Bad Ritual
Your already high-risk/low-reward job gets about thirty times more dangerous when you inadvertently release an ancient archdemon into Sanctum City. Armed with only a recent promotion and the begrudging support of your enigmatic boss, Tahira, it's up to you to decide what to do with Siruud the Devourer.
Keep your head above water as you try to break your bind with a dangerous archdemon, either pursuing the perfectionist Tahira who harbours a deep and secret resentment for your demon, or by abandoning everything you know to help Siruud understand what happened the night he was arrested.
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04.01.24
Howdy! Chapter 5 is up and ready to go, for both Siruud and Tahira.
If you'd like to support the development of the game, consider donating to my Kofi !! Become a subscriber for early access, copies of certain games, and monthly drabbles at Employee of the Month tier !!
Development log
Comments
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"its so sad steve jobs died from ligma."
"who the hell is steve jobs?"
"Ligma balls"
*gets throw out window*
Bright in a Hank Hill voice: that soon to be corpse ain't right.
Loved the update so much! Cannot wait for more!
glad you liked it !!!! 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
This story lives rent free in my head for years now!! Great update 💛
Also, not sure if you know, but on mobile if you choose to build a save and open the customization page, the second column doesn't fit on the screen, so you can't change whatever options are here. Maybe it's just a problem on my phone though, I'm not sure 😬
H'm, it ought to be auto launching into landscape. The box is checked but it's not doing it for some reason 😅 maybe the way you're holding the phone just trumps orientation setting no matter what? But overall best experience is gunna be landscape regardless, for the fit. Glad you liked it !!! 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Nooooo I didn't want it to end...like omg I love this so much. I enjoy arguing with Mr. Grumpy Sirruud aka soon to be the love of my MCs life.
Xnfjjd glad you liked it 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Found a bug that was too funny...When you enter the profile screen and go back to the story, the codes adjusting the stats run again, thus each time you check the stats on a same page of the story, you change them one more time. Hope you get it fixed some time, haha.
H'm, so the way I understood was that going from the story to the profile page and back again adjusted something, but I'm not seeing the same behaviour. What part were you at when you experienced the bug, because it sounds like one of my patented Quick Fix Code Solutions is busted because testing at random isn't giving me any variance in the personality numbers dlkjhfsdjk
Think it occurs somewhere in Siruud's route near where you break into the company. I tried several choice pages after you meet the receptionist nd they all have this issue.
(edit: It's fine again when you set off the curse, guess it's just sw in the middle)
Lemme poke around and see what I can find !!
omg i love this so much, your writing feels so effortlessly funny
Thank you 😊💚💚💚💚💚💚 I'm glad you're enjoying my lame jokes fjsmxbkan
Hi, love your work. Just one thing, when I load from a saved file, my magic always changes to fire user regardless of what it was before. Thank you and keep up the good work.
OHMYGOD okay so. We don't know why this happens but the bug is so SUPER specific that last time it was reported only one or two people could reliably recreate it. Try clearing your cache and cookies (this will delete Twine data), closing the browser, and reopening, but I'm not sure if it'll fix it: this is my white whale.
I got this bug, and it also bugged the pronoun (it changed to They/Them when I loaded), and if I closed and opened again, it appeared "Quinn Reid" in the save file before loading lol I managed to fix after cleaning cookies and cache on my browser (even if I only played through the itch app, but the clean cache and cookies in it had zero effect lol Really don't know how exactly it stores, since app and browser both have different save files). I think it must be conflict thing? I mean, when I updated, I forgot to make sure the previous version was uninstalled, and I uninstalled everything before purging the cache... lol
Were you trying to load an old save?
There wasn't even an old save to load, it had been so long since I played lol Just two html files in the folder, the most recent one, and an old one from... 2021, I think, named "bad ritual" instead of index, and the folder was 1.8mb even after taking out the "bad ritual", but after taking it all out and installing again it's at 1.1mb, that why I'm betting that it was caused by some type of conflict or something.
H'm the only thing I can think is that the way. Because the itch app is at its best installing like GAME game files, and I find it behaves a little funny around htmls since they're not actually an installation (everything happens in your browser, no files are created, the html is just downloaded and stored in the browser). Try playing it from the launch button?
i swear the dialogue in your games gives me life. the sass. the humor. the back and forth banter between characters. its glorious.
Bdjrksjf glad you like it !!! 💚💚💚💚💚💚
aaaaaaaaaaa this had me shaking with excitment!! Loving the update, and the whole patron and warlock thing reminded me of dnd
Sjfjdjsj eldritch blast would have been useful last chapter 😂
OH MY GOSH! I remember playing this back when the first chapter came out, but I forgot the name... I'm so glad I found it again! Can't wait to play it tomorrow, probably from the beginning.
a good time to find it !!! It updated yesterday 😊💚
Aaaaaaa I like it so much! The seamless worldbuilding is truly delightful (hello demon nightclubs??), can't wait for more and def will check your others IFs out <3
💚💚💚💚💚💚 So glad you liked it !!! Update is coming on theeeee 31st I think? Or it's up right now on my ko-fi page.
omg i am so glad that i have finally found an if that isnt abandoned, those are kinda rare these days. i havent even started it yet, but i have high hopes
Make sure you're squinting hard at the unconfirmed abandoned works: there was a year between the latest update to this and the last one 😂
PLS, THIS IS SOOO GOOD!!!! The writing is immaculate and the humor is chefs kiss , u must be one hilarious mf 🤌🏾 I'm so excited for the next update!!! Siruud literally has me crawling up the walls, gigglin and all that. I'll never beat the monsterfucker allegations 😭😞😩 thank u so much for your hard work 💞💞💞
💚💚💚💚💚💚 I'm glad you like it !! There's another update coming but I gotta finish Tahira's chapter first
siruud got me kicking my feet and twirling my hair fr they’re so enemies to lovers 🥰🥰 thank you for this wonderful demo!!!! i can’t wait to play the rest!!
💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚 Ty I'm glad you like it !!!!! Next chapter we start really getting into the enemies to lovers meat and potatoes fkdjdks
finally got the chance to play the new update, still love it to the bits. thank you heartforge, can't wait for more!
ty !!!!! 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚 Glad you like it !!!!!!!
oh my god this is amazing!!!! i genuinely can't find the words to describe it but your writing is just EVERYTHING!!!!! i can't wait for more!! AMAZING JOB JSKAJSK <3
NFIDKXHFKEJ thank-you so much. New chapter is coming once I finish it fjkd 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
I would like to mention a bug. If i load a savefile my profile and the story says im a flame user when i actually picked blight. (Great Story so far though ;3 )
Update: I deleted my cookies and it works now :)
I'm that fool who forgot the basics of the game. So when I was reading the first page I was like 'yeah, real life shitty job, all demons are really here, hell on earth, so true' until the 'lighting your fingertips with magic' part
and
then
I was
so confused
LOL
I'd deffo take fire powers at my regular devil job 😂😂😂
Thank-you !!! 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚 I'm glad you like it !!!!!!!
"P...please...ligma..."
"Ligma balls!"
Now with an achievement 😂😂😂😂
I had to choose that to. xD
GOTTEM
I really love your writing style so much! I appreciated every little new detail that was added and thorouhghly enjoyed coming back here in general. Siruud is such an interesting character, I just love to be able to sick my small ball of a socially awkward mc on him. It's a treat. Especially cause Siruud is not enarmoured with the mc from the start, I prefer all the little bumps on the road to understanding and appreciating one another. That's what makes a dynamic much more authentic ✨
💚💚💚💚💚💚 I'm glad you liked all the new stuff in there !! Hopefully the next chapter starts to bridge the gap between allies of convenience and make things a little friendlier 😘
This is amazing. The way its written, the action, the humor....its so awesome. And after that ending, I just want to launch into Siruud's arms and wrap both of us into a quilt worm form hidden from the rest of the world (no matter how confused this will make the poor demon. xD)
neidnfd it's all fun and game until you accidentally build a quilt sauna !!! 💚💚💚💚
hey! ive only played a little but i ts a great game!! i was just wondering if there was an option to download it? i might just be blind lol
Nope, it launches in browser !! This is to keep the experience consistent so that is doesn't launch weird because a phone is a slightly different size than average 😂 the only benefit to downloading I think would be offline access in which case the CSS would stop working 😅 so everything would look....bad.
Omg i love this soooooo fucking much!! it's so good!!
Glad you like it !!! Public update is coming on December 22nd (or you can get it early on my ko-fi 😉)
That was just a DEMO?
holy bajesus, that was fun. I can't wait to see where this leads,
here comes Adbaldar the blight-caster, but that's just a side note-
I wish that when ya' finish the ending, ya' would be able to press the back button whenever, since- you're pretty much in sandbox-time at that point,
See I never let the back button remain because idk how Twine would react to a player clicking back a bunch and then trying to save 😅 and with the way it tracka history I don't know that I could reliably shut off saving just by checking to see if you got to the ending. I get what you mean tho: hopefully the build a save is an okay compromise !!
And, obligatory (both for you and anyone reading this 😂) updates are still in motion !! I don't think I'll need to change much at all for the last chapter but rewrites for the one before that have been way more complex than I anticipated !! But hopefully when the new version drops its just as good 🥰
take all the time you need for updates, like I always say, a rushed game is a buggy mess, and don't forget about motivation, work too much and you might lose said motivation, we all care about ya' here :D
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I'm going to go absolutely insane I love siruud so much OMFG GOT ME KICKING MY FEET AND BLUSHING FR!!! Your writing is such a sweet treat to read and i'm so excited for what you have in store for us!! I will be following along dutifully
AHH thank you !! October's been super busy so the rewrite slowed down but there's a couple new things in the updated version that I am SO excited for people to see 💚💚💚💚💚💚
This has been a delight! Looking forward to more 😈✨
Thank you !!! 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚 glad you like it !!!
Stop the ligma joke was so unexpected I had to do a double take😭✋ I can't believe those were about to be our last words too lmao
At least you would have really pwned them before you died. Your partner could be really proud of your efforts 😂
ooh loved itt
Hell yeah, ty 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
oof! didn't expect the ceo to do us like that at the very end, looking forward to whenever this is updated! loved it and I love S
💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚 deeply uncool ceo behaviour 😂😂 and an update is coming !! Don't know an exact date but it's getting some tidiness updates which include a couple rewrites 👀 you'll still get hurled out the window though 😔
Is this finished? Is the rest available to purchase or is only the demo available so far?
only the demo !! This is still in progress 💚
Thanks for replying! This is amazing and I absolutely love Siruud <3
Your style of writing is just MWAH. Keep up the absolutely amazing work! 🤍
TY !! I'm glad you like it 🥰💚💚💚💚
Love this
ty 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Really like this a lot, the writing's hilarious but really atmospheric as well.
Siruud Babygirl.
hfkcjfjx !! I'm glad you like it !! 💚💚💚💚💚💚
is this still being worked on or is it on hiatus
Still being worked on !! Needs a big tech update so it's taking a while.
thx for the reply !! i look forward to more
I'm coming for your cookies :>
If you eat the cookies then the browser wont be able to hold your save game 😂
Oy, it's fine cause it won't hold it anyway, so you better make the last moments with your cookies dear :>
I love this and will perish without more. Really fantastic writing, and I adore the characters. You are amazing, thank you for sharing this with us!
NFIWJ THANK YOU I'm glad you like it !! Update and structural rewrite are coming along nicely !!
no pressure, even though I said I’d perish! I’ll only perish a little. I’m just absolutely hooked!
Hello author! Just giving you fair warning that that I am excitedly and also impatiently going to chew on all my furniture until we get more, if I run out of furniture I'm coming for your walls next! :)
💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚 i'm glad you like it and rip to my walls !!!!!
Hello again author just noticed you are also responsible for me ever seeing more Gnarl content in Manor Hill so fair warning it isn't looking good for the structural integrity of your home :) love your work tho!
I am eager to see the new updates (and rewrites as I've read the comments xD) !!
They're coming along pretty good !!! I'm excited for the tech update, the back end of this game is a mess 😅😅💚💚💚💚
Well ! Take your time ! It's unnecessary to speed yourself anyway, I'm sure it will be great ! ^^
Your writing is CAPTIVATING. I love all of your games and can't wait for updates, this one is my fav
Update is clipping right along !! I'm glad you like it 💚💚💚💚💚
Just found this and so glad to see its still ongoing in the comments. I truly enjoyed what I've read so far! ♥️
I'm glad to hear it !! The tech update + rewrites is going well and will probably be posted first, THEN new content 😅