Chi is a six-year-old girl who loves drawing and playing with her puppy, Mitsuru. Her father is the leader of their little village in Japan, and he has a few specific rules put in place to keep everything running smoothly: The villagers have to do anything you and your family say (because you know best), don't go upstairs without an adult, give blood every Sunday, and don't go into the forest.
One Sunday, after a carefree quest to get some markers, Mitsuru runs off into the forest. Unable to leave her best friend behind, Chi follows her into the forbidden forest.
She soon finds out exactly what happens to those who break the rules.
The game is available on itch.io, and a free demo can be found here
.
Chi contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: After the Sakura virus infects Chi's father, he calls her "slug" and tortures her horrifically. Her mother also attempts to kill her. Hisako may be this too since she says she regrets having her daughters.
- Afraid of Needles: Chi almost cries whenever she donates blood to the shopkeeper and needs her dog to comfort her.
- Agony of the Feet: When Chi's father cuts her toe off.
- And I Must Scream: Translating the binary code found in their dialogue reveals that this is, to some extent, the fate of the villagers in Chi's drawing world.Drawing!Takuya: "Dying is scary, but heaven is nice. Part of me was sad to have my soul put back in this body."
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Towards the end of the game, after Chi kills her mother, the perspective switches to a different group of characters and the player takes control of a young woman named Kuniyo.
- As You Know: After Hisako gives a long Exposition Dump on quantum mechanics:Yoshi: "I'm aware of all this information, so would you please tell me where exactly this is going."
- Ax-Crazy: Chi's parents after they catch the virus. Papa laughs manically if Chi drowns. Mama is especially manic when she chases Chi with a knife.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Old Lady Sakiyama provides optional gameplay tutorials. This confuses Chi.
- Break the Cutie: Chi goes through a LOT.
- Cheerful Child: Chi at the beginning. She is a happy little girl who loves her life and her family, and she is blissfully unaware of her town's dark undertones.
- Creepy Child: After Chi kills her parents. By the time Hisako and Kuniyo find her, she's made a dimension of doodle versions of the townspeople and she's a shell of her former self. until Kuniyo convinces her to live with them.
- Crapsaccharine World : Chi's village is a peaceful, friendly place... so long as you don't break the rules. Exaggerated when Chi gains control of the pocket dimension.
- Deadpan Snarker: Kuniyo makes snarky remarks about the poorly drawn townspeople. Her mother Hisako is sarcastic to both of her daughters.
- The Dragon: While it seems like Chi's father is the one controlling everything in the village, it turns out that he's actually this to Chi's mother.
- Exact Words: When Setusko is trapped, the game prompts you with "Free her?". If you say yes, you slit her throat.
- Fetch Quest: While Chi could just take the markers, she feels bad about not giving anything in return, so Setsuko asks her to retrieve some ginger and a pink flower in exchange.
- Friend to All Children: Yoshi is stated by Kuniyo to be a loving teacher who does everything in her power to protect children from the Sakura Virus.
- Hearing Voices: Chi hears the Sakura virus speak to her. It gives her advice to help her escape, but only for its own benefit. The rest of the time, it says things it knows will make her feel terrible.
- Hope Spot: The game ends with Chi leaving the village behind. The secret documents reveal that, while she has trouble adjusting at first, she eventually makes friends with another girl who also suffered from a tragedy related to the Sakura Virus. Then Chi and said friend go missing in a gruesome incident that left two other girls dead. In the end, Chi's fate is left ambiguous, but it certainly doesn't look good for the poor kid.
- I Have No Son!: Chi's father declares this after Chi breaks the rules by going into the forest, making her subsequent torture hurt even more.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kuniyo is a sadistic and callous person, but she's surprisingly gentle when reaching out to Chi.
- Meaningful Name: "Chi" means "blood". Fitting, given the village's fixation on the stuff.
- Mercy Kill: Chi kills Setsuko to free her from the prison.
- Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: Though it's meant to be wholesome and happy, Chi's recreation of the village comes off as this.
- Offing the Offspring: Chi's father attempts to drown her and Chi's mother attempts to stab her.
- Precious Puppy: Mitsuru is absolutely adorable.
- Press X to Not Die: Quick time events are the furthest extent of gameplay outside of the storytelling aspects. You have to complete a couple in order to complete the Fetch Quest at the beginning of the game. This trope becomes a lot more literal as the game progresses.
- Protagonist Title
- Self-Made Orphan: Chi is this by the end of the game. She drowns her father and stabs her mother.
- Sequel Hook: The secret documents reveal that Chi was involved in an incident that lead to herself and three other girls being declared dead after being taken into care at Yoshi's school. However, only two of the bodies were found, and it's presumed that Chi used her dimension-creating powers to disappear from the scene of the crime, leaving the whereabouts of herself and her close friend unknown. Additionally, the person writing notes on the documents points out several other unanswered questions related to the Sakura virus and the game's wider universe.
- Suicidal Sadistic Choice: Chi has to choose between eating the cooked remains of her beloved dog or starving to death.
- Talking Animal: Mitsuru in the doodle dimension with translatable binary code, she goes on a long tangent.
- Terrible Artist: Chi draws a poorly drawn dimension resembling her village. Granted she is only six.
- Water Torture: Part of Chi's punishment is being trapped in a cage and getting repeatedly dunked underwater. She turns this particular mechanism against her tormenter later on.
- Would Hit a Girl: Chi's father enjoys torturing his daughter by cutting off her toe, almost drowning her, and starving her.
- Would Hurt a Child: Both of Chi's parents, her mother attempts to stab her and her father tortures her.
