Sweet dreams, mäuschen...

Frauratte has just recieved it's final major update. The game has officially been moved into my completed projects folder. How exciting !

-NEW ENDING HAS BEEN ADDED!

-Fixed infinite mint glitch
-Timer now pauses during certain cutscenes
-Game manual updated with additional parser quirks and guide to new ending
-Fixed ANOTHER disappearing frame glitch (whoops)
-Fixed missing bed dialog for Frauratte's bed

Development on Frauratte may be finished, but please don't think this is the last time you'll see Wenigrot!
And now, some thoughts on its development.

Why did you make this?

Good question! Tricky answer. I have a lot of bad dreams I tend to turn into game ideas. Onion Is Dreaming was the same way, as was Usagi-Chan (which started out as a very weird dating sim called Manic Porcelain Rabbit). The setting of Wenigrot is reoccuring in my dreams. In them, I'm often a women disguised as a man, fearful I'll be outed and assaulted. A lot of those feelings and fears I projected onto this game, though I split the role into two different people: Schaf and Frauratte. The overwhelming themes of rape and violence against women are extremely common in my nightmares. I'd like to make happier projects, but it's very cathartic sometimes to take these horrible fears and make a game around them. I hope I'm able to handle the topic sensitively and with impact.

Do you think you handled the topic well?

Yes and no. I pulled a lot from personal experience, and so I think a lot of what Frauratte says is very raw. However, I worry what I've actually SHOWN may be a bit too much. I wanted to say the quiet part out loud, and to show the extremely violent contrast between the assaulter fantasy and the reality for the victim.
A huge problem with tackling this concept is avoiding sexualizing the assault or presenting as "tantalizing." In trying to show more, you run the risk of presenting something adjacent to a porno, even if you're trying to emphasize the violence and fear. The sound of a couch creaking is particularly a vivid memory for me. I thought touching on that sense was the best way to get across the feeling even for people who have not been assaulted. It's a very visceral sense. 
A lot of times with plots revolving around arranged/forced marriages, the sexual violence aspect is never really touched upon. I think the question is less "was this appriopriate" and more "was this NECESSARY." In my opinion, yes. But I understand people who disagree and may be deeply uncomfortable with the content presented. I just hope it never came across as shock value. The point of this game was ALWAYS to discuss sexual violence.

Why the German setting and weird names?

Put simply, a combination of "that's how it was in the dream" and "I really like naming characters after words regardless of language." I've done this in Japanese (Gokiburi literally means cockroach, Usagi means rabbit, etc.). I've done it in English (Onion and Oak). I'll probably continue to do it. As for the setting, I somehow always understood it as being this weird German branch off. Like they weren't directly a part of Germany, they were breaking away almost. The use of German words for names instead of proper German names was intended to add to the uncanniness as well.

What's next?

I've got a few ideas cooking! But unless there's another game jam in-between, I've got my sights set on getting an Usagi-chan/Gokiburi game out there! I want to give my new characters some love, plus after such a heavy project, I'd really like to work on something sillier and more light hearted.