A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux

Please be advised that this visual novel contains violence, blood, death, jump scares, cannibalism, child abuse, human sacrifice, monsters, domestic violence, alcohol, drowning, fire, snakes.


Logline

After a disastrous break up, Qian Hailu wakes up to find that she's dead. Luckily (or unluckily), she's been given a chance to turn back the clock and avert her death—as long as she can pass three rounds in the game of life.



Story


You who are unqualified to drink Meng Po's soup, you have been chosen for the game of life. Three worlds, three rounds. Win all three and you may avert your fated death. Lose any and your bones are forfeit for tomorrow's lunch broth.

Good luck. Our ghosts have prepared their takeout containers, all plastic, non-microwaveable.


A survival-horror yuri visual novel.


Features

  • ~45k words
  • 2 major endings and plenty of dead ends
  • 5 CGs
  • Cinematographic storytelling
  • Accessibility options
  • A CG gallery, a music gallery, dev notes, and an achieved endings screen

Credits

Download

Download
the-final-prize-is-soup-win-linux.zip 346 MB
Version 1.03 Oct 01, 2023
Download
the-final-prize-is-soup-osx.zip 341 MB
Version 1.03 Oct 01, 2023

Development log

Comments

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(1 edit) (+1)

I love both routes, though Eleven's is more epic, dark, story-extensive and aoishiro-ish, while Mimi's is cute and relationship-focused. And this game looks so beautiful. And most horrifying moment was when shino said she considered not releasing for this spooktober. (and this comment is just in time, ofcourse (i just rewatched the game on someone's letsplay stream xD))

(+4)

Real good.
Despite being this a horror game.
To me, I find it having a sad vibe and emotional more than horror.   (Please forgive me ;-;)

Really like Yanxu's route, By the way.
11 out of 10 for this game.

(+3)

so good

(+4)

amazing!!

(+2)

does it will support chinese language

(+1)

Currently the only language for the game is English, and no translations are in progress. Maybe one day!

(3 edits) (+4)

Gotta grab a hand crank charger with me so I can use my phone in the afterlife… 😆

Wow, what an intense, atmospheric journey! The animated BGs, sprites and CGs add a lot of immersion to this 45k word story (super impressive scope!) I appreciated all the references to Chinese mythology and culture, although I felt like it could be incorporated more naturally in dialogue rather than feeling so expository (e.g. how the MC thought of her ex in nickname form but they randomly greeted each other by full names)

————Spoiler thoughts and feedback————

I’m glad I played through and I enjoyed the experience overall!

In the beginning, I was thrown off by how two exhausted women that hiked for hours and hours (one described as very not outdoorsy) could fend off the monsters in pure physical combat. These ghosts are incredibly terrifying on first appearance but during this fight, they felt weak to me, given how slow and incompetent they are at overtaking weakened chars. Maybe a choice to fight smart rather than a blatant physical stand off would fix this?

The rest of the trials were great! I felt so immersed in the recess room with the dark abyss and trial number two with the knocking suspense. The third trial was interesting too with the boxes and rising water even though the it would be nice to have some player input for the puzzle solving. I loved the flashback scene as well and emotional bonding!

Nearing the end, the calling for divine intervention to get them out of the situation felt much too easy. Couldn’t it have been done this whole time? Maybe there could be an obstacle to doing this so it feels earned and it takes more lead up / intentional decisions to accomplish.

————FINISH SPOILER ————

Overall, I love what this VN stands for and I am so glad there’s a wholesome happy ending. The CGs are fantastic and it’s awesome to have more cultural representation. I sincerely hope you continue to develop, smooth out the story and make editing fixes for flow! Below is one of the more wonky grammar examples, which can be fixed by ending the last sentence with *falsehoods. (Quite a few lines like this, but understandable given the immense scope of the script and production.) 

Can’t wait to try any updates or whatever you make next! ❤️ I enjoyed Red Queen too! 



(+2)

Thank you so much for playing and for sharing such detailed thoughts, we truly appreciate all your feedback! Stay tuned... and happy Halloween!

(+1)

Thank you, this piece deserves the attention!! Happy Halloween 😄🎃

(+2)

Hey Jaqui! Thank you so much for playing TFPIS and for leaving a very thoughtful review + feedback! Happy Halloween!

(+2)

Hiiii! Omg your monster art and the CGs are incredible! Congrats on the win!!! 
Happy Halloween!

(+1)

Thank you so so much, means a lot to hear especially from you! ^^ Cheers!

(+4)

I saved your game for the last of Spooktober entries I wanted to try, as I guessed it would be my favorite - and it was! :P

(+2)

Aww thank you so much for playing, that is so sweet! :p I am glad you liked our game!

(+3)

Absolutely beautiful visuals and effects, an intriguing and spooky premise, and properly horrifying monsters--incredible work all around!

(+3)

pretty good game though I would've appreciated a warning for light jumpscares

(+6)

(Copied from my Spooktober rating page review to help this game within itch.io's algorithm!)

Love some of the camerawork and cinematography you used in this VN. I can tell you've read a lot of VNs because some of the shots you used are utterly breathtaking: like the opening scene, the cut-ins with Eleven announcing the status of each survival game, and the panning up to the starry night sky. 

I also can't stop thinking about the trials you created for Hailu and the other dead participants. They're legitimately frightening at times: I was jumpscared by the sudden appearance of a hungry ghost when Mimi and Hailu were running through the seventh floor in the third trial. 

All in all, thanks for creating such a great work!

(+2)

Thank you so much for playing, I am glad the visuals and story left an impact on you! Happy Halloween!

(+2)

Is this completed?

(+4)

Yep, this is a full experience. The features listed on this page are what's included in the current build.

(+2)

Is this game compatible with MacOS?

(1 edit) (+3)

Yes it is! It's the second download button for the-final-prize-is-soup-osx.zip with the Apple logo next to it :) 

(Unfortunately, it is not tested internally due to hardware ownership limitations on the team, but thus far we haven't received any reports from players about it not working on Mac)

(+2)

Well, I'll report any problems I find! Thank you!

(+1)

That would be really appreciated! We plan to keep working on the game after the jam to add enhancements and fixing things that may be broken will definitely be a top priority 👍 

(+4)

Yes. The Mac build is the download named osx and has the apple logo next to it. You may need to control-click the .app and open it manually which is a common problem for Ren'Py games on Mac.

(+6)

I loved Hailu's interactions with Eleven, but I can't not root for Mimi! 

Atmospheric, wonderfully unsettling in many ways, with a heartfelt throughline in both routes to be honest! Both routes complete each other so nicely, this was a fantastic read!


(+2)

Thank you so much for playing, Visual Novelty! It was a joy to watch your playthrough!

(+1)

Thank you so much for playing! <3

(+6)

Beautiful graphics and a wonderfully descriptive, dramatic story. I was interested in Eleven but you had me heavily invested in the Mimi route. Honestly may revisit the VN on stream after October to go through Eleven's route! I'm very curious and had SO much fun reading through this one. Ps I still want Mimi's charger.

(+2)

Thank you for playing and reviewing! We do hope you come back for another play >:9 (P.S. - I had such a fun time at your stream, it was an amazing way to enjoy the story :p)

(+3)(-1)

good novel

(+1)

Thank you for playing, we glad you enjoyed it! <3

(+1)

Thank you so much for playing TFPIS!

(3 edits) (+7)

Wow, the designs of the background was godly. I sometimes paused on them and be like “hooo. Nice background” :<

The animation and sprite were pretty cute too.

If one thing was missing compared to the outstanding art, I thought it was the story (especially the one with the judge - I felt their relationship was a bit hollow), but still I found that the ex-lover branch was pretty endearing ! It was very hard to ignore her to complete the second ending >_>

Very nice ! Is that even a jam game ? Felt way too well polished to be one >_<

(+2)

Thanks for playing and providing insight! We were a little pressed for time for writing and planning, but we do hope to do more expansion on it in the future!

We're glad you enjoyed the game overall!

(+6)

this vn was so good!! lovely and fitting soundtrack, beautiful character design and such a pretty UI!! i especially loved the monster design, very spooky.  very happy to see the accessibility options too. well written and enjoyable, great work all!!

(+2)(-1)

Thank you so much for playing TFPIS, October! <3

(+6)

This was pretty lovely, big props to the team.

The music was very pleasant, effects p nice (esp for a jam submission), plot and characters fairly well written + all the art and UI beautifully done,  realized and fitting (sorry if i forgot something else! pls no offense~ 'w`).

A solid one, though i must admit that among the Shinoverse my favorite is still the Red Queen >:3 best of luck in this jam here and in yalls future endeavors, they are all appreciated and good!!!!!! peace~

(+5)

P.S. also shoutouts to Pumpkin Spike, for route they wrote was as subtle, bittersweet, and emotionally complex (also - cute!) as time probably allowed, giving some rightfully deserved happiness to Mimi (the adorkablest lil disaster~) and enough depth via self-reflection, introspection and acceptance to Qian!

(+2)

Ahh thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoyed my writing for Yanxu's route! ♥

(+2)

Thank you so much for playing and for your review, and as CG artist, special thanks for the compliment on the art! ^_^

(+6)

Finished all endings. Love the visual effects (I'm not a fan of monsters but hey these visual effects are really good). Not gonna give any spoilers here, but I must admit that the mirror grinder, "women hold up half the sky" and spicy strips made me laugh out loud.

(+6)

I'm so excited to play!!!

(+1)

Woohoo! Please let us know whatchu think ~ thank you for checking out our game! <3

(+6)

please enjoy!! i'm so happy i got to work on this project with you all :)

(+5)

I hope you like our work everyone, happy slurpy Spooktober! ^^ ♡