Uncut
Curated by taste and lineage

A cynical, isolated high schooler is dragged into his class's central clique. Beneath their friendly surface, there is hidden friction he gets pulled into.

Per Steam's own listing, high schooler Satoru Kuga has isolated himself with a habitually cynical attitude, and dreads tomorrow's school trip because he's been placed in the same group as the class's central clique, the ones openly enjoying their youth. That group looks close-knit from the outside, but hidden friction runs underneath it, and he's gradually pulled into the problem. The store text names its own design choice directly: the scenario is entirely linear with no branches, runs about two and a half hours, has no character voice acting, and rather than the standing character sprites most visual novels use, it progresses almost entirely through still illustrations, a deliberate departure the store page points to as the game's own defining feature. Made and self-published by the solo doujin circle 斜塔ソンブレロ, whose five-title Steam catalogue is entirely self-developed and self-published. Priced at ¥450, it is Positive at 100 percent across 37 reviews (37 positive, 0 negative), a paid title, not free, fully launched and not in Early Access, with no AI-generated-content disclosure. Steam's content descriptors carry a general mature-content flag, and the developer's own note, quoted here rather than softened, says the content includes some depictions of self-harm, that it does not include scenes of the act itself or depictions of blood, but does include scenes describing the emotional state and scars that follow, and asks players to be aware this may be emotionally distressing; there is no mention of sexual content anywhere in that description. It supports Japanese only. One honest note: of its 37 reviews, 19 are in Japanese and 15 are in Simplified Chinese, a real but unofficial crossover, reviewers cite a fan-made Chinese translation patch rather than any Western localization, and just 1 review is in English, with no genuine English-language coverage found anywhere yet.

Published 2026-08-13

01First, the one feeling

02Who this is for (and who it is not)

For you

  • You want Narcissu's kinetic-novel core, no branches, no choices, narration over stills instead of animated sprites, applied to a completely different story
  • You want a youth ensemble drama that treats a friendly-looking clique's surface as something worth quietly investigating, not just a backdrop
  • You want small and self-published: solo doujin circle 斜塔ソンブレロ's five-title Steam catalogue is entirely self-developed, content descriptors flag only general mature themes

Not for you

  • You want to avoid heavy content; the developer's own content descriptor names depictions of self-harm's emotional aftermath and scars, and asks players to be aware it may be distressing
  • You want a game already found in the West; of 37 reviews only 1 is in English, and no genuine English-language coverage exists yet

03The roots of this taste

100% positiveonly 37 reviews — yet almost no one has found it

One in 20,000 raindrops Buried gem

Per Steam's own listing, high schooler Satoru Kuga has isolated himself with a habitually cynical attitude, and dreads tomorrow's school trip because he's been placed in the same group as the class's central clique, the ones openly enjoying their youth. That group looks close-knit from the outside, but hidden friction runs underneath it, and he's gradually pulled into the problem. The store text names its own design choice directly: the scenario is entirely linear with no branches, runs about two and a half hours, has no character voice acting, and rather than the standing character sprites most visual novels use, it progresses almost entirely through still illustrations, a deliberate departure the store page points to as the game's own defining feature. Made and self-published by the solo doujin circle 斜塔ソンブレロ, whose five-title Steam catalogue is entirely self-developed and self-published. Priced at ¥450, it is Positive at 100 percent across 37 reviews (37 positive, 0 negative per Steam's own review API), a paid title, not free, fully launched and not in Early Access, with no AI-generated-content disclosure. Steam's content descriptors carry a general mature-content flag, and the developer's own note, quoted here rather than softened, says the content includes some depictions of self-harm, that it does not include scenes of the act itself or depictions of blood, but does include scenes describing the emotional state and scars that follow, and asks players to be aware this may be emotionally distressing; there is no mention of sexual content anywhere in that description. It supports Japanese only. Of its 37 reviews, 19 are in Japanese and 15 are in Simplified Chinese, a real but unofficial crossover, reviewers cite a fan-made Chinese translation patch rather than any Western localization, and just 1 review is in English.

Give it your first pass

Narcissu The origin

The origin of the lyrical Japanese kinetic novel: in 2005, Tomo Kataoka and the doujin circle Stage-nana released Narcissu for free, telling its story almost entirely through narration laid over still illustrations rather than animated character sprites, no branches, no choices, paced like a short film. One in 20,000 raindrops is not an official Narcissu work, but it names that same design choice, trading standing sprites for still CGs, as its own defining feature, carrying that stripped-down, film-paced form into a very different story, a youth ensemble drama about the friction hidden under a friendly-looking clique rather than a meditation on death.

Give it your first pass

04Make this gem shine

If it speaks to you, check it on Steam and give it your first pass. Your push is what makes a buried gem shine.

See it on Steam

05The bloodline of this taste