Old Favourites

Star Stealing Prince

Star Stealing Prince is an old favourite of mine from back when I was a teenager. I have attempted to replay it many times, but for some reason I seem to be cursed and always lose the save file somehow before I get to chapter three. My current save file is on chapter two so pray for me.

Star Stealing Prince is a fairly typical RPG both in terms of its gameplay and its story, but it shines in its execution. The story and its worldbuilding is always what stuck with me the most; exploring the town before even setting out into the world and already finding hints that there is something deeply wrong with Sabine always stuck with me as a fantastic moment of intrigue. As the story progresses it gets increasingly intricate, with fun twists and turns and great character work along the way. The fact that the pixel art is absolutely gorgeous certainly helps set the stage.

I'm not personally that much of a fan of turn-based RPGs so I don't feel terribly comfortable reviewing the gameplay, but I had fun playing this game despite not leaning towards the genre in general, so I think it's fair to count that in its favor.

Star Stealing Prince is long for a free RPG Maker game. The itch.io page puts it at 9-10 hours of gameplay, though I remember taking longer. There is a sequel web novel of 300k words, though I haven't read it. The wordpress page has a lot of information on the game and some extras, including gameplay guides and short stories. In addition, there is a downloadable text walkthrough for the game and a Russian translation on the itch.io site. Lastly, the creator set out to remake the game in the Definitive Edition, for which a demo came out, but the project was put on indefinite hold in 2023. I have not played this, but I've linked it for those who're interested.

I strongly recommend consulting the walkthrough to make sure you've found all the snowmen throughout the game, as you need to do so to get the final weapon. And make sure you've talked to every NPC before leaving the Town of Sabine. Some of them give you items that range from extremely useful to critical, and there will be a point of no return fairly early on, beyond which you won't be able to get most of them anymore.

This game has a very special place in my heart. I love it to pieces, and though it's relatively popular, I've still always felt it deserved more recognition. It's not flawless, obviously, but it's a sprawling epic RPG that goes far above and beyond what a free RPG Maker game can be reasonably expected to do. The wordpress page has a link to the creator's ko-fi page, and if you like this game, I ask that you throw them a few bucks.



Alice Mare

  • Genre: dark fairytale RPG Maker game, exploration-based
  • Price: free, or €2,99 on Steam
  • Play Time Estimate: a few hours tops
  • Summary: The amnesiac Allen comes into the care of one Teacher, but follows a strange Cheshire Cat to a world based on fairytales, reflecting the psyches of the other children in Teacher's care.
  • Content Warnings: In addition to the content warnings on vgperson's website, I'd like to warn for child abuse and mental health issues, and a portrayal of DID that... could've been worse but could've also been better.
  • Downloads: free download on vgperson's website, steam download
  • Extras: novelization

This game used to be my favourite as a teenager. I haven't replayed it in a bit, but I hold it very dear to my heart. I am an absolute sucker for fairytales, and while dark fairytale takes tend to be very hit or miss for me, this was definitely a hit.

Miwashiba's games in general tend to be fantastic; 1BitHeart and the LiEat trilogy are both games that I can absolutely recommend, and maybe I'll get them up on the page separately at some point, but for now I want to highlight Alice Mare. The game is largely based on atmosphere and character study, exploring the psychology of the different characters through fairytale aesthetics in a way that I've always adored. The art for this game is gorgeous, I'm especially a fan of the pixel sprites, and really adds to the atmosphere. The game does a great job getting you attached to the various characters, and even the best ending is still tragic. It has horror elements, but is not a horror game, and as someone who does like horror but is both kind of a wuss and also not a big fan of the typical horror RPG Maker gameplay, that's my absolute sweet spot.

There is a novelization of the game written by Miwashiba and translated from the original Japanese by the same person who translated the game, vgperson. I have it linked separately, but it's also linked on vgperson's page for the game. Vgperson has done a lot of great translation work, and has done the translation for prolific RPG Maker games such as Ib, The Witch's House, and Mad Father. You can find all the games they've translated on this page, and there's a lot of good stuff there, so I highly recommend checking it out! Vgperson also always has great walkthroughs on the pages for the games they translate, and Alice Mare is no exception.

The game was originally released for free and is still available for free download from vgperson, but now also has a paid release for three euros on Steam. It's the exact same game with the exact same translation, so you can just play the free version, but if you like the game, please consider buying the paid Steam release to support the creator.