novena
novena is a game about the burden of strength and the fruits of perseverance. it was made for the 14th monthly bitsy jam.
- music: arête by brambles
- instructions: use your arrow keys to walk around and interact
- playtime: ~5 to 10 mins
🌊⛈️🐦
bitsy hacks and tools used
- bitsy hacks
- directional avatar (v16.0.1) by Sean S. LeBlanc
- tools
- add bitsy audio by candle
- pixsy by ruin
[originally made in bitsy v4.8, remade in bitsy v7.5]
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- updated novena to bitsy v7.5 + new thumbnailJul 01, 2021
Comments
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I keep coming back to this. It's so beautiful. A year after the first time I experienced this I ended up doing a school assignment on it for my "Video Games as an Art Form" class, because it continues to stick with me as a prime example of the interactive medium's ability to uniquely express one's creative vision.
BANGER :) :) :) :)
Thank you for existing
beautiful
This is so beautiful and inspiring... Thank You
Hey gang, if you want the music then it's
Arête
by Brambles
it’s in the game description mate, has been for the past 6+ years.
Ah- I'm an idiot XD
beautiful experience <3
Nice
so simple yet so good, the ending really hit close to home. And it helped <3
Beautiful, thank you. You made this game, and it helped.
Thank you for creating this game.
I felt like I was in a evanescent dream.
I keep coming back to this game. brings tears to my eyes everytime. thank you for your art
short but stunning the ending hit me like a sack of wet mice
Very simple, but quite inspired, both in graphics and writing.
Hi, I made a PlayDate version of this game using it's bitsy-inspired engine, Pulp. I mostly made it for myself, but I was wondering if you'd be ok with me putting it up on my page, with links to this original and credit to you on the actual game itself.
i don’t really mind as long as you make it clear in the title and thumbnail that it’s a remix/“cover” in addition to the crediting!
Ok! The remake is up for download here, if you want me to change anything about it let me know! I hope it's not too strange that I just kind of copied the look and format of the original's page, I really wanted to just try to capture the feeling of it the best I can.
thanks for the link! lol i can respect the commitment to verisimilitude, it’s cool. i don’t have a playdate so i wouldn’t be able to play it, but i love the greyscale look. maybe one day i’ll make a monochrome/1-bit bitsy game…
This is one of the few JS interactive stories that really moved me... I play it from time to time, and it never gets old. I really appreciate your work a lot.
So simple but so good. Inspiring
Very moving, thank you
this is my favorite thing on here. beautiful work.
A very beautiful poem! The ending got me emotional
OMG this was so good it made me cry a little. this was so sweet I loved this gam
I found it to be a touching story and quite well done to be made with the Bitsy engine, you can see that good use of pixel art makes a lot of difference in said engine, the music is very good and above all it is a beautiful poem.
very sweet thanks
wow. i didn't realize i was crying until it was over. thank you
Simply beautiful!! Thanks!!!
thank you for this poem.
a fantastic experience. a short, sweet, soft bite of story. thank you for making this. thank you for sharing it.
wow - that was really beautiful, thank you
well that was an experience
I fucking cried
this is the most beautiful game I have ever played. i have never seen anything like it. i wish i could create something as beautiful as this. i sound sooo emotional omfg but i loved it thats all :) amazing work, i hope you're incredibly proud of yourself!
Absolutely love. What a beautiful little game <3
This is a touching and relevant story for me recently. Thank you for sharing it.
i loveeeeeee it sooooooooooo cute i really wish to make it as as beautiful as this for university project.
Easily one of the loveliest things I have ever read. I recommend this poem to friends often. Thank you so much for such a captivating and heartfelt experience.
this is so wonderful. Simple, but sharp and well made. I love the art especially. The line "I weep because we are the same, and I do not know how to help us." will stick with me for a long time I think.
Loved this experience. Beautiful concept, writing, and music. Thanks for making this.
wow. i'm so glad someone shared this on another game... my new fave genre of poetry/storytelling
cool
Good morning. First of all, well done and thank you for this magnificent experience that you have offered us. I loved going through your game. However, as a new user to the engine you are using also in this game, I wonder how you managed to integrate the beautiful music because I don't see how to import a file, I can only use the chiptune music editor...
hello! novena was made in a much older version of bitsy, so i think these tricks should still work but let me know if they don’t:
the bitsymuse tool is a little trickier (but very cool, i used it for HOPE and i am still here) and i haven’t tested its compatibility with the newest version of bitsy. i think the first hack of just adding a single audio file should work without any issues though.
the engine has changed a lot since i made this game… good luck!
I tried them and was disappointed to find that they didn't work. Another question: how did you create these superb sets?. Thank you for responding so quickly and congratulations again for your work 💪💪💪
huh! i tested the first option just now and it seems to work fine for me… i’m curious on how you tried it!
the first option is kind of a ‘will always work’ trick because it’s really just adding an audio file to a HTML file and that never really gets outdated (more info about that on w3schools’ website). if you don’t mind telling me how you tested it, i’d be happy to help you with it, either in this comment chain or email me (my email address is on my website).
i don’t really know what you mean by “sets”… is it the art/tiles? for most of it i’ve imported images i drew on aseprite through pixsy. i usually made a 128x128 pixel image and drew in it, then exported them as a png and used pixsy to convert them into bitsy rooms.