WASTE EATER
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After a global revolution dealt a final death blow to the world's crumbling industries, researchers and activists were left to pick up the pieces of their planet's ruined ecosystems. Their solution was simple: they turned themselves into pollution-eating mutants.
Now, over half a century later, the rivers are blue again and the birds have learned new songs. A beautiful world is stepping out of the husk of the old.
And the last waste-eater is waiting to die.
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WASTE EATER is a 10-15 minute introspective about losing your humanity, and finding hope instead. Inspired by games like Far From Noise and Breathe.
This game contains references to topics such as death and suicide. Oh, and cannibalism.
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Credits:
Developed on the stolen lands of the Kulin Nation.
Silkscreen font by Jason Aleksandr Kottke
Homespun font by Brian Kent
Wind sound altered from Damien Devaux
Rain sound altered from Abinadi Meza
Thanks PoorDunce and Elissa Black for playtesting!
If you liked WASTE EATER, you can keep up with what I'm working on next by following me on Itch, Mastodon, Cohost, or better yet give me your email so I can beam devlogs directly into your inbox. thnx.
Download
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Development log
- Source Code Published!Jan 14, 2023
- Fewer Words, More Narrative - Visual Storytelling in WASTE EATERJan 12, 2023
- WASTE EATER is out!Jan 08, 2023
Comments
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AHH NO WAY I HAVENT COMMENTED ON THIS I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH, your writing astonishes me everytime, i love how human all of them are, and i hope you continue to create more :3
aaaaa such a lovely comment, thank you so much!!!! <3 <3 <3
Reminds me of the Nausicaa manga, when the protagonist learns the truth about the ecosystem she loves.
A noble sacrifice, when duty calls, we pay the price. For a better future I'll give my life
DUTY. COURAGE. HONOR!
Lovely game. Really made me think about the current world, and how important it is that we fight for a better future--even if it's bitterly unfair to us that we may not get to enjoy it.
awesome game. i've been sitting at my computer for like 10 minutes now going "yeah..."
you have a brilliant way of writing, evoking real introspection in a relatively short monologue, and with a slick as hell setting.
good luck on proximate! seeing your parallels talk and this means i'm very excited for what might come in the future. one day i hope i can write something that makes people feel emotions like you have here
oh gosh such a lovely comment, thank you so much! <3
Loved the idea of waste eaters and that we can witness them becoming obsolete. I wish I could learn more about these characters and the world they inhabit. Are you planning more games in this setting?
yes, i'd love to make more in this setting! i'm currently working on a larger project, PROXIMATE, but when that's done i think i'll return to this setting :)
Oh, nice, I'm looking forward to both games!Thanks!
This game speaks to some of the feelings those of us working on climate change grapple with, so thanks for some catharsis! The idea that we might struggle our whole lives to save the world, and never see the benefits, is something I grapple with a lot and is something I'd love to write more about. Thanks again, and looking forward to future projects!
Hi! I absolutely love the art direction and the aesthetic of this game! I'm a sound designer/composer from London and would love to have a chance to work with you! Have you got some contact details you can give me so i can message you privately? Thanks!
This is cool as hell, looking forward to your future projects!
Wow.
I have nothing else to say.
Your storytelling is the best I've had the pleasure of enjoying in months. The ability to evoke such strong emotions with so little text is a rare gift. Don't stop creating man.
what a lovely comment!!!! thank you so much <3 <3 <3
Honestly the world building for this was great, Im really hoping that I see anything more about this character, but who knows
captivating and gorgeous!
that was beautiful
this made me cry. your storytelling is incredible
thank you so much!!! <3 <3 <3
beautiful subtle writing with excellent world building. The way you described this world through this character made my mind imagine so many things. Loved it
i really loved this! it was short but so poignant, and at every step my brain was turning over possible stories/the concept of the world - you managed to make it so evocative with so little. i loved the ending. great work, and very melancholy/bitter but hopeful.
Thought-provoking. I seriously love games like this one. It made me stop for a while and the line at the end of the credit scene made me cry a little bit. Cheers to the game creator! This is truly well-done.
Delightful doesn't start to cut it. I can't put a finger on how much it made me feel, but it sure did. There's something about losing humanity and gaining it anyway (or maybe never losing it in the first), there's something about hope ebbing away and back, there's something about fighting on. It's a beautiful game, and I just know I won't be able to stop thinking about it for a long, long while. Superb work.
what a stunning game, echoing the comments all left before to say that this sticks with me - to press on, to keep surviving even when our bodies want to give out on us. the fight rages on, and we have to keep fighting. I love that the character talking has no name, because they can be any one of us. we all have the potential to create a world that others can thrive in. thank you for making this game, and thank you for all the hard work that went into it!
This fucked me up *hard*, I'm really glad I got to play this. I just. Gods this hits hard, and the pacing is spot on, the art is exactly what it needs to be... I'm already recommending it to my friends, it's just. So good. Wow.
Would love an option to use the keyboard instead of clicking to progress- I have my workarounds, sure, but it would help make this more accessible to folks who don't. Thank you for your hard work <3
Thank you SO much for the lovely comment! I appreciate all your kind words <3
Thank you for the accessibility suggestion too - I'll update the game soon with that!
Thanks for making this game.
Your message at the end made me almost cry - I was not expecting it. Fight like hell. ✊
funny ending
i download games from itch pretty often but have never considered really using my account until i came across this one. i just had to comment about how much i enjoyed this. everything about this is just remarkable. the art, the pacing, the story, its just all extremely well done and i think i could seriously come back to this and play it a couple times over. you captured the human condition and the challenge to find hope from nothing very well. i really hope that you continue to push on and create more things like this because it truly was enjoyable. best of luck to you, and all others here. keep fighting.
aaaaa it's 9am and i'm crying!!!! thank you so much for the lovely comment 😭
i'll definitely be making more things like this in the future <3
This is incredible! <3
i played this game and it's really incredible...it's so painful but deeply poignant and the slowness of it all, the grueling pauses, it really makes a beautiful landing when the acid rain comes down. the melancholy, the bitterness, the monstrosity, it's a really gorgeous game, i'm really interested in talking to you about your pixel art animations / what engine you did this in! i'm really inspired to do a cinematic game with similar pixel art / progression mechanics. it's a really fascinating piece as a form of interactive fiction. my email is pancreas[@]pancreas[.]gay if you want to talk about it. i also make a lot of games, so we could share mutual devlogs if you'd like.
ive played it three times. ive cried three times. we find hope even in the direst of situations, that is what makes us human. we persevere even when we are lost, wandering through scorched earth, alone and starving, carrying the demons of our past. we are human not because we look it, we are human because we fight like hell every single day to make it to the next. we watch the sun set so that we can see it rise again, we sleep for the promise of tomorrow and we wake up with the hope of today.
what a beautiful comment!!! i teared up while reading it and then saw your review and teared up even more hahaha <3 thank you so much!
The art style caught my eye in the Queer Games Bundle, and I must say it compliments the game very well. As someone who talks to themself sometimes, the monologue was oddly comforting in a sort of melancholic way, and even with little words I became very attached to this guy and their world. I'm a sucker for ambience too... absolutely in love with this.
Thank you for your game and this wonderful experience!
(+ I ended up playing this game on stream, I hope that's okay! Planning to make some fanart as well if that's good too. ♡)
thank you so much for the lovely comment!!! please @ me if you do end up making fanart, i'd LOVE to see it <3 <3
Thank you for this game. Bitter but wearily, stubbornly hopeful is exactly the tone I needed today.
exactly the vibe i was going for, thank you so much <3
"but there's no gentle way to eat a friend"....oof. wow. this left me feeling so many things, i don't even know where to start. it's so visceral,but also hopeful? but only in a way that i feel like you can't access unless you know you're near the end of your rope. thank you so much for sharing this with the world - i felt so inspired while i was playing it! i came up with a few different ideas, but is it ok if i add music to it for my portfolio?
thank you so so much for your lovely comment!! <3 <3 <3 it's always such a blessing to know that something i've made has connected with someone in such a way. and absolutely, go ahead!! i checked out your soundcloud and your stuff is DELIGHTFUL. you have such a talent for capturing those mellow, evolving moods. please do @ me if you end up making something WE inspired, i'd love to hear it!
AAA thank you so much, i'm so glad you liked them!!✨ i'll definitely let you know once i finish it! :)
Really well done! ^_^
The atmosphere and writing created such a captivating experience, amazing work! c:
this did make me tear up a bit. beautiful graphics
"nothing is ever done alone. all we have is each other. fight like hell." why am i crying over a game about talking to a bird? i loved this. thank you for making it. i gasped at the ending. keep doing and making wonderful things :)
aaaaa thank you so much for your lovely comment! it's such a joy to make something that can affect someone in such a way. hope you have a lovely day <3
this was so beautiful. to be the last of something mostly forgotten or unknown so that other people can live safely and well — heartbreaking. thanks for making this <3
thank you so much for checking it out!! <3
extremely sad,but at the same time it reminds me of the nature of humankind,you help someone and they'll be thankfull until tomorrow, when they forget about what you did
Absolutely fantastic. Completely heartbreaking. Tragically hopeful.
I haven't cried from a game in a good long while. Something about making a world so others could garden, do art, and cook... Just hits hard. Very wonderful, came from the TikTok as well, so happy to have stumbled upon it.
thank you so much for checking out the game! your comment made my morning 💖
This is one of the few times I think I could describe something as painfully hopeful. It completely captures the feeling of fighting tooth and nail for something, getting it, and having nothing left to fight for.
such a delight to hear that something i've made could convey across feeling, especially one so complex. thank you for the comment <3
I absolutely loved and adored this. Came from the tiktok <3
hell yes!! so glad you liked it 🥰
Hey Cain, this was great!
I was not expecting this kind of story - and I really enjoyed reading your post-mortem as well.
Also, thank you for the shoutout to Breathe <3
aw thank you so much for checking this out!! <3