc. I also just... really wanted to put this down in writing? Namely, this whole "thing". This whole pandemic. We're in such an odd, scary time that most people never thought possible.
- [2019 Art Summary](https://arimiadev.com/2019-art-summary/) - Art summary for 2019! Somehow all of these ended up being art for indie visual novels...
- [Year of the Dog](https://arimiadev.com/year-of-the-dog/) - Happy Lunar New Year everyone! It's the year of the dog, so here's Creampuff and Inkblot (respectively) wishing you a happy year! Creampuff is Sve's pup, and Inkblot is Sorinne's doggo.
- [Cleo and Alexander](https://arimiadev.com/cleo-and-alexander/) - Concept sketch of two characters, redone digitally.
- [Halloween Sketch 2018](https://arimiadev.com/halloween-sketch-2018/)
- [Halloween 2018 ~ Midnight Rendezvous](https://arimiadev.com/halloween-2018-midnight-rendezvous/)
- [Sketches](https://arimiadev.com/sketches/)
- [Sketches, the Sequel](https://arimiadev.com/sketches-the-sequel/)
- [Waiting](https://arimiadev.com/waiting-2/)
- [Kids](https://arimiadev.com/kids-2/)
- [2019 Year in Review](https://arimiadev.com/2019-year-in-review/) - 2019 has been a pretty good year for me! A lot happened and I've met a lot of great people. I'm terrible at remembering things and even worse at remembering things in order time-wise so I'm going to just list some cool things and talk about them- if they end up in sequential order, cool!
- [Dancing Forever](https://arimiadev.com/dancing-forever/)
- [Center of My World](https://arimiadev.com/center-of-my-world/)
- [Concept Sketches](https://arimiadev.com/concept-sketches/) - A few colored character concept sketches. Some has since changed, as these are just concept ideas.
- [Iryna Rusia](https://arimiadev.com/iryna-rusia/) - Fullbody drawing of Iryna Rusia.
- [Chibis](https://arimiadev.com/chibis/) - Chibis x 2
- [Halloween Rimia](https://arimiadev.com/halloween-rimia-2/) - The SAI file somehow got corrupted at the halfway part (when I has finished lining, flat colors, some of the background, and the basic skin shading) and literally made my computer crash upon multiple tries at trying to open it and freezing my computer up. So, I had to do the best I could. It
- [Halloween Time](https://arimiadev.com/halloween-time/) - Rimia and Sorinne in their Halloween costumes!
- [Resolve as Firm as Ice](https://arimiadev.com/resolve-as-firm-as-ice-2/) - Stained glass piece of Iryna! She needed a second outfit so I took this time to design one for her.
- [At Diamandra](https://arimiadev.com/at-diamandra-2/) - Blaise and Sorinne on the rooftop of their school, Diamandra.
- [Wintertime](https://arimiadev.com/wintertime-2/) - Wintertime with the main boys from Asterism!
- [2017 Art Summary](https://arimiadev.com/2017-art-summary-2/)
- [Evalise](https://arimiadev.com/evalise-2/) - First full drawing of 2018- Evalise Adams for the main menu screen of That Which Binds Us.
- [Evalise at Sunset](https://arimiadev.com/evalise-at-sunset-2/)
- [Valentine's Eva](https://arimiadev.com/valentines-eva-2/) - Eva in her Valentine's outfit wishing you all a happy Valentine's Day!
- [New Horizons](https://arimiadev.com/new-horizons-2/) - Last full drawing of 2018 to end the year on a good note. Let's make 2019 even better.
- [Heart of the Woods](https://arimiadev.com/heart-of-the-woods-2/)
- [2018 Year in Review - A Hectic but Informative Year](https://arimiadev.com/2018-year-in-review-a-hectic-but-informative-year/) - It's that time of year again, that time after Christmas but before New Years... the time when we all try to hurry up and finish what we're working on to finish one last thing before the next year... but, that also means it's time to look back and see what was accomplished this year! ♦
- [Crossed Paths:Connected Worlds ~ At First Sight ~](https://arimiadev.com/crossed-pathsconnected-worlds-at-first-sight/) - Two worlds, two girls.Claire is an unhappy teenager bouncing between school, home, and her uncertain future. However, she doesn't realize how hectic her life is until she finds a necklace that opens another world. Through this she meets Sophronia, another teenage girl trying to find her way through the world- or, worlds. ​
- [I Saw Him Today - Ludum Dare #42 Compo Entry](https://arimiadev.com/i-saw-him-today-ludum-dare-42-compo-entry/) - Sometimes you come face to face with ghosts from your past. Warning: Contains mentions of suicide. ​ Another Ludum Dare finished, and in record time. This event I present to you I Saw Him Today, a short, emotional, and experimental visual novel made in Ren'Py. It's a heavy story that doesn't easily become resolved, but
- [As Vast as the Sea: Ludum Dare #41 Entry](https://arimiadev.com/as-vast-as-the-sea-ludum-dare-41-entry/) - ​Erita has had enough of her life on her island and set sails one night to finally leave it all behind- only, when she wakes up, she finds she has left her entire world behind. Awoken by a mermaid, Erita finds herself in the underwater city of Ogygia, her new home. Help her find her place in
- [Ludum Dare #41: Day 1 - Friday Night](https://arimiadev.com/ludum-dare-41-day-1-friday-night/) - As always, I'm entering Ludum Dare, but this time I'm going for a more ambitious adventure / creepy RPG called As Vast as the Sea. As Vast as the Sea follows Erita, a young girl who goes adrift at sea only to wake up in an underwater world. Help befriend or begrudge merpeople as Erita tries to
- [No NaNoRenO Plans](https://arimiadev.com/no-nanoreno-plans/) - Figured I'd make a post just to clarify, incase anyone was wondering- no, I don't plan on entering NaNoRenO this year, despite wanting to. I think it'll be best to save my month-long slots for VNs for later in the year once That Which Binds Us is finished (and when it gets closer to Yuri
- [2017 Year in Review](https://arimiadev.com/2017-year-in-review/) - 2017 has been a really busy year for me, but now it's coming to a close, so it's time to reflect on what's happened and where I can go from here. For starters, I almost ended 2017 on a sour note! My laptop had been having a lot of smaller, strange issues over the past
- [Feathers: Ludum Dare #40 Entry](https://arimiadev.com/feathers-ludum-dare-40-entry/) - Alright, alright, hear me out."But Miko, your last post said you dropped out of Ludum Dare due to IRL reasons!" Yes, yes it did. Buuuuuut I finished one of my finals today, came home, and strapped down for about 5 hours and cranked out an entry after I thought "I've never missed a Ludum Dare
- [Why No More Ludum Dare Updates?](https://arimiadev.com/why-no-more-ludum-dare-updates/) - Short answer: I had to withdraw from Ludum Dare #40.​Long answer...Long answer is this weekend is just too hectic for me to handle with Ludum Dare. Finals are this week (my most important being Monday, when LD is in the final hours), I had to use almost all of Sunday to prep for my moving
- [Ludum Dare #40: Day 1 - Night](https://arimiadev.com/ludum-dare-40-day-1-night/) - Not a lot done tonight, mainly cause I'm going to have a busy time tomorrow. I'm still a bit unsure about my game, but here's a finished character from it as well as two sketches.
- [It's Been a Busy Few Months](https://arimiadev.com/its-been-a-busy-few-months/) - It's been a while since I made an actual blog post here, but I felt it necessary to sum up everything that's been happening game dev-wise the past few months, namely with releases and what not. During September I made an extended post-Ludum Dare version of Lights Out, my RPG-horror homage which was my first real
- [Lights Out Post-Ludum Dare Build](https://arimiadev.com/lights-out-post-ludum-dare-build/) - The post Ludum Dare build of Lights Out made for the Pixel Horror Jam 2 is now completed and uploaded on Itch.io! The browser version is the new one while the Ludum Dare builds are still playable via download. Now time to start my next side game jam project...
- [Lights Out Post-LD Build - Progress!](https://arimiadev.com/lights-out-post-ld-build-progress/) - The post-Ludum Dare build of Lights Out is almost done and will definitely be released this month! So far I've added 2 road blocks (1 being a small puzzle), doubled the size of the map, changed the placement of Bedelia (you'll have to find her all over again as her room has drastically moved!), made
- [Lights Out Post-LD Update Announced](https://arimiadev.com/lights-out-post-ld-update-announced/) - Yep, fully announcing that I've started on a post-Ludum Dare build of Lights Out for the horror game jam held by a few acquaintances, Pixel Horror Jam 2. I'm still not sure how much I'll add (I've been told I have to double the content, though that doesn't necessarily mean story-wise), but I have planned
- [Lights Out (LD39) Updates](https://arimiadev.com/lights-out-ld39-updates/) - Here's a small post-Ludum Dare devlog. Lights Out is now on 3 different sites, for all your browser-playing needs! Itch.ioGame Jolt​Newgrounds I've received a few comments saying that the lights didn't seem necessary and that there should be some more foreshadowing/buildup to the story, so I'll most likely make a post-LD build of the game
- [Ludum Dare #39 Day 4 - End](https://arimiadev.com/ludum-dare-39-day-4-end/) - Ludum Dare #39 is finally over, and boy, did it feel like forever! And yet, the time flew by whenever I was working on my game :"D Anyway, here's some looks at the game and what it's about. Lights Out by Crystal Game Works Lights Out is my attempt at a short and sweet RPG horror-style
- [Ludum Dare #39 Day 3 - Night](https://arimiadev.com/ludum-dare-39-day-3-night/) - Got a looot done tonight, but I still have a fair ways to go before it's finished. It'll definitely be close. Here's some in-game screenshots and a gif. Who's that outside Rebecca's window, I wonder? Oh, just your neighborhood Dullahan who has a knack for letting his head roll around unsupervised.
- [Ludum Dare #39 Day 3 - Morning](https://arimiadev.com/ludum-dare-39-day-3-morning/) - Didn't get a lot done today except for the main "antagonist", Hiram's, sprite. Going to try to get a working build/demo/something tonight- if not, I'll have to wake up early in the morning and probably cut some stuff.
- [Ludum Dare #39 Day 2 - Night](https://arimiadev.com/ludum-dare-39-day-2-night/) - End of day 2 for Ludum Dare #39, and I made some good progress- not as much as I'd have liked, but still. I now have a more fleshed out plot, which I'll share later. Here are some looks at what I got done today! Top is Bedelia's finished sprite, bottom is Francie's finished sprite.
- [Ludum Dare #39 Day 2 - Morning](https://arimiadev.com/ludum-dare-39-day-2-morning/) - Got a fair amount done this morning, including some more items for the house and some work on the character sprites. Top is Rebecca, the main character's, finished sprite. Bottom is Bedelia, one of Rebecca's guests at her slumber party. A look at the first room. ...I should probably make some more things to fill
- [Ludum Dare #39 Day 1](https://arimiadev.com/ludum-dare-39-day-1/) - So, Friday of LD #39 is over, and here are some shots of what I got done. First is showing the tilesets and furniture (and of course, stained glass) I did and the second image shows the WIP of the main character, Rebecca's, sprite. For this Ludum Dare (the theme being Running out of Power)
- [That Which Binds Us - Released!](https://arimiadev.com/that-which-binds-us-released/) - That Which Binds Us is now released! ​You can now buy TWBU on Steam and Itchio! It's been a long few months but the majority of development and work on TWBU is now at a close~ There will still be updates and a few future plans for additions, but as of now TWBU is complete.
- [That Which Binds Us Post-Jam Demo](https://arimiadev.com/that-which-binds-us-post-jam-demo/) - The new demo on Ren'Py is now available on Itch.io!​

## Pages

- [About Me](https://arimiadev.com/about-me/) - Hiya, I'm Arimia / Aria (she/they). I've been an artist since 2010 and a game dev since 2014- I specialize in indie game marketing and making visual novels. Here you'll find my thoughts on marketing visual novels, my occasional drawings, and some rambles. I'm a self-proclaimed shounen manga connoisseur (derogatory) and I have a soft
- [Consultations](https://arimiadev.com/consultations/) - I'm an experienced visual novel developer and marketer that's worked on several successful projects & Kickstarters and I'm available for consultations.
- [Visual Novel Development Guides](https://arimiadev.com/visual-novel-development-guides/) - This is a collection of some of my best articles as well has highlights from fellow developers that I think are neat. making visual novels VNDev Wiki's various pages on development strategies for working with teams marketing visual novels Marketing your first indie game — What we learned from releasing the same game twice. (a
- [Crimson Waves on the Emerald Sea](https://arimiadev.com/crimson-waves-on-the-emerald-sea/) - Travel across an alternate Victorian era in search for a cure to vampirism. At the turn of the century, Victorian life carries on with one sharp difference from our world- vampires run amok and are a part of every day life. After having run away from home to search for his best friend, the young
- [Otomes](https://arimiadev.com/otomes/) - An ongoing list of all of my finished otomes that I've directed and worked on. That Which Binds Us Idris is a bonds man- a special bonds man. While most of his clients need to bail loved ones out of jail, a few are looking for a reprieve from someone they once knew. For Evalise,
- [Asterism](https://arimiadev.com/asterism/) - Kotachi received a pair of white revolvers after his grandfather died, forged from the constellation Perseus. His weapons target specters, shadow monsters that invisibly attack people... and the Zodiac. As one of the few who can, it's up to Kotachi to both protect these constellations and use their powers in battle to keep everyone safe.
- [Arimia's Blog](https://arimiadev.com/arimias-blog/) - All of my projects and thoughts!
- [Your Target Audience is not Everyone - Notes](https://arimiadev.com/panels/your-target-audience-is-not-everyone-notes/) - Your visual novel's target audience is not everyone- what does this mean and why? A target market is a group of people for which an organization designs, implements, and maintains marketing mix... Principles of Marketing by Lamb/Hair/McDaniel Essentially, your target market is the people who will love your product the most. For video games, unless
- [How to Make Your Own Visual Novel - Notes](https://arimiadev.com/panels/how-to-make-your-own-visual-novel/) - Engines Ren'Py FreeDon't need to know Python nor codingVery active community with frequent engine updates Naninovel $150Unity pluginFrequent engine updates More Engines TwineVNMakerGame MakerTyrano BuilderNovelty Text Editing Software Notepad++SublimeVisual StudioAtomEditra Writing Google Docs FreeSaves automatically to Google DriveAllows easy sharing and collaboration Articy Draft $99.99Game asset managerAllows you to test the flow of the game
- [Panels](https://arimiadev.com/panels/) - Pitching Anime Games to Entrepreneurs How to Make Your Own Visual Novel Your Target Audience is Not Everyone
- [Magicanna ~ 100 Chances](https://arimiadev.com/magicanna-100-chances/)

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://arimiadev.com/category/uncategorized/)
- [Projects](https://arimiadev.com/category/projects/)
- [Art](https://arimiadev.com/category/art/)
- [Magicanna](https://arimiadev.com/category/magicanna/)
- [100 Chances](https://arimiadev.com/category/magicanna/100chances/)
- [Rosemarie War](https://arimiadev.com/category/magicanna/rosemariewar/)
- [Articles](https://arimiadev.com/category/articles/)
- [Blog](https://arimiadev.com/category/blog/)

## Tags

- [Ludum Dare](https://arimiadev.com/tag/ludum-dare/)
- [Devlog](https://arimiadev.com/tag/devlog/)
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- [sketch](https://arimiadev.com/tag/sketch/)
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