Ren'Py - Under One Roof: Step by Step [v0.4 demo] [YaNovellMych]

"Wow, I think I'll roll up my sleeves and create a game!"

Some time later...

"AI, write a game for me... Music too. Throw in some oddly looping animations. Yeah, it's okay if the characters don't always match. Sprites? Sure, that way I won't have to do much of any actual work or be, you know, creative. Make sure each line of dialogue is cringe and only has four or five words max. Six or seven if it's particularly steamy. Nobody cares about story anyway--they just want to fap."

"This will be cool. Nobody else can ask AI questions like I can...I bet nobody else has thought of asking AI to create graphics for a game. And text. And music. Ooh, and AI can do animations too! I better pace myself, though. All this will take at least 10 minutes to pull off..."

A Visual Novel with Uneven Polish

From the very first minutes, it’s clear that the visual renders are quite well done. The AI delivers coherent and pleasant illustrations that fit the tone of the game nicely. Unfortunately, this is also one of the few aspects that truly stands out.


An Ergonomics That Undermines the Experience

The first major misstep: disabling the Back button.
In a visual novel, being able to revisit previous lines of dialogue or choices is a core part of the reading comfort. Removing that feature strips players of a basic tool and makes the experience needlessly frustrating.


The interface also suffers from a glaring lack of ergonomics. A concrete example: the sleep icon is placed on the left side of the screen, while the confirmation window appears in the center. As a result, you spend your time moving back and forth between the two areas — a small issue on paper, but one that quickly becomes irritating after repeated use.


Tedious Navigation

Even though the number of available locations is limited, navigation still feels cumbersome. The absence of a visual indicator showing where characters are located forces you to click around aimlessly, with no clear logic or flow. You end up spending more time searching than actually playing — and that’s rarely a good sign.


⚠ Clear Signs of Rough Edges

Some text remains in Russian, which suggests that the localization wasn’t handled seriously — whether this is an alpha version or not. This kind of detail breaks immersion and mostly gives the impression that technical and presentation aspects are being pushed aside in favor of content, limited as it may be.


Developer Advice

Before focusing on content, it would be wise to rework the foundations: interface, navigation, and overall user experience.
A good visual novel relies on the fluidity and clarity of its systems. Once those basics are solid, everything else — story, atmosphere, characters — can truly shine.


At the moment, the game mostly feels like a project with real potential, but one held back by a lack of care and attention to its technical and ergonomic foundations.