Spare Parts: Episode 1
A downloadable visual novel for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Episode 1 of the visual novel series, "Spare Parts."
Lucy's fresh out of her parents' home and looking for a foothold to start the rest of her life, but with no experience and only one friend, she's having trouble finding a job. That is, until she stumbles into a shop run by a mysterious woman who, for some reason, hires her on the spot. Unable to keep her nose out of others' business, Lucy finds herself caught in a much more complicated position than she bargained for.
The beginning of a story about the long struggle for a peaceful life, and the parts of ourselves we must sacrifice to make it there.
36k words, ~3 hours long.
If you have any issues, please contact me either in a comment or at sofycrystals@gmail.com.
(There is a known issue with some machines where the default Ren'Py renderer, OpenGL, causes some hitching and stuttering. If you notice even very minor issues, please try: Shift+G, and change "default renderer" to "Force Angle/DirectX Renderer.")
Download
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Development log
- Version 1.1 Out, + Steam Release!Dec 17, 2020
Comments
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The first entry in an absolutely stellar series of visual novel parts. Spare Parts is an underrated gem of heartfelt narration, tense story beats, and a payoff in the form of lovely emotional and lightly mechanophilic catharsis. Play the next two parts for heavier mechanophilic catharsis and several hundred thousand more words of some of the best workplace drama/robot horror/queer romance put to the digital page.
I was trying to play on Linux and the executable seems to be like, not there, like I even checked the folder for the sequel (apparently got it in a bundle) and its in the expected spot there
(spapa2 is a working executable that launches that game)
I don't know if there's just something I'm missing but the way these line up make me think something is wrong with the linux build of this one.
Hey, sorry it took a couple days to get back to get back to you! I looked into this and I'm not sure what the problem might be. I dug up the 1.1 version and rebuilt the Win/Linux distribution to see if that fixed it, but I don't have a way of testing on Linux so I can't verify it myself. It's uploaded as "Spapa1.1-1.1.01-pc.zip (untested)", but I don't have the time to do thorough bug-testing so there may be some issues with it.
If that version doesn't work either, please email me at sofycrystals@gmail.com so we can dig a little deeper and figure it out. Thanks, and sorry for the trouble!
Unfortunately I'm still having the same issue where what I assume is supposed to be the exe is a "manual page"
Hey y'all. Just saw the updated build in my feed and to see what it was about and saw the thread here. Not sure where y'all are regarding running on the game on Linux, but thought I leave a note for other users.
I did a quick download of the new 1.1.01 version from Sophie on my Linux Mint machine, extracted the folder from the zip to my games folder, and in the main folder run 'Spapa1.1sh'
This will run a script/command to launch the game on Linux.
Once the game ran I found the shortcut as 'Spapa1.1' in my menu (can search or look under all applications) which I can rename, change the icon, move into my games folder in the menu, etc.
Ren'py games are a little weird on Linux, but this is similar with any other Ren'Py game I've download on itch. Just requires a few minutes of fiddling around. Hope this helps anyone!
for me all Spapa1.1sh does is open it in the text editor
Doing so launched the game for me. I only started using Linux this year, so this is the best advice I can give other than running the game in Wine/Proton.
Loved this! The art is super cute, and the characters are great! Lucy's interactions with 01 and 03 have been so fun to read. 03 is such a cutie! My GF thinks that if she were in Lucy's shoes, she'd have figured everything out, but... I think I'd be as clueless as her.
Really excited to start Episode II!
I loved this :)
Great game! This was a treat to play although it does feel like I'm playing a horror game at times
Hey!, this has no SPORE parts!!!, -10/10 (Nah, I'm lying, good game!)
i just found out about this from your twitter, and i loved it! the characters are so fun to read.
very cool. good luck on the future chapters!
03 is correct, she is indeed a "widdle cutie".
and 04's an absolute weeb
This was very adorable! I do love the mood the game gives off with its art style and use of warm colors vs cool colors in stressful scenes. I think Unit 03 is my fav~
Onto the next one!
This is EASILY one of the best visual novels I’ve ever read. The characters are incredibly well-written and the tone the game repeatedly sets for the core mystery of the narrative is perfect for a story told through this medium. One of the few that takes great advantage of all presentation elements that are part of the medium: everything adds up, builds on top of one another, and ultimately makes your imagination run wild. Highly recommended.
I found out about this game while randomly browsing itch.io, and it barely took half of the game's runtime for it to become my favorite visual novel ever.
There's so, so much to love about this story. The characters are three-dimensional, interesting and emotionally evocative, even the ones that we've barely had the chance to interact with thus far.
Lucy is a delight of a protagonist, and her low self-image has a clear effect on the narration, which I'm in love with.
She also feels very trans-coded to me, but that's just my headcanon.
For now >:))
I have a lot of thoughts about this story as a whole, but there's less than half a day before Episode 2 comes out, so I'll save the longer review for after I finish it.
All in all, this is an amazing visual novel and I'm glad to have found out about it and I'm ecstatic to learn more about the world and these characters.
gay robots sounds cute. keep up the good work
I really like the Lucy character, I feel like it could be me. Well, maybe she's a tiiiny bit too dumb but I see for what narrative purpose ^^'
A shame she couldn't have a feedback on her drawing yet :p
I'm hooked to it, can't get unhooked ;)
this is such a wonderful game, im already in love with all the characters... i hope we get to see more of 02 in the next episode and im excited to see more of the plot. the radio segment was also really fun, i love when games have those...
all in all a very good start for a genre that often struggles with those! cant wait for episode 2!
just finished this and wow! i loved this so much, and i'm really excited to see where the rest of this story is going to go!! as well as, uh, a little nervous based on that epilogue buT!!! i love these characters so so so much, and i think 04 is my favorite? they perfectly encapsulate the feeling of "baby AI raised solely by anime" and i adore them so much, i can't wait to see more of them, as well as everyone else!!! thank you so much for making this wonderful game
Just finished playing through this and I loved every bit of it. The sprite animations and transitions add a lot, and I feel much love for all the influence from Ryukishi07's visual novels, like in the SP Radio segment! It all makes up such a wonderful experience for Episode 1. The characters were so well-written, like people I know from my own personal life, so I love them dearly already. Also your art style is adorable I loved every image. THE BLOWTORCH GAG WAS REALLY GOOD. Unit 01 is my wife. I can't wait for the next episode, take care of yourself and good luck!
There's so much fantastic writing here! And subtle characterisation! And cute definitely-not-robots!!! I am promoting this every way I can because the story deserves to see completion and the creators deserve praise and money for it :3
Oh! And I loved the extra radio segment at the end! It was a great way to wind down and process some of the big feelings in the main story. I appreciate it a lot.
This is really sweet and my heart aches for every single one of the characters. I love your writing!! Already excited for the next episode, though I feel like my brain has plenty to chew with this one.
IT'S SO GOOD OH my god i love it i canNOT wait to see more!! maybe i am but a sucker for both lesbians and robots but this has me in particular hooked. i will be here ASAP when the next episode drops!!
I just finished chapter 2 and I love it already
I really liked the first episode. The characters were endearing and you've set up a fairly good premise. I think my favourite part is the very serious faux-umineko scary bit with 03 followed up by Lucy still not realizing they're robots and 01 being like "wow you really don't get it yet"
The art and music is really nice too, it all feels cohesive and easy to read and play. Good job! I linked it on my twitter as well so hopefully you get more players soon.
I really enjoyed this visual novel - the premise is super intriguing and I’m very excited to see where the story will go from here! You’ve got yourself a new fan. ;>
OMG! This looks so beautiful!
im really looking forward to this!
This looks so cute! Excited for it!