“one night, hot springs” by npckc, with music by maxdotine.
“[Play] as [Haru], a young transgender woman, and join her at the hot springs in [Japan]. […] [The game] discusses issues that […] transgender women in [Japan] might face, which is a topic that can be sensitive and personal. […] [Seven] endings total.”
Every now and then it is important for me to see games like “one night, hot springs”, which offer a change of perspective and are able to strengthen empathy of people. By taking the time to tell a story – one playthrough can take up to thirty minutes -, it makes me thinking about all the different issues Haru is confronted with. She gets invited by her childhood friend to join her private birthday party at the hot springs, but Haru sees many potential issues coming up, that could make her feel uncomfortable and maybe even ruin the celeberation.
Issues like changing her clothes, but also the possibility of her getting deadnamed, start to make the negative thoughts rumbling inside her mind. I highly recommend you to give this excellently crafted interactive novel a chance to learn more about Haru, her life, her problems as well as her environment. We all can learn a lot by playing “one night, hot springs”. >>PLAY
