Burden

A quiet journey through a town suspended in ritual and silence, where two travelers confront faith, loss, and the unsettling comfort of surrender.

Burden (BurdƎEn) is a short Kinetic Sound Visual Novel developed in under a month as a personal proof of concept and challenge. It marks my first and probably only attempt at both writing and digital painting, created as an experiment in atmosphere and storytelling. The result is a standalone prologue, imagined as the opening act of a larger work that may never come to be.

Make sure to download the omake Epilogue for the thrilling conclusion, inspired by Terry Pratchett and Ryukishi07.

All backgrounds were digitally painted in a surrealist style, using dreamlike compositions and were inspired by Zdzisław Beksiński, Paul Delvaux, Dave Martsolf, Alberto Giacometti and more. 

The prose in this VN leans toward absurdism and minimalism, and was a conscious design choice. My literary influence includes Albert Camus, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Philip K dick,  and Jon Crosby (VAST).

Average reading time should be between 30 to 40 min.
Mouse Wheel down can be used to scroll through text instead of Left Click.

Feel free to check out the development blog section to learn how this project came to life.

Shoutout to Avith Ortega for letting me use "A Hopeful Kid" from his Portal Memories album.