Hi, I'm Jacopo — a solo creator from Italy, and ASANA is my first game. Since this is the very first post on this hub, you get the origin story.
Before ASANA, I made my first comic, Tokyo Roommates: two volumes, about 120 pages per volume. It went better than I dared to hope. But one note came back again and again: "too sexualized." There were no explicit scenes, and the nudity stayed artistic, but the label stuck anyway. Usually with a bonus line: "AI-assist only works because it is always sexual."
(The whole comic is free to read [HERE]. Judge for yourself.)
Fair enough. Challenge accepted.
I made myself a promise: create a character so cool and a story so good that they need no cheap tricks at all. None. And prove it three times:
That challenge became ASANA — a sci-fi visual novel set on a spaceship.
At key moments, you talk to N.E.K.O., the ship's cat-like AI, in your own typed words. No canned choices: you write, a live AI reads it, and answers. It's a real gameplay layer, and it changes how those scenes feel.
The game is playable in 8 languages (EN, IT, DE, ES, RU, KO, JA, zh-CN), with some voice-acting touches too.
Try it — the demo is free
Asana Steam page. Play them, talk to N.E.K.O., and tell me if I pulled it off. And if you like where this is going, add ASANA to your wishlist — for a solo dev, every single one matters.
One question before you go: what's the first thing you'd type to a ship's cat AI? I'll read every answer. N.E.K.O. probably will too. (More about NEKO AI and its mechanics in the next post!)