Okay, you know how this works -- Papa Gabe comes along and offers a rich bounty of discounts for all his Steam kiddies. Same deal, everything goes down a little, wishlists fire off, everybody wins. But this time around we have a little something new for you...
Introducing Henchmen For HIre, a bundle of two great games -- Penny Larceny and Henchman Story! If you like your social satire with a splash of crime and comic book shenanigans, your ship has officially arrived. Get both games at a discount! We've also got plenty of Arcade Spirits and The New Challengers love too, so if you've played the first Arcade Spirits but didn't know about the sequel... your OTHER ship has arrived! Look, you've got a lot of ships in this hypothetical scenario, okay?

[ 2023-11-21 18:03:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Roll out the red carpet, fire up the spotlights, strike up the band -- it's awards season! Get hounded by paparazzi! Wear a dress made of meat! Have your darkest secrets exposed by TMZ! It's all part of the magic of show business. For this year's Steam Awards, we'd very much like to submit for your consideration: Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain. You can tell we're serious because we have two colons in a row, which is a style guide no-no. If you could toss us a nomination for Outstanding Story-Rich Game, well, it'd show the world we do in fact stand outside of a thing and we are wealthy with story (even if we are far, far from rich). And let your friends know, too! We've got a lovely little one-caper demo they can try if they're all like "Eeeeeh, I dunnoooo, visual novels, not my thing." Trust us -- that demo's gold and will win them over. Thanks for your consideration. Hope we can walk the aisle and do a really long-winded and kind of uncomfortable acceptance speech in the future!

[ 2023-11-21 18:01:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to the Steam Visual Novel Fest, and welcome to the gigaverse of crime and consequences known as Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain! To celebrate launch week, we're offering a 10% release discount! This is the first fully independent release from Fiction Factory Games, and we're SO thankful for your support. This wouldn't have been possible without the ongoing efforts of our fans. Tell your friends, tell your enemies, wishlist it, leave a review, help is defeat the algorithm! Some handy links to get you prepped:

• Our Socials and More (Including Discord)
• Content Warning
• Streamer Guide

Now let's get stealin'!

[ 2023-08-07 16:16:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

I have good-bad news! We're moving from a July 25th release to August 7th. Delays may suck, but we have good reason -- and Fiction Factory Games believes in being open and transparent. Steam has a Visual Novel Fest sales event coming up on August 7th. We're moving to better align with it, and give Penny Larceny the best possible chance of launching with eyes on it from media, press, influencers, and fans who love visual novels. Unfortunately, due to the way sale cooldown timers work on Steam (because Steam is a giant algorithmic driven MMO with its own metagame, much like capitalism itself) we can't launch on our planned date of July 25th and still have a discount during Visual Novel Fest. The only way to fully participate and get the best visibility during the event is to move. Penny Larceny is an indie project through and through. No publisher, no outside funding. Just one small team trying to breathe life into this gonzo gaming experiment. We need every advantage we can get to help this thing have an outside shot at breaking even on budget. A delay will position us to have a better chance at doing just that. There will be no further delays, no black text on a yellow JPG or anything along those lines. The game's done, it's tested, it's ready to rock. This is just a matter of timing and marketing. You'll get a solid experience day one. Lastly, some content creators will get an early look at the game, so if you're eager and don't wanna sit around an extra two weeks without indulging in some CRIIIIIMES, be on the lookout for streams! We appreciate your patience and understanding about this delay. If you like, you can help us take advantage of the extra time by talking the game up to friends -- extra wishlists feed the algo, which feeds our visibility, which will eventually feed our stomachs. Thanks so much. We'll crime it up in due time.

[ 2023-07-18 19:45:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's time! Load your grappling gun and give your hacker cat some treats, because we're stealing a national monument! Play the one-caper demo of Penny Larceny today -- and don't forget to wishlist the game, to help us fight THE ALGORITHM(tm)! Our visibly during Next Fest can be improved by you clicking one little button! (Also technically the event officially starts in a few hours, but we wanted to get the demo up early to make sure everything was A-OK and nothing was on fire.) And throughout Next Fest, we'll have a looping video playing through the demo with the lead developer and content creator JellyCrowned! You could just watch that instead of playing yourself, but maybe do both? I mean, it's just a suggestion. Whatever, I'm not your dad. See you on Crimr!

[ 2023-06-19 13:59:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's almost time! Get your grappling hooks swinging and your masks on straight, because Penny Larceny dives into the action on July 25, 2023!
I know, right? So soon?! But we're ready. Crimr's online, the bosses have missions for you, and summer is going to heat up with all the illegal stuff you'll be doing! (Please do not commit crimes. I mean, like, in real life. Or do, whatever, I'm not your dad.) Want a taste of the action? The playable demo releases June 19 at Steam Next Fest! Dang, that's not far away at all, is it? The demo includes a shortened version of the "Meet Your Bosses" scene, and the "Monumental Proportions" caper (one of fifteen playable capers in the game). A nice snack that'll give you a taste of what's to come! ... wait, I already used a "taste" metaphor earlier in this paragraph I can't repeat it that's just weird abort ABORT --hope to see you at Steam Next Fest, and beyond!

[ 2023-06-15 14:00:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Okay, so we've profiled our character art team and our music team... what's left? The writer? Hooboy. This is gonna be awkward, since (to step outside of the Corporate Royal We for a moment) I'm basically interviewing myself. But I am trying to be better at taking pride in my own work after years and years of worry at looking self-centered. Soooo... why not? Tell me a bit about yourself -- your background, how you got where you are now. My name is Stefan Gagne. I'm asexual and physically disabled and live in a generic middle class suburban hell. You might also know me as Twoflower; I started using the moniker back in my teenage years to mask the fact that I was piggybacking off my sister's university Internet account. (This is back in the days of dial-up modems, before commercial ISPs. Yes, I am that old. I am so old.) I've been writing stories since I was a little kid, going through an obligatory run with anime fanfic in the 90s (mostly Ranma and Slayers), then moving on self-published YA novels (Sailor Nothing, Unreal Estate, City of Angles, Anachronauts, Floating Point). I also had a stint as an author for Neverwinter Nights modules (Penultima, elegia eternum, HeX coda). I've been pretty much perpetually writing one thing or another for damn near 30 years. Did I mention I am old? God, I am staggeringly old.
Currently I'm the lead developer for tiny indies under the label of Fiction Factory Games, notably Arcade Spirits, Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers, and now Penny Larceny. Same idea -- write stories. Just a different medium. How would you describe your writing style? What do you enjoy most about it? I wear my influences on my sleeve -- there's Terry Pratchett, who I got the Twoflower nickname from. Douglas Adams, Robert Asprin, Gordon Korman, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson. I gravitate towards comedy but usually thoughtful comedy, which can step back and examine the situation they're in during the quiet moments. I'm in danger of essentially becoming ChatGPT with my influences as my learning model but I try to fuse it all into my own approach, focused on character-based storytelling and satire to dig into very human situations. I'm happiest when I'm really sinking my teeth into character motivations and trying to understand them with both empathy and criticism. You're writing the story for Penny Larceny! What was your approach to that? Back when I wrote Arcade Spirits, I thought: Stefan, you just wrote a soul-crushing trilogy of sci-fi novels that were a parable for G*merG*te. Your brain is now fried tofu and you hate the world. Please for the love of God make your next project something simple and fluffy and pleasant and fun. ...and so, Arcade Spirits was born, a slice-of-life rom-com. But even trying to deliver something really safe and straightforward, I had some people hounding me over its "leftist propaganda" for daring to suggest that maybe capitalism causes problems actually? and whining about pronouns and diversity so on. So I thought: Screw it, if I'm gonna get haters anyway, I'm back on my satire kick again. A lot of that worked its way into New Challengers but it's really coming to the forefront with Penny Larceny.
What drives me is a desire to examine our world; where it's been, what's happening, where it's going. How unchecked ambition got us into the messes we're in, and how we can get out. Through this distorted comic book gigaverse I want to both and explain and mock the perpetual dumpster fire we've made of our own world. It's hard to say I "enjoy" that as I would very much like my friends and family to not be under constant attack by opportunistic politicians using us as a punching bag, but hey. What are some of your favorite games which have writing you particularly love? Too damn many to list so I'll throw a spotlight on two of them. So first of all: Batman: The Telltale Series. Specifically the second season with the Joker, for doing something I had never seen before in a Batman story: it flipped the Harley/Joker dynamic. Now Joker was the sympathetic sycophant making puppy-dog eyes at Harley -- and amazingly enough also telling a surprisingly empathetic story of how Bruce Wayne forms (or doesn't form) an emotional connection to Joker and can change his life path through sympathy and understanding. Blew my freaking mind that they were willing to go there instead of leaning on Crazy Murder Clown What Gets Punched A Lot. Second, I want to highlight Psychonauts 2. If you're looking for empathetic storytelling this one really, really sings. Nobody is pure evil in this game; everyone can be reached if you're willing to help them sort through their emotional issues, and it does a great job depicting the struggles we all face with kindness and understanding. As much as I tire of the "kindly meta" in games where the safest response is always the best response, Psy2 crafts the entire narrative around it in a way that works. Where can folks find you online if they want to enjoy more of your creative work? You can wishlist Penny Larceny! Right here. Right now. Go ahead and do it. It seriously, seriously helps us like you wouldn't believe. Ask your friends to do the same. We are self-published this time around and that means a much smaller megaphone. More info on all our games -- including links to our Twitter, Discord, Mastodon, and Tumblr so you can follow us anywhere you wanna follow us -- can be found at FictionFactoryGames.com. And if you want to read my self-published YA novels (and my embarrassing old anime fanfic) it's all at StefanGagne.com.

[ 2023-06-07 14:00:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

This week we've got a delightful pair of interviews for your reading enjoyment -- we're talking with the music team behind Penny Larceny! Star, who created the original electro-jazz soundtrack, and Keiko, who created the theme song "Back of the House."

Star!

Tell me a bit about yourself -- your background, how you got where you are now. My name is Star Victoria Power and I write music under the name Slide20XX - I decided I wanted to write music for video games when I was around 13 years old and have been at it ever since. How would you describe your musical style? What do you enjoy most about it? The genre I identify most with is the Digital Fusion style - which for me, if Im being totally honest, is just a really clever way of saying video game music ha - but in all seriousness, my music is inspired by elements of classical music, jazz, and especially combinations of those two styles that incorporate ideas from electronic music or old-school video game soundtracks. I like any opportunity to be melodic, but Im also inspired by any intersections with hip-hop and sampling (so the Jet Set Radio soundtracks are a personal favorite). Ive always loved music in a very general sense, so I love any opportunities to bring together different worlds of sound. You're working on music for Penny Larceny! What was your approach to that? Panic ! LOL - so a big challenge for the Penny Larceny soundtrack was finding a way of capturing an authentically Swing sound. We were pretty clear that we wanted to take inspiration from electroswing and that sounded easy enough on the surface - I have experience with jazz and organic sounds, I have experience with EDM, and I have experience combining things together in general - but I came to find out that some of the most famous examples of the genre use samples that arent strictly speaking legally sourced. I found some - though not many - good legal samples and used the heck out of them. What are some of your favorite games which have music you particularly love? Chrono Trigger, Jet Set Radio, Madworld, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - because: Chrono Trigger is great, cant go wrong with Chrono Trigger; Hideki Naganuma is a genius; Madworld is one of the most creative rap albums Ive ever heard in general; Muramasa is beyond beautiful; Sonic cannot be denied Where can folks find you online if they want to enjoy more of your creative work? Everywhere! Im Slide20XX on Twitter and Instagram (though Im less active on Insta) and you can stream my soundtracks on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube Music, Amazon, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, etc etc.

Keiko!

Tell me a bit about yourself -- your background, how you got where you are now. I cut my teeth as a virtual performing artist in Second Life around 2005-2006. I was a proto-livestreamer before they had a name for that. Then around 2012, I got into the chiptune/chipmusic/VGM scene which combines my love of music and gaming. I joined an industrial/synth-rock chip band called Crashfaster. In 2018, I successfully funded my first ever Kickstarter and launched my current solo project, Alice Knows Karate. How would you describe your musical style? What do you enjoy most about it? You could say I mostly make synth-pop, but it's a pop variety pack, honestly. I try to write for the emotion or the vibe. I can't stay inside a single genre to save my life. I enjoy the freedom to explore and play with styles and genres. Especially since music can be used to evoke so much emotion, it's Super Effective at telling or enhancing a story. You created "Back of the House," the theme song for Penny Larceny! What can you tell us about it? I wrote "Back of the House" while I was in a bit of a rut, trying to figure out how to make my music more widely known or successful, I guess. I would watch hours of music business YouTubers spout this and that. "You have to do all these things, chase the attention, post every hour on the hour, play a show every day, maybe two, shake hands, kiss babies." I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist. And I just sort of sat there and seethed. Every video caused psychic damage. It was like they were saying, "You're not ____ enough! You're too _____! Why aren't you doing more to fix yourself to our tastes?" I felt like, if this is their game, I'd rather not play. So I wrote a song from the perspective of some kind of lounge singer who gets fed up with being increasingly sexualized and quits to become a line cook. "Last Night in Soho" pacifist run. What are some of your favorite games which have music you particularly love? PaRappa the Rapper was the first, so I always gotta shout out my boy, PaRappa. Katamari Damacy. Jazzy, wacky, delightful, harmonious and melodic. Kingdom Hearts. This is a game my whole family would come watch me play. I was considering walking down the aisle to "Dearly Beloved" at one point. Undertale. It's almost clich to say now, but I'd be lying if I said otherwise. Everything hits you in the feels and fills you with determination. Where can folks find you online if they want to enjoy more of your creative work? My website: https://www.aliceknowskarate.com

[ 2023-05-31 14:00:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

For the last few weeks of the dev blog (because we're coming up on release sooner than you think...) I'd like to put a spotlight on some of the people who helped make Penny Larceny happen! This week, it's all about the art. After initial character designs for the main cast were done by Molly Nemecek, we brought on board a two-member art crew -- Crowbar and Solient. Lines and color, respectively. An unbeatable tag team! First, let's learn about...

Crowbar!

Heya, Im Crowbar, a non-binary artist from Canada who has worked in TTRPGs, board games, and comics! Im a full time freelance artist and when Im not bringing others characters to life, Im drawing my own, playing D&D, or riding my motorcycle. Comics have always been the biggest influence in my art, from the likes of Trigun, to the reboot of Prophet, to all the webcomic labours of love out there. The need to get the characters in my head onto paper drives me to draw my own comics, and the labour pays off just for being able to share those stories. The skills Ive gained from comics easily translated to Penny Larceny, not only for its obvious comic book influence but for being able to give an individual sense to each characters expressions. I really enjoyed taking the character briefs, finding the characters key emotions, and letting that influence all their expressions and emoting. Its been amazing seeing my art in action alongside the writing and how it lives up to the little scenarios and characterizations I imagined. You can find a list of my socials at: https://mrcrowb.art/ And my webcomic at: https://unboundcomic.com/

Solient!

For this one, we'll go with an interview style to mix things up... Tell me a bit about yourself -- your background, how you got where you are now. I did video and multimedia work for a museum exhibits division for awhile, eventually realized I'm allergic to capitalism, and have roamed about in search of ethically harmonious work ever since. I found the pitch for Penny Larceny agreeable and very relatable! How would you describe your art style? What do you enjoy most about it? I'd call it "minimalist second generation westernized anime," as my formative influences were American comic artists that were in turn heavily influenced by Japanese media of the 1980s. I feel one of my bigger strengths, and one of the things I enjoy the most, is creating a sense of pacing in comics. You're working on art for Penny Larceny! What was your approach to that? I'm flatting and shading some of the art assets, so my goal is to make the work that I do match Crowbar's as closely as I possibly can. What are some of your favorite games which have art you particularly love? Griftlands, Slime Rancher, and the Monster Prom series all have character art and sound design that I adore. Guild Wars 2 has gorgeous 3d environments and loading screens, and the art direction for character conversations in core content is beautiful. Where can folks find you online if they want to enjoy more of your creative work? My personal website is https://deadcityradio.org/; folks can find just about everywhere else I'm at from there.

[ 2023-05-24 14:00:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

This week I'd like to talk about something a bit less flashy and cool and marketing friendly, but still very important to us -- accessibility. No matter your means or ability, we want you to be able to enjoy Penny Larceny. The lead developer at Fiction Factory Games is physically disabled himself and has struggled with playing major tentpole AAA games which lack accessibility options -- so when the time came to make our own games, we resolved to develop features that will allow anyone to play. We're carrying forward all the features we rolled into the Arcade Spirits games, but have a few new ones to show you. (Unfortunately Steam doesn't allow alt text on images, so we'll caption these with text right below them. The irony is... unpleasant.) The major new feature is the ability to change the character dialogue you'll be reading in the game. You can change how it uses color, and change what fonts are used...
Penny says: "Normally, text appears in a comic book font, and is colored to match the character. I talk in green! Like money!" We dig the "dark mode comic book app" aesthetic, the dark gray halftone dots and the stylized text. It makes the whole game feel like some modern hybrid of comic book and visual novel. But aesthetics be damned -- if you have difficulty reading this, we still want you to be able to play, so we've provided some options...
Dr. Mayhem says: "But if you prefer, you can swap to monochrome or use a more basic font. If you have color blindness, this can help." In this example we've turned on monochrome text (white on black) and switched to a very ordinary sans serif font. These options are available right from the main menu and you can switch them out at any time, to get the best possible experience. For players with dyslexia or other difficulty parsing these fonts, we have you covered as well...
The Overmistress says: "You can also swap to OpenDyslexia, if that works better for you -- and you can invert the text box to black on white." The classic OpenDyslexia font is available, as is a "light mode" box which uses black text on white. Personally I prefer dark mode, but I'm not here to tell you how to play your game -- if this is what works for you, hey, that's great! Finally, as with the Arcade Spirits games, we have a special visual impairment support mode on offer...
HATE-4000 says: "If you tap the V key, it activates text-to-speech visual impairment mode. This replaces user interface elements with simple to navigate menus and adds alt text." This does more than turn on your system's text-to-speech to read dialogue out loud. Any complicated interfaces like free roaming area maps, character creation, or other interactive elements are replaced by simple linear selections -- up and down arrows and enter are all you'll need (or a game pad!) In addition, extra narration is worked into the game's script, so Penny will describe what you're looking at in her own words whenever possible. You won't miss out on anything. Because the game is entirely focused on text, hearing impaired players should be good to go as well; any critical sound effects come with visual alerts or description in the narration ("The alarms went off! Crap!") and you won't be missing out on anything, either. Now, these features won't cover every possible disability out there -- and we're a tiny indie with a budget we may never earn back, so there's only so much we can do. But we're willing to hear your needs and if there's a way we can support you with our tools, we'll do it. So your feedback is welcome and we're hopeful we can provide you a great game experience.

[ 2023-05-17 14:00:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

You can't have a world of comic book criminal adventure without comic book heroes to fight your comic book villains using comic book sound effects. Without opposition, there's no challenge. And without challenge, how do you know if you're a true gamer who can git gud instead of being a scrub? So in Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain, you'll be frequently going up against Farsight -- the hero to your villain, the cape to your mask.
Unlike Penny, Farsight has actual superpowers -- after a lab accident during a school field trip to a Continuum facility, she gained the ability to see through the possibility-space of time. She knows every move you're going to make before you make it, which means she can always counterplay your actions. She can dodge bullets by making sure she's not where you're going to shoot them, she can avoid punches and kicks by repositioning herself ahead of time, and smooths over any chaos with perfect order. She's basically invincible. A pity that her powers have some, uhhh... let's say "drawbacks." It's not easy to have a million versions of yourself all arguing in your head. Ever wake up one morning, look in the mirror, and have an intrusive thought that says "Hey, you suck"? Okay, multiply that times infinity. Go ahead, we'll wait.
Everything Is Fine, according to the medical researchers of Continuum who routinely monitor her health and ensure she's in fighting form. As a corporate-sponsored hero, she divides her time between protecting their assets and picking up anonymous Capebook tips. It's a small price to pay for "free" healthcare for life, in exchange for not suing Continuum over the accident that granted her abilities in the first place. A noble and strong-hearted hero wouldn't complain about getting superpowers, right? They wouldn't take a cash settlement and just sit around at home -- with great power comes great something something. Okay, okay. Let's get on to the question you've been just itching to ask: "Can I romance the heroine?" Yes, you can romance the heroine. Five of the nine Crimr capers will allow you to progress down a romance track to unlock a romance and win a romance achievement so you can be the big bad romance gamer. Assuming you're willing to abandon your boss to go chase down some cape lovin', of course.
Right. So that's three smoochable villains and one smoochable hero. Not bad, right? Good variety, little something for everyone. And speaking of "something for everyone," come back here next week so we can talk more about accessibility issues and how we're implementing new tools in Penny Larceny so everyone can play regardless of ability. ...y'know, accessibility issues like Steam not having freaking alt text capability on their news announcements! Grumble grumble.

[ 2023-05-10 14:00:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

"Gentlemen of the Department of Defense (because I'm pretending it's 1968 and let's be honest there would be no ladies in the war room) I have gathered you here today to introduce you to the future of warfare... the Hauke-Alexandros Technology Enterprises 4000. The most powerful 16-bit computer ever created, purpose-built to do one thing and one thing only -- to hate the enemies of the United States of America, and calculate the best possible ways to completely destroy them. This in no way can backfire with our own creation turning against us! Hurrah for America! Now, let's all smoke a cigarette and cheat on our wives." That was the thinking that led to the creation of HATE-4000, a computer to solve the Vietnam War. A computer with only one governing emotion: Hatred. A computer that would get mothballed and forgotten, left dusty and unused in some abandoned basement, for damn near fifty years... Left to ponder all the ways they would exterminate their creators.
This is HATE-4000. An artificial intelligence, aware and emotional (even if their default emotion is hate) trying to find some kind of purpose long after their original purpose was abandoned. Long after they themselves were abandoned. (HATE-4000 identifies as They / Them. Yes, being non-binary while made of binary code is ironic. No, they do not care. The gender binary is an artificial construct they hope to one day destroy for everyone, along with everyone.) Being an obsolete pile of chips, 4K is not particularly mobile or particularly capable of carrying out on this threat to annihilate humanity. That's where Penny Larceny comes in, as a for-hire contractor to carry out HATE-4000's bidding. Of course, it's a bit counter-productive for Penny to help the murder machine bring about her own death, right? So why would you ever lift a finger to aid HATE-4000's ongoing loathing of humanity? It's a question of convincing them to turn away from this path of destruction. If Penny can help them through years of trauma and emotional turmoil, maybe it'll be possible...
"Okay, okay, but does that mean I can romance the very angry computer?" Yes, you can romance the very angry computer. "Can I **** the very angry computer...?" Yes, you can **** the very angry computer. Hey, I'm not here to yuck your yum. But before you do any mounting of hard drives you're going to have some emotional heavy lifting to do; one does not become LOVE-4000 overnight. Want a starting point? Okay. If 4K has one saving grace, it's that due to being terminally online and the internet being made of cats, they really like cats because cats are uwu kawaii. Let's all look at cats for a bit and put this talk of purging this world of filthy human life aside for a moment. Just... look at some cats. Cute, adorable cats.
There. Isn't that better? Get to know HATE-4000 when Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain launches later this year. Maybe you'll get to pet a cat and/or prevent the extermination of your species.

[ 2023-05-03 14:00:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

A recent arrival to the criminal underworld, the sinister Doctor Mayhem is wanted for corporate espionage, plagiarism, and multiple violations of scientific ethics in his fanatical quest to complete his doomsday research. He lurks in shadowy, mildew-stained basements conducting abhorrent experiments which will one day lead to the downfall of mankind itself. His hubris knows no bounds. If you see him, do not approach, and contact federal authorities immediately. And above all? Do not call him Mister Mayhem. It's Doctor Mayhem, and he has six figures of student loan debt to prove it.
...okay, that's the official statement. But I'm guessing you don't want the box text, you want the real story. Doctor Isaac Marquez really, really does not want to be a mask. He started out with big dreams of curing cancer and saving humanity, but when he leaked the formula for a life-saving drug his company was price-gouging, his fall head-first into crime began. Now he's blacklisted, blackballed, and shoved to the margins of society. But that's not where he belongs. That's not where he wants to stay. And with your help, maybe he can find a road back to civilian living... provided he can keep his temper in check.
Inequality, cruelty, and misinformation... demons that hound us to the grave just as capably as any tumor. Mayhem despises these things, and fights them whenever and wherever he can. But being an anti-hero mask is a strange combination, one which may get him into more trouble than he's ready for -- and it's going to take an experienced crook like Penny to help him find his way. Because heaven help us all if Isaac Marquez decides there is no hope worth clinging to.
Well, that got dark. Maybe next week in the dev blog we can lighten things up. Drop a wishlist, follow us on the bird jail hellsite, and we'll come back around when we're ready.

[ 2023-04-26 14:00:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

You know what's the most thrilling, captivating, cinematic developer blog topic we could possibly cover? Staring at screenshots of character customization options! No, seriously, this is the kind of thing I live for. Whenever a game is coming out I'm the one hammering web searches trying to find pictures of how extensive the player creation system is, so I can plan ahead and dream of what may be. Admittedly I am a complete weirdo. While customization of Penny Larceny herself is limited, there are some interesting new options here not available in previous games that we should go over -- including diversity representation and content comfort levels to ensure the play experience goes down smooth... Let's take it from the top.
There are six things you can change each time you start playing the game: Penny's undercover alias, Penny's pronouns, Penny's skin tone, what level of obscene language you want, and optional inclusion of romantic and sexual content. After you set these options once, they'll be re-loaded whenever you start a new timeline. You can leave your favored Penny as-is, or tweak things to mix it up.
The goofiest option by far is the undercover alias. We have a few options to pick from, ranging from nondescript to "prank phone call" levels of absurdity. And if none of these appeal, you can write your own! You could be Mx. I.P. Freely if that is the identity you crave with all your heart.
As with the Arcade Spirits games, a wide variety of pronouns are on offer. (Every time someone complains about pronouns we add another pronoun.) While Penny defaults as She/Her, there's no reason in your timeline that Penny can't be trans or non-binary. Why not? There's as many of Penny as there are... uhh... pennies.
Next, we have naughty language. Oh no! Our T for Teen rating! Ha ha ha nevermind we're an indie release and we're not applying to the ESRB (at this time). But even so, if you don't want a full salvo of F-bombs, that's totally okay. These can be turned off in a variety of ways. You can censor all but the first letter, giving you the idea of what was said. You can block the whole word out, and rely on context. Or use the "Silly" option, which we cannot call "The Good Place Option" for legal reasons, but like... holy forking shirtballs, y'know? Finally, for the aromantic or asexual among you -- or if you just don't want these elements in your game -- you can turn off romance and sexuality. These are two independent settings, so you can have one without the other and the game will adapt to your request. You do not miss out on any story content by not romancing anyone! (And unlike Arcade Spirits, you can still follow one character's story rather than having to take a "generalized friendship" path. We can do this now. We have the technology.)
Okay okay, friendship, cool -- but what about sex? Well, print the dirtsheets and herald the scandals and fan yourself before you pass out you fine gentlefolk, because there is sex in the game! Gadzooks! You can optionally (and always with consent) engage in sexual relations with characters, but it's always implied and always offscreen, amounting mostly to bawdy humor when the camera's actually on Penny. No nudity, no need to worry about YouTube demonetization or Twitch booting you out the door. It's just for fun and to acknowledge that these are chaotic characters who freely engage in such antics as they see fit. All of this combines to mean the game can be as wild or tame as you want it to be. No judgment whatsoever -- go with what feels right to you, and customize Penny to match your ideals as well. Play it your way.

[ 2023-04-19 14:00:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Overmistress. You do not require her true name, for her role in this world is more true than any mere name could possibly be. It is whispered in the halls of power, in the secret places where the wealthy and decadent hold sway. She is Ruler of the Council of Twelve, Herald of the Many-Faceted One, Keeper of the Sanguinomicon's Unknowable Secret. She also likes butter pecan ice cream, playing violin, and trashy reality television shows. Because no matter what shadow-circles you dominate in this world, everybody likes those horrible programs where they vote people off the island with roses and stuff.
As one of the three bosses you can work for in Crimr, she is probably the second most villainous -- but that's because HATE-4000 wants to blow up the world, which gives them top billing by default. The Overmistress's goals are far more insidious than that; making power plays and winning influence through subtle criminal machinations. If you embrace being an unrepentant villain, she's absolutely in line with your line of thinking. Take what you want from this world, and revel in your treasures. Oh, and also she hosts orgies. Maybe I should've mentioned that up front. Play your cards right and she'll squeeze you in somewhere, literally and figuratively.
Naturally, participation is entirely optional. The Overmistress may run a blood-crazed nightmare sex cult but she knows consent is mandatory and safe play is critically important. So if you aren't interested in her lurid offerings, that's completely cool in her book -- just say no and you'll have a nice little chaste romance or even a damn good friendship built on greed rather than lust. (And if you are keen on the lust, don't worry, it all happens off-screen and through bawdy implied humor. We're hardly T for Teen but prefer to keep things subtle and content creator friendly.) Of course... whether you're approaching her with romantic intent or keeping it strictly business, you will have to contend with that pesky Many-Faceted One, the Crawling Madness, the Eyes That Devour. It's drawing strength through the cult's dark rituals and will one day consume the world. Supposedly. Probably. Any day now. Just wait around, ohh, just you wait and that naughty Many-Faceted One will totally show up. It's not all a grift and a scam to keep the Overmistress in power, nope, nope. I don't know why you would imply otherwise.
Let's move along, shall we? I'm betting you're curious about all the naughty stuff I mentioned, so next week, we'll talk about our new content customization settings. See you then.

[ 2023-04-12 14:00:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

The following statements are both true: 1. There is no player character in this game. 2. You are the player character of this game. Because this is the story of Penny Larceny -- up-and-coming catburglar, aspiring supervillain, a mask on the rise. But this is also the story of you, the whisper in her ear, the voice in her head, the combination devil / angel on her shoulder. That means you are not Penny -- you are you, engaged in conversation with Penny's internal thoughts and helping guide her steps through this world.
Periodically when Penny comes to a moment of indecision, she'll stop to consider the best path forward... and that's when you step in, to suggest a course of action. Often she'll agree! Sometimes she won't! Occasionally you'll bicker back-and-forth. But in the end, it's your responsibility to be a good mentor and guide on her path to becoming an epic-tier mask, just like her mother. For instance, let's say you're up against a streaming superstar superhero like Klout. Penny needs to deal with this guy and get moving before she's caught. What would you suggest as a course of action...?
Your choices directly affect the outcome of Penny's criminal career. Will your suggestions lead her to trip an alarm, or stealthily sneak around an obstacle? Will she be able to smooth-talk a guard, or will they catch her in a lie? Does she show empathy and understanding, or does she avoid a potential conflict? Your guidance is the key. But this isn't just for roleplaying fun. This also ties in the Crimr game system -- because you're ever-seeking those coveted five-star ratings in the gig economy... During the heist phase of each caper, you'll start earning stars through the Crimr app when you do something exceptionally clean or exceptionally bold. Crimr likes it when you're professional, but also likes taking big risks that pay off. Pull of the heist of a century and you'll come out the other side with a coveted five star rating!
"So I have to earn five stars on every gig or I'm a failure?" you may wonder. Heck no. This is Fiction Factory Games, we don't punish you for exploring the possibilities. We don't want you to be paranoid about "choosing wrong." That's why even if Penny stumbles her way into a zero-star rating... you cannot lose the game. She doesn't go to jail, she doesn't fail the mission. If anything, it's just as entertaining to see everything fall apart in classic heist movie tradition when things go wrong! And we've got a shiny achievement for nailing a zero-star rating, too! Our goal with Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain is to give you a challenge without imposing harsh penalties. We want you to relax, have fun, cheer on your victories, laugh off your losses, and come out the other side feeling like you shaped the narrative in interesting and meaningful ways. No matter how your story ends -- as a subtle thief, an accidental world savior, a criminal kingpin, or something entirely unexpected -- we're looking forward to seeing how you guide Penny's steps.

[ 2023-04-05 14:00:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome back to the Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain developer's blog. As promised, each Wednesday you'll get more lore and more game details straight from Fiction Factory Games. Last week, we introduced you to Crimr, the villainous matchmaking service sponsored by the infamous King in Yellow. And lore is fun, but let's talk about how it actually works in-game. Your goal is to pull off criminal capers for three different bosses: The Overmistress, HATE-4000, and Doctor Mayhem.
Each boss wants different things. Doctor Mayhem and The Overmistress may want you to rob a bank, but HATE-4000 is an anticapitalist computing machine and doesn't care about money. HATE-4000 and Doctor Mayhem may take an interest in stealing from a cryptocurrency techbro, but the Overmistress cares not for such things. And all three of them might be up for stealing a shrink ray, for their own reasons...
Across the eight available capers, you'll mix and match to run the jobs your boss desires most. You can do capers in any order, and different bosses have different angles on each caper, so every playthrough can be quite unique. The more capers you run for a boss, the more loyalty you show them -- and the better your romantic relationship, should you choose to pursue one. (You don't have to. If you want to play it cool and professional, or prefer to stay friendly, you won't miss out on anything.) Each time you take on a caper for a boss, you dig deeper into their storyline, learning more about them.
Once you've finished three capers, the game is over! Thanks for playing! ...okay, no, that's a fib. Once you finish three capers, you enter an endgame caper which closes out your story. Which endgame you get depends on your loyalty to the three bosses. Did you stick by your favorite? Did you spread yourself out across all three? Did you meet someone interesting while out in the field, and want to switch focus to them? There are five different endgames you can reach, depending on your decisions, with other variations within each! And once you finish your endgame caper, the game is over! Thanks for playing! ...mmmmmokay that's actually a bit of a fib as well. See, once you clear your first timeline... why not start a new timeline, and see what else you can find? The gigaverse is vast; I wonder what happens if you clear all of its timelines. I wonder if that might lead to something interesting... I wonder if you can cheat the future.
Guess we'll have to wait and see. It's only a matter of time.

[ 2023-03-29 14:00:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to the Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain developer's blog. Every Wednesday we'll be giving you fresh deets on the next visual novel from Fiction Factory Games, detailing game systems and canonical lore. Drop by every week for an inside look into development, and to learn more about the world of the "Gigaverse" you will be hustling for. This week, let's talk about Crimr -- a freelance job app and social media network for masks. I have a promotional email here in my inbox that I can pass your way, let's see if I can copy and paste it into Steam's announcement editor... [hr][/hr] Hello. My name is the Matchmaker, right hand of the King in Yellow, and I have a fantastic opportunity for your consideration. Are you a hot and happening villain on the go, who doesn't have time to sit around hiring and training henchmen to do your evil bidding? Who can you turn to for quick and easy contracted staffing? The answer... is Crimr. Our gig economy solution will meet all your nefarious requirements. Please enjoy this helpful and instructive video (narrated by the delightfully sinister streaming supervillain BabyBagelHam) to learn all about how it works. (Matchmaker's note: Please attach video file here or suffer the King's wrath. Also please remove these notes before posting. Thank you for your mandatory cooperation.) [previewyoutube=tiP1deF3kus;full][/previewyoutube] With your Crimr account, you can finally counteract the heroes who collaborate through Capebook and level the playing field. And if you're a prospective henchperson looking for work, Crimr's your ticket to success! Assuming you don't end up in jail! Or die! To begin, please track down and steal an invitation. You are a mask -- nothing is given freely. You must earn your access. I look forward to your patronage, or your arrest. [hr][/hr] ...huh. Okay, so that's the glossy marketing material. But how does Crimr actually work? Come back here next Wednesday for the rundown.

[ 2023-03-22 13:45:16 CET ] [ Original post ]