Meet China
The first of the cast in her final art, by 53C: eight expressions and two poses. She found you before you found your room.
About the game
A dating sim with a planner at its heart
Mistflower Crossing is a stat-based dating sim set at a small liberal arts college, in a town of the same name. Each semester you register for classes, eventually picking a Focus (like a major). You can also work a job and plan out your week.
Then there are your free days. Go out to meet people, study, or go on dates in any of three time slots. Weeknight dates are possible too, but they take time, so plan accordingly!
The cast
Twelve people, each with their own endings
There's no route lock: date whoever you like, or no one at all, and live your best single life!
China
Your RA
China is never more vocal than in support of others, and she finds herself lost when she has five minutes of free time. She has a color-coded binder for everyone's problems. Her own tab is blank.
In the dev build
Rei
IT Specialist
She takes the long way past the server room on Tuesdays. So do you. Neither of you has mentioned it.
Poppy
Music Prodigy
She performs other people's compositions beautifully. Her own stay in a locked drawer.
Mimi
Muralist
She isn't hard to find. She is everywhere: hiding amigurumi, painting walls (and sometimes canvases), and yarn-bombing statues at 2 in the morning.
Sakura
Welder
She's loud and boisterous at home and in the workshop. She is a more quiet form of intense in the garden. She thinks she's too much in both.
In the dev build
Erika
Model & Fashion Designer
She dresses like a headline and thinks like a thesis. She is tired of people only reading the headline.
Jax
Hacker
He has a battered keyboard, a canteen that used to belong to his father, and absolutely no interest in letting you in.
Kenji
Campus Courier
His bike is named Tangerine (she/her). He's already somewhere else. There's a hill at the park that he loves to race down, wind whipping against his face. He tells everyone he meets about it.
In the dev build
Sylas
Musician & Dancer
Everyone knows his name. He is easy to approach and nearly impossible to reach. The warmth is real. Everything else is a performance, including for himself.
Lucien
Philosophy TA
He lives as if he were in the past. The present, he finds, is unconvincing. He has not yet been persuaded otherwise.
Vesper
Filmmaker
He keeps a camera between himself and everything that matters. The footage is beautiful. He is never in it.
Griffon
Game Master
He has a voice for every character, but sometimes wonders if he has a voice of his own.
A look inside
What's in so far
Plan your weeks
Three time slots a day, pre-filled with your chosen classes and job. The weekly planner runs all four years, and every free afternoon is a choice for you.
Stories that notice you
Hidden axes track your personality. Characters notice how you respond to them, and that leads you to different endings.
Wren and Now
Wren is a freshman at Mistflower Crossing, like you, and she starts a lifestyle blog when she starts college. Before long, you rely on her for jobs, festivals, new date spots, trending items, and an interview with someone from the cast, with hints for winning them over. New posts go up every season.
A calendar that remembers
Dates, birthdays, first meetings, exams and festivals. Every kind of day has its own color, so you can look back at last month and see where it went.
A little luck
You visit the hill and see Kenji across the way. You call out to him, but do you get a moment? Or only a glimpse? Having enough luck gets you that conversation, and even without it, the glimpse tells you he comes here. Eventually, luck will also decide whether you trigger a character event.
Keepsakes
In your final year, Wren posts graduation interviews with the cast, and her last one features you. Every finished playthrough gives you a keepsake: Wren's post about you, which changes with your character and your answers, plus your numbers, everyone you met, and every notable day.
Your phone
Once you've met someone, they text. Some texts want an answer.
Contacts
Stickers and sticky notes
Report cards
Polaroid saves
Screenshots are from the game in development. China's sprite by 53C. Backgrounds by Selavi Games.
Status
What works right now
- Three full routes, start to finish: China, Kenji and Sakura, the RA, the racer and the welder.
- The weekly planner runs all four years. Register for classes, work a variety of jobs, and schedule your free days.
- The prologue is a series of eight moments chosen from 45. Each answer nudges your personality and stats. It also determines who you meet first, in-game.
- Hidden axes track your personality.
- Wren and Now, a lifestyle blog written by an inquisitive classmate.
- Keepsakes save each finished playthrough: Wren's post about you, your stats, and everyone you met.
- Festivals: take your date out on New Year's Eve.
- Luck lets you meet your crush in their favorite spot, or maybe just catch a glimpse to let you know you're on the right track.
- Calls and texts, with more to come.
- 30 save slots, plus an autosave at the start of each week.
- Full controller support.
Watch
A week in Mistflower Crossing
Who's making it
Hi, I'm Sara
I'm Sara Duniphin, a solo dev. I'm an avid dating-sim player, and I've found a surprising lack of games that use stats, so I'm making my own! It's inspired by Tokimeki Memorial and Aitakute, and made in Godot.
So far, most of the art is placeholder while I commission the real thing. China, by 53C, is the first finished sprite! The first commission, your dorm room, is underway.
The code is built with help from Claude, Anthropic's AI. The design is mine, and all art and writing that ship with the game will be human-made.
Follow along
Traipse among the mistflowers
Devlogs go up on itch.io, and videos go up on YouTube. Follow me elsewhere to see screenshots, character developments, and my musings.
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