Mistflower Crossing devlog https://mistflowercrossing.com/devlog/ Development updates for Mistflower Crossing, a stat-based dating sim, in Sara's own words. en-us Fri, 30 Oct 2026 12:00:00 -0600 https://mistflowercrossing.com/favicon-192.png Mistflower Crossing devlog https://mistflowercrossing.com/devlog/ The alpha is written https://mistflowercrossing.com/devlog/the-alpha-is-written.html https://mistflowercrossing.com/devlog/the-alpha-is-written.html Fri, 30 Oct 2026 12:00:00 -0600 Writing Every scene in the alpha is written. China at the Grounds, Kenji learning how to say Monet, and what the alpha will hold. Hi everyone!

I've now written every scene a player can encounter in the alpha! It feels so good to have that done. I am that much closer to a public release. I typed my fingertips to the nubs to get those scenes worked out.

China at the Grounds

China's scene at the Grounds is one of my favorites so far. I want players to experience a first blush of like in this scene. I want them to see China trying her best to relax, and how much effort she puts into it. The player should be curious about who China is underneath the RA.

China in a sunlit coffee shop, eyes closed and smiling with her binder hugged to her chest. The narration: You steal a glance. Her mint hair is falling in front of her face, but it doesn't hide how her expression changes while she's reading. She gasps at something happening on the page. It's cute.

Kenji learns how to say Monet

I was trying to think of something simple, cute, and endearing that Kenji could learn about art. How to say Monet just seemed natural. The calm serenity of Water Lilies is what made me pick it. That, and the fact that you have to look down at the water to look up at the sky. The stillness fits with how I envision the part of himself that Kenji tends to shy away from.

An art gallery with framed portraits along a grey wall. Kenji says: There's this one painting I just have to show you! I just learned how to say Monet!

An art museum date? Tokimemo did it first. See Oda Mari treat me badly on Second Button.

So when's the alpha?

I'm afraid of this question! I don't want to announce the alpha too early when the game is still... so far away.

In the alpha, you'll be able to play through one semester of Mistflower Crossing. Two of the twelve cast members will be available for you to interact with! Raise friendship levels from Acquaintance to Friend.

The rest of the week

I've met some amazing developers on Bluesky this week. I'm slowly making connections with other people who are also creating.

The gameplay video was fun to make! It's coming next week! I realized I still have some systems to smooth out, but being on camera isn't so bad.

Sakura is a favorite character of mine. I love her dichotomy and the fact that she thinks both sides of her are too much for people.

Watch Sakura's short on YouTube

I started a newsletter so I could keep people who want updates informed about the ongoing status of the project. If that's you, you can sign up below.

]]> The prologue is finished https://mistflowercrossing.com/devlog/the-prologue-is-finished.html https://mistflowercrossing.com/devlog/the-prologue-is-finished.html Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 -0600 Prologue All 45 prologue moments are written. The Empty Room, two favorite lines, the balancing act, and a first gameplay video. Hey everyone! The prologue is finished, and all 45 moments are written by me. Finishing it is bittersweet, but mostly sweet. The little moments were fun to write, and balancing it got to be like a puzzle. I'll miss it, but I'm glad it's done!

The Empty Room

The Empty Room was inspired by a moment from my freshman year. I had a roommate, but she basically lived elsewhere, so the room was all mine. I decorated and bought new sheets. I really wanted the transformation I was feeling to be reflected somewhere, but all the new things did was remind me of where I wasn't. The feeling of not belonging anywhere was real.

The Empty Room, a prologue moment in your dorm room. The narration says the sheets are new and in your style, but the room still doesn't feel like yours, and offers four things to do about it.

Favorite lines

"Read parfum bottles" is one of my favorite lines, because it's what my family used to poke fun at me about after I started taking French in middle school.

Wren shimmying up the climbing wall "like a squirrel" is another. This line made me smile. I was trying to picture how Wren would climb the wall, and the first thing that popped into my head was a squirrel climbing a telephone pole!

Balancing the prologue

With a cast of twelve characters, I wanted to give people a pretty good chance of meeting the person they were aiming for. This ended up being more of a juggling act than I anticipated, and I knew it was going to be hard. That made it fun too! Now, if you set out to meet someone, you'll run into them after the prologue two out of three times.

My first gameplay video

I put out my first gameplay video! It shows me planning a week in Mistflower Crossing. It felt so good, showcasing my game for the world to see. Now I have a video out there that proves there is gameplay!

Watch it on YouTube

What's on the way for Mistflower Crossing?

Next, I'm tackling the items that stand in the way of releasing a demo. First on the list are scenes for China. With her sprite just finished by 53C, I'll be well on my way to a complete route! Here's a little peek. Her full reveal is tomorrow!

A peek at China's finished sprite, cropped to her pink cardigan, mint-green hair and the binder hugged to her chest.
]]> My first scenes https://mistflowercrossing.com/devlog/my-first-scenes.html https://mistflowercrossing.com/devlog/my-first-scenes.html Fri, 16 Oct 2026 12:00:00 -0600 Writing Kenji's first two scenes, China's move-in, and a prologue rework that made Poppy possible to meet. Hey everyone! So I did a lot of writing this week. I am so excited to see my own text come into the game rather than the placeholder text I was working from. It really is inspiring to see it all coming together.

Kenji

Kenji was my main focus. I wrote two scenes for him, and they were my very first! I hope you all come to love the Kenji that I'm bringing to life. The sweet earnestness behind everything he does is so endearing.

Kenji's dorm room: a tidy bed, a desk under the window, and a painting of a tree on the wall. The dialogue box reads: Nobody stays long in this room. It's meant to be left.
The same room. The dialogue box reads: Tangerine hangs from a hook by the door. The fixed-gear bike is free from any trace of dirt or dust.

China

I also wrote China's move-in scene, the one every player sees when they start the game. She is every bit as helpful as I envisioned her to be. This scene was important for me to get right, since it sets the tone for the whole game.

A dorm hallway beside an elevator. A student says: But RA! I'm afraid of getting homesick. I've never lived away from home before...

The prologue

Another focus of mine this week is just as visible. I reworked more than a dozen questions for the short, personality-quiz-style opening the game uses to decide who you'll meet first (other than China) and what your starting stats look like. Each question also nudges you along one or more of the hidden personality axes. Poppy went from nearly impossible to meet at the start (11% of the time, even when you were trying) to showing up about two out of three times when you go looking for her (66%).

I also wrote two prologue moments from scratch, without any placeholder text. That was a little intimidating for me, but I made it through unscathed!

A prologue moment at the common room bulletin board, with four flyers to choose from: a band looking for a bandmate, pen pals for a language class, a sale on designer clothes, and the Drama Club recruiting.

What's next

Next, I'll rework more prologue moments and add scenes for Kenji and China with the goal in mind of making a playable demo one of these days. Follow along to see what comes next! See you soon.

]]> Mistflower Crossing finally has a home! https://mistflowercrossing.com/devlog/mistflower-crossing-finally-has-a-home.html https://mistflowercrossing.com/devlog/mistflower-crossing-finally-has-a-home.html Fri, 09 Oct 2026 12:00:00 -0600 Announcement The first devlog: what Mistflower Crossing is, who's making it, and what works in the build so far. 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 and eventually pick a Focus (like a major). You can also work a job and plan out your week.

Tokimeki Memorial 3 has a weekly planner, too. Screenshots of my translation efforts up on Second Button.

Then there are your free days. Go out to meet people, study, or go on dates in any of the three time slots. Weeknight dates are possible too, but they take time, so plan accordingly!

Twelve people make up the cast, 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 (coming soon)!

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.

What works right now

  • Two full routes, start to finish: China and Kenji, the RA and the racer.
  • The weekly planner runs all four years. Register for classes, work a variety of jobs, and schedule your free days.
  • Hidden axes track your personality. Characters notice how you respond to them, and that leads you to different endings.
  • Calls and texts, with more to come.
  • 30 save slots, plus an autosave at the start of each week.
  • Full controller support.

All art is placeholder for now while I commission the real thing. Backgrounds are by Selavi Games.

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 the page for new devlogs, or visit mistflowercrossing.com. You can reach me at hello@mistflowercrossing.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

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