After getting my idea, I started working on the aesthetic of the game, which included choosing a color palette, fonts, define sizes, shapes...

I like to use Figma for my drafts! It allow me to quickly group together my ideas into 1 file. You can access it there.

I started with the color palette, I wanted something mainly dark to help the mood of the game, and the bright pink helped to draw attention to what I wanted the player to see.

I did not consciously use a reference for the colors, but looking back at it, there is probably some inspiration from Dangaronpa and therapy with DR. ALBERT KRUEGER.

I wanted to show the difference between the "Want" choice and the "Need" choice. 

This is why I brought 2 pinks, the bright one as the "Want" and the pale one as what needs to be done.

However, I later changed my mind when seeing my experimentations:

(The only change is the bottom choice button)

I didn't like the first one which attracted too much attention and felt wrong.

The second seemed too discreet, but upon trying the third one, the second was my favorite.

After that, I tried to see where I could add slight animation to keep the attention of the reader.

Finally, I searched for sounds on Pixabay, which helped a lot with the atmosphere!

Warning: Spoiler ahead!

The design I had the most struggle with was the end background.

As you can see, I did a some test:

I liked it because it represented the tombstone, but in the game, the pink hue also represented light.

When I saw it, it made me remember the French expression "Voir la lumière au bout du tunnel" or, in English: "see the light at <b class="b3" <the="" end<="" b="">the end </b>of the tunnel."

Resting in peace being at the end of the tunnel, you can either see it as symbolism for the wish of a peaceful death after being sick for so long, or the suicide ideation a suicidal person may have.

Also, if you're also a game dev, do not forget to check the font license, like I did! Fortunately,  Geo font can be used and I didn't need to go back to square one.

Another advice for beginners like me on Renpy, when you edit the GUI or the coding, instead of erasing the original one, add "bak" at the end of the GUI and transform the code into a comment with #, it will help you in case you did an error!

I also added a little "easter egg", for the curious little one...

Maybe it will give a theory about the game's story, or maybe you will be even more confused!

Thank you for reading!