ESCAPE THE NIGHTMARE OR NEVER WAKE UP. Chromatose is a card battler visual novel where you fight to change the fates of eight characters whose minds wander an ever-shifting world between life and death. The clock is ticking. Can you save them all?
Comatose after a fall that should have killed him, Leroy finds himself trapped in a limbo between life and death. His memories are hazy at best, but he doesn’t have time to doubt or dawdle: if he doesn’t get out in 12 hours, he’s done for. A woman claiming to be his coworker, Izzy, tells Leroy that he is an EMT whose arrival in this world was a mistake; she begs him to follow her back to reality as soon as possible. But there are others in this purgatorial realm, each trapped in their own waking nightmares. He can’t just leave them behind, can he?
Travel through the minds and lives of eight fatally flawed characters, each seeking redemption. As the dreamlike realm tests them, Leroy must help his fellow inhabitants of this waiting room outside death’s door recover their memories and find a way to escape. Each must grapple with questions larger than themselves— Are we fated to follow our worst tendencies, even in the face of certain destruction? Is it futile to fight your destiny? Can we allow ourselves to accept help from others? And most importantly: Can we change?
Explore an ever-shifting nightmare world while creating a deck that gains power from deepening your relationships with others. Each new mindscape brings new cards and new challenges, where you team up to battle the shadows lurking in the corners of their minds while balancing your time, limited cards, and special abilities to survive. Oh, and think fast, because in this rapid-fire battle system, enemies aren’t just going to politely wait for you to take your turn.
A colorful cast needs your help to escape. Meet the characters:
Primadonna: A professional boxer with a terrible temper. She’s easily goaded into fights and never backs down – even at great personal risk. This time, that habit finally came back to bite her.
Quentin: A cripplingly shy teenager who struggles to stand up for herself. After an escalating series of dares brings her to the brink of death, she now has one last chance to face her fears.
Isaac: A teenager whose genetic health conditions left him debilitated since birth. Now in the throes of death, he must confront his own bitterness about the life that was stolen from him.
Laslo: A priest who pushes himself too hard for others, past the point that his body can handle. He must decide what he wants for himself before his heart breaks in multiple senses.
And many more…
Wander a world built from the bricks of characters’ innermost fears and regrets. Each door of this decaying hospital transports you into the colorful prisons your fellow captives have built for themselves: a blood-red MMA arena surrounded by malformed mutants cheering your downfall. A golden mansion with something monstrous hunting you. Was this school hallway always submerged in water?
Each character’s fears manifest as a twisted pocket dimension, an extension of where they’ve been and the harrowing things that brought them here. A lush and haunting soundtrack brings locations and characters to life – or at least, what little life they have left.