August 2025 Monthly Update

Hello lovely patrons!

Welcome to our newest monthly update where we update you on all things Two and a Half Studios. As always, these will come out every month on the 6th (AEST).

Another incredibly busy month has gone past with major progress across all of our games. Last month, we announced (just for patrons!) A Date with Death 2: REMNANTS, a sequel to A Date with Death. This month, we have some more details and previews to reveal about the project, so make sure to take a read!

A Date with Death

A Date with Death ZERO

The FINAL chapter of A Date with Death ZERO, our prequel webcomic about Casper, will release early on Patreon next week, and the ninth chapter will release on Webtoon and Tapas!

Here's a look at a little teaser:

This final chapter wraps up our prequel story about Casper and brings us into line with the game. Working on the webcomic has been like a dream come true - we've wanted to explore this avenue for many years, so working with Kariyeen has been amazing. Make sure to check out their other webcomics on Webtoon, and give them lots of love on social media!

We'd love the chance to work with them again someday on another webcomic. Making them is definitely a costly task (both in time and actual money!), but absolutely worthwhile.

We hope you enjoy the epilogue to the story!

Japanese Translation
We've gone through yet another editing pass, and now have a full translation ready for the A Date with Death store page! We'll be working on implementing this later in the week.

I say this every time, but hopefully we're getting closer to ironing out all issues and editing Japanese lines. Unfortunately every round of edits takes a decent chunk out of my working time, seeing as every change has to be manually imported into the engine. Above everything else, that's likely the reason we wouldn't pursue any other translations for A Date with Death.

BitSummit Appearance

A Date with Death appeared at BitSummit in Kyoto! A huge thanks to our translator, Itsuki Horiuchi, who ran our booth for us and helped spread babygirl propaganda to new Japanese fans.

The Willowmist Emporium of Antiques and Curiosities

Art

We're now onto our final solo character CG for the demo - Winnie's! We wrapped up Eden's last week. Here's a tiny preview:

We have one group CG left, and then a few small art tasks related for the demo section art to be complete.

Programming

In the past month, we've wrapped up all UI programming... is what I'd like to say, but we just got a new screen in yesterday! Nooo!

Okay, but we did wrap up 99% of the UI, then. We'll be adding in this final screen shortly - here's a little preview:

There is a chance to get fake items (which are worth less), so we'll have a slightly different variation on this screen for those.

Since we wrapped up the UI, we also began working on programming the demo. Here's a preview of the beginning of the game:

We've got a huge chunk of game left to program, but having most of the systems in place should make it not take too long.

Editing

I tend to work on two things at a time - while programming Willowmist's UI, I was also programming ADWD2's UI. With the Willowmist UI complete, I've moved on to begin editing the script - which I'm happy to say I completed within the month! The full demo is now ready for programming, and sitting at around 67,500 words. I've mentioned this before, but it'll be our biggest initial demo release to date!

Writing

With the editing complete, I moved on to continuing to write events for Willowmist. During the course of the game, you'll use a schedule to decide how to spend your time - from sorting out the storeroom, to cleaning, to attending the store, to going to auctions, and more. For many of the actions, you have a chance to receive a "random" event which can have both good and bad(ish) outcomes, depending on your stats and rolls.

Yesterday I knocked five of these out - some will be longer, and some are short. That's the luck of the draw! They can also include any of the characters you've met up until then, or be solo with just the main character.

Here's a small example of an event that can play (unedited as of yet) while cleaning the store. Depending on how the check goes, nothing could happen, or you could find a new item to sell, who knows!

A Date with Death 2: REMNANTS

A Date with Death 2: REMNANTS is a sequel to A Date with Death we've been working on for the past 6+ months, though much of that time was on preproduction planning.

A quick reminder: this announcement is for patrons only. This will not be announced outside of Patreon until December. If we see news leaking about this game to the wider community before then, we will not be able to show previews here, and that would be disappointing for everyone. Please keep your excitement to our Patreon or the Patreon channels in our Discord.

Story

Congratulations, you’re dead!

In the depths of the Underworld, Grim Reapers keep the mortal world turning, ferrying souls to their rightful afterlives. But after rebellion tore through its streets, the old order is broken. Reapers are on the verge of extinction, numbers dwindling, and unclaimed souls are slipping through the cracks.

You are one of the few newly-created Reapers - a blank slate with no past, no name - assigned to Unit 29R alongside a fellow recruit and your team leader. On paper, you're expected to follow the rules, learn quickly, and guide the souls of those who have passed on.

Your true mission - to help recover what has been lost.

As you grow closer to your teammates and forge bonds among the remaining Reapers, questions begin to take root in your mind.

If you forget who you were, are you still the same person?
Is who you once were more important than who you've become?
And if memories make a person... what does that make you?

It's time to begin training, 0213!

Tada! The official story description for ADWD2. We'll likely be tweaking it up until the Steam page releases in December, but most will likely be staying the same.

In A Date with Death 2, you will be playing a brand new reaper in a story set after the Rebellion ending of Beyond the Bet. The truth about Reapers has come out - they were once human, stolen away from their deserved afterlives by the shadowy figures who run the organization. You'll join the story some time after this has played out, and the repercussions (reaper-cussions hehe) of Sunshine, Casper and 5012's actions have taken affect. Numbers are dwindling, and new reaper's aren't being created fast enough.

On top of that, 5012 has his own secret task that he's not very willing to share. Maybe you'll convince him?

Gameplay

ADWD2 will feature much of the gameplay you've come to expect of the series. Chat in your groupchat, yap over calls, and create your MC.

We also have something brand new to share. Between chats and calls, you'll be able to walk around your shared living area and meet other reapers who live in the area. You'll see both new and returning faces!

Writing

As of now, two in-game days are fully written and edited, and work on the third day is underway. You might be wondering how long this game is - in total, we have 21 days to write. Each playthrough will take about double the time of the original A Date with Death.

The first day has also been programmed and is playable in game, though needs testing and some features added as I continue the UI programming.

Here's a little preview from the first day:

Art

We're so happy to have the following artists assisting us with ADWD2:

• Lead Character Artist - Fuyuure

• Lead Environmental Artist - Nichole Isip

• Lead Character Animator - Mer

• Lead 2D Environmental Artist - Saedee

As you can see, we have a large art team this time around! Fuyuure is joining us once again for the character art you know and love, Nichole (who joined us for Beyond the Bet) is in charge of all of our new backgrounds - character rooms, offices, etc. etc.

Mer, who does our ADWD animations, will be handing 2d sprite animation. What does this mean, exactly? As we mention in the gameplay update, there will be sections of the game where you can walk around and talk to people. She will be handling all the chibi character sprites, so we can see 5012 and other character walking around the building!

Saedee, who is also working on Willowmist, is joining us for the walking section background, which I'm happy to show you a preview sketch of today (you might have to download and zoom in!):

We'll have a lot of side character and stories for you to meet (including some guest characters!), so I hope you enjoy them!

And here's a look at Mer's 5012 2D sprite! He's a lil cutie.

UI

Just a few new previews:

Our news pop-up for the main menu.

Settings (this one is a WIP!)

PFP and username picker! You can also pick your color this time around and it reflects in various part of the UI.

Astralis Publishing Title - The Inn Between

Art

We all love art previews <3

Fireworks! I know a certain Grim Reaper who likes those, too :D

You can find even more over on Cats on a Lilypad's Patreon!

Writing

Emrys' route part one is set to be completed by next month! There will be a new beta available on C.L's Patreon for those who wanna check it out later.

Support the Game

You can support the The Inn Between by wishlisting on Steam, following the team on Patreon, or following them on Twitter!

Astralis Publishing Title - The Last Rose

Demo

After a delay from life, the demo for TLR will be releasing in two days! You'll be able to check it out on Steam for now, and itchio later.

Here's a little preview:

Support the Game

You can support The Last Rose by wishlisting the game on Steam and following the developer on Twitter!

Misc Announcements

Short Games Showcase

A Date with Death is participating in the Short Games Showcase, so you can grab the DLCs from 25-30% off!

Focus for the next month

• Willowmist - New screen programming, continue programming demo, continue writing events.

• A Date with Death 2: REMNANTS - Continue UI programming, continue writing