The huntress
Liora Varel
Better aim than patience, and she reads the forest like a book. She found you lost, nearly shot you, and now says you owe her dinner.
Now you owe me a rabbit.
Day 1
A visual novel about finding a home
Welcome back.
You wake up under two moons, in a village where everyone is kind. There’s fresh bread, magic to dry the laundry, and a family that opens its door to you.*
*This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.
ScrollPrologue · A World Too Kind
Why are there two moons in the sky?
The last thing you remember is waiting for the bus at six in the morning, in Asunción. A Tuesday, ninety-five degrees in the shade. Nothing epic: no truck, no light at the end of the tunnel, no goddess offering you powers.
Now you’re lying in the grass of a forest that isn’t on any map, with no signal and your phone at 61%. And there are two moons in the sky: one pale, one reddish, as if someone had drawn the first one and, not quite convinced, tried again in a different color.
A huntress nearly puts an arrow through you. A village takes you in. A family opens its door. Everyone is very kind.
If this is an isekai, someone forgot to give me the tutorial.
Play the beginning
An arrow, a rabbit and a debt
Click to advance the dialogue and choose how to answer.
???
Look out!
Scene transcript
- ???: Look out!
- Something flies right past my face.
- An arrow.
- I freeze completely.
- A girl steps out from behind the trees. Brown hair tied in a braid. Bow in hand.
- ???: I’m sorry! Are you okay?
- She looks at me. I look at the arrow. Then I look back at her, wondering if I’m next.
- ???: What are you doing out here, in the middle of nowhere? Are you hurt?
- Matías: No. But I think I just developed several new problems.
- She tilts her head. She doesn’t seem to get it.
- ???: You didn’t answer me. What are you doing so far from the village?
- What do I tell her?
- Tell the truth: “I woke up here. I don’t know how.”
- Matías: I woke up here, in the grass. I don’t know how I got here. Or where I am.
- ???: …
- ???: Then you need more help than you look like you do.
- Make a joke: “I was looking for signal.”
- Matías: I was looking for signal. Clearly without much luck.
- ???: …Signal for what?
- Matías: Forget it. Long story.
- ???: You’re lucky I didn’t fire the second arrow.
- Tell the truth: “I woke up here. I don’t know how.”
- ???: You were standing right in my line of fire, screaming.
- Matías: I wasn’t screaming.
- ???: You were screaming on the inside. It was all over your face.
- ???: Now you owe me a rabbit.
- Matías: Put it on my tab.
- ???: Oh, I will.
The Varels and friends
The family that found you
Five people. One table. A place that’s starting to feel like home.
The mother
Mara Varel
She decides who stays under her roof. Few words, a heavy gaze and the warmest kitchen in Elden.
You can stay tonight.
The little brother
Theo Varel
Forty questions a minute and no intention of letting you sleep. To him, the zipper on your backpack is the most impressive spell in the world.
It’s a teeth spell!
Like a daughter
Seren
She has lived with the Varels for a few years and doesn’t believe a word you say. As far as she’s concerned, you’re either lying or very clumsy.
How do we know you’re not a spy from another kingdom?
The fruit seller
Bren
Huge, gray-bearded, with the face of a man who lost an argument in 1987. Owner of the best fruit shop in Elden. Also the only one.
Looking costs extra.
These are only the first faces of Elden. Many more are waiting to be met.
Day 1
The first day of the rest of your life
No dragons, no trolls, no adventurers brawling outside a tavern. Just a market, a warm dinner and people who treat you like they’ve always known you.
The road to Elden
Liora guides you to her village and, along the way, teaches you to read tracks: a fox’s, a deer’s… and yours, walking in circles since morning.
Liora You were lost.
Elden
Blacksmiths, running children, merchants haggling over prices. A woman dries her laundry with a wave of her hand and nobody even looks. Somehow, that’s stranger than any dragon.
Bren Take it, boy. Looks like you haven’t eaten all day.
Dinner with the Varels
Thick stew, warm bread and something like a purple carrot. Theo asks you about forty questions about your clothes, Seren doesn’t believe a word, and Mara, in the end, decides.
Mara Tomorrow we’ll see what to do with you.
The first night
A small room at the end of the hallway. A bed, a table, a window. You think about home, and whether anyone has noticed you’re gone.
What if time runs differently in this world?
That night
From the window you can see both moons, very close together, as if they were also talking before going to sleep.
For the first time since you woke up, you feel like you can relax.
Maybe you got lucky.
Day 2
The days go by.
Everything is fine.
or so I thought…
*This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.
The game
A visual novel that looks back at you
Ciclos Pasados begins as a tender story about finding a home. We won’t tell you where it goes from there.
A place to belong
An unhurried story about a new world, new people and the strange feeling of starting to feel at home.
Choices that weigh
What you say and who you spend your time with changes what you see… and what others dare to tell you.
Characters with dozens of faces
Anime-style characters with layered expressions: dozens of faces to laugh, doubt, cry… or pretend everything is fine.
Details matter
Nothing in Elden is there by chance. Pay attention to what people say, to what they leave unsaid, and to what doesn’t quite fit.
At your own pace
Roll back the dialogue with the mouse wheel to reread what you missed, and save whenever you want: 54 slots, quick save and autosave.
Not what it seems
Behind its kind face, Ciclos Pasados is a psychological horror story. Not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.
For those who could never forget Doki Doki Literature Club or OMORI.
Project status
This is only the beginning
Ciclos Pasados is in early development. A playable narrative demo already exists, built on a custom visual novel engine in Godot 4.7, and the story is under active revision: a lot can still change.
- lines of script written so far
- 2,131
- characters illustrated so far, from a much larger cast
- 5
- expressions drawn
- 45+
- locations illustrated so far
- 12
Roadmap
Done
Custom visual novel engine
Built on Godot 4.7, with a VS Code script editor, story validator, automated tests and save files that survive script changes.
Done
Game interface
A complete interface with its own identity.
In progress
Characters and locations
The first characters are already illustrated, with layered expressions, along with the first locations. It’s only the beginning: the game will have a much larger cast.
In progress
Narrative demo
The prologue and first chapters are already playable. Now: script, pacing and consistency revisions.
In progress
Original soundtrack
The main theme is already composed. The rest of the music is on its way.
Next
The complete story
New chapters, characters, routes and endings.
Next
Localization
English and Portuguese. The engine’s translation pipeline is already built and tested.
Next
PC release
PC first. Date and storefronts to be announced.
Investment & partnerships
Help us finish the story
Ciclos Pasados is the first project from Artroxx Games Studios, an independent studio founded by Arturo López. We’re looking for investors, publishers and partners who want to help turn this demo into a complete game.
The complete story, with everything this page doesn’t tell, is shared privately with investors and publishers.
What your support makes possible
- Original soundtrack and sound design
- Final art: event illustrations, locations and animation
- Hiring artists to redesign locations and characters
- The complete story: new chapters, routes and endings
- Localization, playtesting and PC release
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