Where do I begin?

The market for visual novels is particularly saturated, leading to many divisive opinions. Some people—such as myself—love visual novels, while others aren't fans of the genre because of how many exist. Creating a title that "stands out" and garners a lot of love and attention can be challenging. I knew this when I decided to make one for Preggo Game Jam 2, and my initial thought was if I did a good job, I would do "okay."

You all demolished that expectation.

In just four days since its release, Bumps & Brews has skyrocketed to the #41 spot on the Top 50 Free Games list on the Itch.io homepage (it has since been replaced, but it was there), with over 3,000 downloads and counting. Those accomplishments have blown both me and Marrazan away. We did not expect such a massive outpouring of love and appreciation for Bumps & Brews, and we are both honoured and grateful that so many people appreciate the game so much. We can't express enough how much your support means to us. 

As an additional means of saying "thank you," we wanted to share some of our plans for Bumps & Brews.

Upcoming Additions

Rory's Route

Upon completing Dina's story, players will have the option to play again as Rory! While Rory isn't Gifted and can't ordinarily experience as fast of a pregnancy as Dina, she can receive one of Dina's eggs, allowing her to progress as fast as Dina does. However, this also means that her pregnancy will be a standard size...

...at least until Dina starts messing with her.

Although the player will unlock Rory after achieving any ending in Dina's story, players will be encouraged to replay as Dina several times since they can unlock assets and features to increase the size of Rory's pregnancy (among other things). One of these things will be giving Deidra her secret drink, which Dina will keep with her to use on Rory when she is pregnant. We have other ideas on how the player can change Rory's pregnancy by playing as Dina, but we don't want to spoil too much yet!

However, all of the methods of tampering with Rory's pregnancy will be optional, allowing players who prefer a more normal-sized pregnancy to keep it that way.

Expanded Drink-Mixing

This was the most highly requested feature for future renditions of the game. The drink-mixing minigame will be improved in various ways. This includes but is not limited to:

• Adding extra ingredients, like bourbon, implementing a system for garnishes such as salt or slices of lemon, and different ways to prepare the drinks, like shaking or stirring.
• A "memorisation mode," where players will be required to memorise the ingredients for a drink or recall what drink a customer likes and prepare it from memory.
• More versatility for the tipping system could include variable tip amounts and more ways to earn and spend money.

As mentioned, this is a partial list of ideas. Still, these are the ones Marrazan and I are looking into implementing into the game! If you have any other ideas, feel free to contact us!

New CGs & Updated Standing Images

Because the game was originally under time constraints for Preggo Game Jam 2, Marrazan and I did not have the opportunity to diversify the standing images or add any CGs. However, now that the Game Jam is finished and we're entering into a normalised state of development, players can expect to see the following things improved or added to the game:

• Fullscreen CGs of certain events, such as Rory rubbing Dina's belly.
• Updated standing images to include things such as different outfits, expressions, poses, and more.
• Custom-made UI assets, also generously provided by Marrazan.

There's Still More

The list of changes and ideas here is not the end of everything we dream of eventually adding to the game. We want to include new characters, build friendships, explore stories, random events, and more. We're going to do our best to gradually introduce new features as we think of them, and we hope that everybody who likes this game enjoys and is excited about everything we have planned for it.

Thank you again for 3,000 downloads and the feature in Itch.io's Top 50! Your support means the world to us.