what is it like to taste
ᓚᘏᗢ♡
it's hard to care for cute girls who hate to eat.
what is it like to taste is an 18+ visual novel about a robot aid and her caretakee.
it features a main story, unlockable side story, and unlockable character screens.
this main story is around 20k words. the side story is 3k.
it takes approximately 1-3 hours to complete depending on your reading speed.
saves in browser can be exported via the menu on the left.
the story and art features some things spoiled below. stay safe
cws
eating disorders, substance abuse, and various types of caretaker abuse (implied and depicted) へ ♡ ╱|、
૮ - ՛ ) (` - 7
/ ⁻ ៸| |、⁻〵
乀 (ˍ, ل ل じしˍ,)ノ
Updated | 2 days ago |
Published | 24 days ago |
Status | Released |
Platforms | HTML5, Windows, macOS, Linux |
Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (20 total ratings) |
Author | mala |
Genre | Visual Novel |
Made with | Ren'Py |
Tags | Characters, Kinetic Novel, Lesbian, LGBT, psychological, Ren'Py, Sprites, Story Rich, Yuri |
Average session | A few seconds |
Download
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Click download now to get access to the following files:
whatisitliketotaste-1.0-mac.zip 106 MB
whatisitliketotaste-1.0-pc.zip 110 MB
Development log
- thank you. fanart. deindexing of peers5 days ago
Comments
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started playing and had to stop within 10 minutes because i was crying so bad, this is really beautiful
Lovely little story with a soft touch in spite of all the difficulties. As a disabled person with many of the same issues as Aiyana I was a bit afraid of how potentially triggering it could get but I was drawn in by how real and empathetic her portrayal was, as well as Emma's understandably limited perception. The note at the credits touched me, I know exactly what that kind of situation feels like and likewise I was glad for this jam being the one thread keeping my sanity together through difficult times. You managed to make something really cool and touching with the time you had. Also I love the color palette!
I also just saw it was your birthday as I scrolled down to post this comment. Happy birthday! I didn't grow up in the South or anything but I had friends who did, and I absolutely caught the vibe.
Thank you so much! Eating disorders can be really competitive- even ones that aren't built around losing weight can quickly become that, so I try to be careful with my own depictions as someone making a lot of media around the subject. I really don't want to to fuel anyone, but it's so easy to!
I'm happy the notes in the credits were special. I wrote them kind of worrying it was too much of myself in my work but I also was so tired I just wanted to say it haha! Thank you for liking the color palette too. I collected many images as inspo HAHA but still, editing the photos was stressful!!
And thank you!! It's nice to receive special comments on my birthday, so I really appreciate it!! I'm so happy you caught the vibe!!
Hey if it makes you feel any better, like halfway or two-thirds in when I had been putting off my dinner to play it i thought "no i gotta eat SOMETHING" and got up to get a bowl of cereal :p if anything you did the opposite of fuel it!
I also have a sleep disorder (probably narcolepsy but since my ADHD stimulants already treat it the doctor hasnt felt the need to press it further) and other complicated health conditions that make living alone very difficult so, I found it very relatable. There's a tendency for disabled people to feel helpless and like unless there's someone there to take care of us we are doomed and therefore the possibility of abandonment or caretaker abuse is very real and scary. But even the scenarios presented here are quite empathetic though they play on this fear.
My friends and I loved this VN!! I think there's a fundamental kindness at the heart of it that reminds me of Naoko Yamada's work or the anime move Look Back. I think you need this quality to appreciate the ephemerality of the world and to love other people so wistfully. I think that kindness makes it so different than all the other yuri games that I've played for this jam. It's not to say that I didn't enjoy the rest, but I think your perspective was refreshing.
Also, we spent so much time in Aiyana's house, that I felt like paying special attention to all the times we spent outdoors. For whatever reason, it reminded me of the South, or at least what I know of it from the time I spent in Virginia when I was younger. (I live in a major NE city now). The way the backyard was so overgrown and choked with the past, the rapeseed field, the rural emptiness, the fact that there's nothing to do and nowhere to go except to sit outside some store. The way that life and love persists in spite of it all.
HA! This delights me. I wrote this and I just kept wanting to push Southern summer and weird southern towns. I can't believe you caught it! I didn't know if anyone would! I'm delighted!! Your words are so soft and gentle.. I tear up a bit.I'm so happy..
And ahh you and your friends..Joy of multiple! What a delight. This comment arrived in the first hour of my birthday, and it has already made the day worth being awake for!! Thank you so much!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WOOO
thank you!!
OMG! I'm so glad I could make your day <3 I hope you have a wonderful birthday and year ahead of you!
Oh, I didn't write this earlier bc I forgor but it was also nice to see a portrayal of ED that isn't tied to weight loss. Aiyana's general disinterest/sensory difficulty around food was very, very close to my own. Sometimes, that's hard for other people to understand, and sometimes, it almost makes me feel like I'm just making shit up, but no! We're real..... ty................
yes! thank you!! i wanted to write it because that kind of disordered behavior is severely under depicted and often just viewed as 'picky eating' when it is something that can severely affect your life. even that sort of behavior in academic literature is viewed as a thing associated with children.
i've only seen it in one manga actually (a yuri (she loves to cook she loves to eat))... well.. also.. i guess.. it shows up in random things but it's romanticized when it really sucks!! it's actually a common thing you can find in autistic/adhd girl-dominated communities too i saw while researching!! but it's just.. not talked about at all.
ok maybe i am just dumm, but the toughts on the blackscreen where emmas, right?
it's never stated directly in game but the answer is there though a bit obfuscated!
Can't u tell me😭😭
I wish I could but I wrote it so intentionally…. it’d be a bit of a waste of my efforts… 👉🏾👈🏾
Can u at least tell me where to look? I am a very slow reader and playing the whole game again would take me like 4h 😭😭
i dont have anything special to say this was a nice vn!
Thank you!
There is something about a Mala game that just hits right in the way that hurts (positive). I can't quite put my thoughts about the game and how things played out into words because everything felt so messed up but also inevitable in a way due to the naivety of Emma and the way Aiyana clearly doesn't view herself in a positive light at all. And the complicated feelings of Adelaide being one of the only people willing to actually make sure Aiyana is actually okay and has paid attention to her because she understands that Aiyana needs someone despite the fact that she was also abusive towards Aiyana and god the character dynamics are so tightly written.
Injects Mala games directly into my veins with great speed.
I do want to say though, I don't know whether the piano piece was composed for the game or was part of the creative commons licensed tracks but I feel like maybe just throwing the track into something and adding a bit of a reverb plugin to tame the harshness of the higher notes of the piano because that was a bit too loud compared to a lot of the other tracks used throughout the game.
Hi!! Thank you :-) This means a lot to me!! You connected with the story, and even if you can't quite put your thoughts into words, your thoughts have reached me!!
And yes, regarding the tracks, I use mainly creative commons stuff from lots of sources, so it ends up being one of the hardest things for me to do (keeping the tracks balanced haha).. When friends compose for my games, they're usually a lot better at noticing that stuff than I am!!!
Thank you so much again!!! This brightened my day!! Don't inject the games though they're probably toxic!!
This was a really lovely read. The characters are all charming oddballs and the art is so soft and cute. Really enjoyed my time with it!
Thank you!
This was a really interesting look at mentally ill characters, and how relationships with them can be damaging but also loving. It's a really complicated topic and I feel like this game handled it pretty well. I like how Emma felt simultaneously human and inhuman - she fits the mentally ill group pretty well in all honesty, given how often robots in media wind up feeling autism-coded. I really liked that the way she was toxic felt...innocent? It felt almost childlike - she had gotten a lot of new information and didn't have a framework in place to process it with, so she tried to apply it in ways that turned out to be harmful.
Thank you for your thoughts!! I appreciate them!!! Yes there's a lot of features of Emma that you've picked up on that are part of her logic!
The tags seemed a bit scary but very happy that I read it. It was very lulling to read the daily mundane life of these lovey, special but also very normal people.
Very popping and adorable art for the cast and a very charming graphic overlay gives this all your usual style of sweet.
It's hard to write about complex subjects and properly warn/tag them without it coming off as a bit horrific! And thank you for saying my style is sweet. T_T It cheered me up a lot.
I adored reading this so much. I was genuinely captivated from start to finish by the stylistic design, the characters, and their struggles as well. I really like the entire cast, and I could empathize with all of them, despite their actions or thoughts sometimes seeming unreasonable or downright hard to justify. Being human is "messy"/complicated and relationships are even more so, and all of them reflect this aspect really well, including Emma, despite the fact that she isn't human. How can a robot take care of someone who thinks the very act of Existing is hard? I think your story asks and answers that question in a very compelling way, and I love it for that. Reading this has reminded me to embrace having "messy" characters and dynamics and not feel like I have to censure myself for the sake of conforming to "normalcy". Thank you for creating this, and good luck to you with the Game Jam!❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for your in depth thoughts. I'm very happy you were captivated by them and empathized with them all :-) And thank you for wishing me luck! Let's hope for the best!!
really lovely. we love the messiness of it. everything is just so complicated and grey. we don't like Adelade but we're simultaneously drawn to her and she may be our favorite. shes also very pretty lol.
the story feels like it has a lot of love put into it. like others have said there's a lot of empathy for the characters. it feels like a reminder that even if you've done bad things to people or carry guilt, you still have to live. i'm not sure if i'm wording that correctly but i hope it makes sense.
also yayy Calliope! it's nice to see her again :>. we're glad she's doing well and that hopefully Eleanor is as well. it's cool that they're engaged now :>. we also did enjoy the length. not the type of thing you can just pop on and play in one sitting, but that's not a bad thing. it was long enough that we were able to rlly get sucked into it and let ourselves enjoy wherever the story went.
-Melodica system
Thank you!! Hi!! Yes, mm, Adelaide has this affect on people in world, so it's fun to see how you react to her. I'm happy my love came across in end. You are wording very well so do not worry!
And yay, I wasn't sure if anyone who read RehAI (aside from a small group of people I knew prior to this) would've played my old works so I'm happy you recognized her!! It was a shame to not be able to include my dear Ellie, but well, I hope Calliope being the way she is made some things come across :D
Thank you so much for reading multiple of my works!!!
This visual novel was so, so good. I really love how you write characters, how in depth and matter of fact you go into discussing their mental illnesses, and how they're never demonized even when they mess up or act in ways that upset/harm others. The humanity that your characters have and are treated with is so comforting to read. Seeing how much Emma loves Aiyana for who she is, mental illness and disorders and all, just made my heart swell... Even when things started to get toxic, everything Emma did still felt like it was coming from a place of genuine love, of just being someone without a lot of experience desperate to protect the one person they love the most...
Your art is gorgeous, and the character designs were so pretty. I loved seeing all the different hair styles and outfits. I also loved all of the little anime and yuri references, and Aiyana being a translator for yuri works, it was just a really great little bit of the story that added to the atmosphere of it in a way that's hard to explain.
I really loved this, though. I had it open in a tab and had been planning to read it, but I missed how long it was and started playing thinking it would be a short read- but I was so gripped that I just read through the whole thing in one go. I'm glad you were able to create this, and I look forward to more works from you!!
I forgot to respond!! When you commented this, it meant a lot to me and I randomly reread it over and over again!! I'm happy you like the designs and understood what I was going for by making Aiyana a yuri translator!!
I'm really happy it gripped you!! I was worried so much about this length so this really comforted me!!
very good read!! i love how strong the characters' voices are, and the art is really cute. i felt like with the panels popping up it was like reading a comic at times, which worked well with aiyana's hobbies hehehe~ also, oh my gooosh adelaide. she stole the show for me, i love her, even if she is a little problematic with what she tells emma it's an iconic way ok #adelaidedidnothingwrong. im being silly ofc, but i really did enjoy this! also, i know at the end there's a note about the word count and how the game asks for more time but personally i really enjoy things at this pace, i feel more immersed in the story and world! good job :)
thank you! i had every character's background/family/culture in mind which helped me figure out how they talk. it was something i wanted to emphasize!!! and yes, the panels, i plan to talk about this when i make my author's afterword but this visual novel is heavily inspired by my manwha reading habits jaja!!! i ALSO really enjoyed writing adelaide and love seeing how people react to her <3 and thank you!! hmm.. making shorter works for these kinds of jams is easier on readers so it was a bit anxiety inducing to make something like this! but i agree, i like the pacing and the length is not something i'd change despite the anxieties i had upon release- i'm thankful to everyone who has given me their time immersing themselves in my work. tysm for your in depth feedback!!
This is kinda outside of things that I've experienced and people I know so I don't feel I can relate to things as hard as the other commenters but I enjoyed the VN, the characters, the art, and the story.
Out of what I've played so far in the jam, I'd call this an oddball pick but that is not saying that it's bad in the slightest and I doubt this will be the only one.
Might have to take a look at what else you've made, see how it stacks up :P
In short: 9/10, it looks like it's really hit the mark for a lot of people and I enjoyed it with my not completely relating and understanding brain
Thank you! I tend to dev with the thought my work is quite niche, so it brings me delight that you could enjoy it despite the experiences being separate from you. It's something I've always wondered how my work is viewed by those who exist separately from it.
If you check out my other works, I hope you enjoy them but it's okay if you don't!!
This was so so beautiful. Each character feels so well written and nuanced. Emma’s perspective was fascinating and there are so many vivid and sensual observations that she makes throughout the story. I was wondering how dark it would get at times but I really like how you handled all of it. The art and music is also so good, it’s gonna stick with me for a while. The side story is also amazing and really does feel like a nice dessert at the end of it.
Also, I somehow never knew about ricecooker pancakes? Those look so good lol
Thank you so much! I'm really delighted about your descriptions of Emma's observations, and I'm happy I handled everything very well!! The music was one of my worries, so that makes me happy too!!
And yes rice cooker pancakes are delicious BUT VERY LARGE.. You can make them in a cheap rice cooker by just turning the rice cooker on over and over and sticking in a toothpick to make sure there's no dough on the toothpick (a fork or other thing utensil also works!)
i absolutely love how you write autistic characters, I really felt seen through aiyana and emma. Adelaide kind of pissed me off at first but I see that she also just wants whats best for aiyana.
Edit: actually no I dont like adelaide she reminds me of my ex gf and that thought process of oh she wants whats best is actually what kept me stuck in that toxic relationship for so long
I'm happy you enjoyed it! And it's okay! In world, canonically, many people dislike Adelaide, so it makes sense for her to be disliked by readers, as she has a particular personality that can be read as unpleasant!
yeah like psychologically i get why she acts the ways she does but also I feel like the people around her need to push her to reflect on herself a little more, maybe she could benefit from some DBT. She definitely has the potential to make a turnaround. Maybe a future sequel can see her going on a journey to heal her maladaptive behaviors
As a mentally ill enben with lots of mentally ill and neurodivergent queer friends, I could relate to a lot that happened in the story. I emphasized and related to pretty much every character in one way or another, and I LOVED the side story.
Aiyana is such a sweetheart, absolutely adore her. My heart broke for her, knowing how hard it is to Do Things and... everything. Yeah. Very relatable, glad she has a caregiver.
I'm not quite in as bad as shape as Aiyana, but I can't live alone either and need a caregiver myself. A robot aid would be SO useful.
The characterization was brilliant and I mean - well, okay. I've played enough of your games by now that I know it's lesbians and mental illness and people struggling and it's just going to be pretty and aesthetic and a little bit sad and a little bit happy. I always get excited when you come out with a new game.
I also noticed that the mental illnesses were discussed but never named. While I was able to pretty much conclude what neurodivergence/mental illness was what because I deal with some/have friends with them, it was nice to see... I mean, saying you have this disorder or that disorder, it doesn't really help. It leaves people assuming things and people are so much more than their diagnoses. But saying what people ACTUALLY dealt with... the things they ACTUALLY needed...
Idk it was just nice and I was fond of that fact.
Also you're fantastic at writing nonhumans with nonhuman experiences.
i really appreciate your thoughts, and it has improved my day a lot. everything you have said is dear to me as a lot your compliments are things i worry about. i was also worried about how people who enjoy my other works would perceive this one since i tried lots of new things. i've saved this comment to my archives i look at when i feel demotivated. thank you so much again!
this was so good... aiyana is such a unique and interesting character and i really loved everything about her
this really delights me. aiyana, to some readers, is the most difficult character to understand, so it makes me happy that you connected with her <3
I thought that was swell! I'm not terribly eloquent in comments but I liked the slow slice of life feel and the revealing characterization.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me! The slow slice of life was scary to write so I’m happy it is enjoyable!
This was delightful. I adore the inclusion of fashion in your games. Adelaide ruled, loved how firm she was. Emma's desperation to properly take care of Aiyana was delicious, and the way Aiyana responded to it was good. All in all very enjoyable, thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for your thoughts. Fashion is all I am and have so it permeates every aspect of my existence, including my games. I’m delighted you liked the characters and found it Enjoyable
A lovely, complete experience, it's amazing this is a game jam game. The pacing and characters are great and I will be thinking about them for a while <3
thank you for your help as always!!! you make everything so much easier and i couldn't have done this without your support!!