Studio Élan

<h2 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://imgur.com/FjeQYVF.png" title=""></h2><img src="https://imgur.com/QzXWrtr.png" title="" width="539"> <h2 style=""></h2>Our mascot characters, Melanie &amp; Fay, designed and illustrated by <a href="https://twitter.com/rimuuarts" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Rimuu.</a> We're a game development team from all around the world, currently focusing on visual novels. We also make other stuff like comics and light novels, and want to expand to lots of other art forms, too. All of our projects, no matter what they might be, feature women who like other women. We want to increase the amount of positive representation by making excellent stories and cute characters who are portrayed in a respectful light. Studio Élan was founded in early 2017, and we've been growing ever since then. Our team includes several writers, artists, musicians, coders, and more. Right now, most of us work on our game projects as hobbies and side projects, but our biggest goal is to reach the point where we can all do this for a living. We love to chat with fans, so whether you're a patron or not, come join our <a href="https://discord.gg/c5K3PUV" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Discord server</a> and hang out! Of course, patrons do get a special role, color, and channel for discussing the stuff we post here. We also have a slew of social media that you can use to keep up with us. <a href="https://twitter.com/vnstudioelan" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://tinyletter.com/vnstudioelan" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Official Newsletter</a> | <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@vnstudioelan" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">TikTok</a> | <a href="https://vnstudioelan.tumblr.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Tumblr</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vnstudioelan/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> <h2 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://imgur.com/Ep5XyML.png" title=""></h2><img src="https://imgur.com/DonM1ZV.png" title="" width="408"> We have a lot of ambitions. Right now, most of our projects are largely funded by our publisher, or what we can justify pulling out of our own savings. We've launched a Patreon not only to be able to make games, but to be able to make them better. What we earn on here will go towards paying our staff to be able to spend more time working on Studio Élan projects, as well as making those projects the best they can be. Funds raised here will go towards stuff like voice acting, extra CG's, and maybe even new projects entirely. And like we said, it's not just visual novels that we want to make. We want to do more comics, more short stories, more everything. We like to dream big, and your support helps us make those dreams come true. In exchange, there's a variety of content that we offer here on our page. Monthly updates and summaries of what we've been up to are available to all patrons, no matter how much you pledge. We also include creative posts, which are short stories or illustrations that might be related to one of our main games, or might feature brand new characters. There are also technical posts, which are behind-the-scenes looks at our process and can include backstory, tutorials, and even scrapped/unused assets. Finally, we offer sneak peeks at our games that are currently in progress. You can be among the first to hear new music, or check out new character designs, and all sorts of other cool previews. Sometimes, we even show sneak peeks of games that haven't been publicly announced yet. At times, we'll also allow patrons to vote on certain things, like merch designs. Our prior webseries Celeste Academy was a story that let patrons vote on which character the protagonist would go on with a date next. <h2 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/302420429275136011/549826769411375116/header2.png" title=""></h2><img src="https://vnstudioelan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/sqpbh.png" title=""> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d10bKHJEBkY" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Watch the trailer!</a> Please Be Happy is a comfy, slice-of-life visual novel set in a fictional version of Wellington, New Zealand. Born as a fox in the forest of Korea, Miho carries with her the memory of a traveler who showed her kindness and spoke of home. Now more human than fox, Miho has spent a long, long time searching for her person. She arrives by airship to Wellington, one of the jewels of the floating island of New Zealand. Despite her years spent observing humans, she still has a lot to learn about their culture and society. She's made a living so far as a thief, her heightened senses allowing her to easily take advantage of people. She's also seen a lot of the worst of what mankind has to offer. It's only after meeting Juliet, the owner of a small library, and Aspen, an aspiring novelist, that Miho starts to understand what kindness is, and that there's more than just the bad stuff when it comes to people. Purchase the game on: <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/844670/Please_Be_Happy/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Steam</a> | <a href="https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/please-be-happy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Itch.io</a> <img src="https://vnstudioelan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/sqhotw.png" title=""> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN5SLBPYGfo" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Watch the trailer!</a> Heart of the Woods is our take on a fairy tale. That is, it’s a tale and it has fairies. It has romance and betrayal, magic and villains, and questionable moral decisions. It’s a sort of love letter to the kinds of stories that we grew up on, and to the kinds of stories we wish we’d had. Maddie Raines is the editor and manager for her best friend Tara’s ridiculously popular vlog, Taranormal. Together, the two of them have investigated just about every cryptid and ghost story out there, but never finding anything substantial. Maddie’s expecting more of the same when they travel to a remote village to look into the legend of a giant forest spirit referred to them by one of their fans. Departing across the ocean just days after Maddie’s decided to quit the show, this trip is supposed to be their last one together. Something’s different this time, though. This time, Maddie finds something: Abigail, the ghost of a girl who lived in the village centuries ago. And the story of the curse that lead to her sacrifice. A curse that has never been broken. Heart of the Woods is a frigid and magical story, told with all the softness of fresh fallen snow. It features vividly gorgeous art by <a href="https://twitter.com/rosuuri" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Rosuuri</a>. The game and its soundtrack are both available for purchase. There's also a free demo available! In October 2019, we held a <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vnstudioelan/heart-of-the-woods-voice-acting-and-merchandise" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Kickstarter campaign</a> to raise funds to add English voice acting to the game. Purchase the game on: <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/844660/Heart_of_the_Woods/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Steam </a>| <a href="https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods-demo" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Itch.io </a> <a href="https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/heart-of-the-woods-demo" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><img src="https://vnstudioelan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/sqhb.png" title=""> </a> Highway Blossoms is the story of Amber and Marina, a pair of girls on a treasure hunt. A new gold rush, sparked by the discovery of an old miner's journal, is sweeping the southwestern United States. Amber Golley thinks it's all a scam from the moment she first hears about it. Marina Hale, on the other hand, believes otherwise. In fact, the two first meet when Marina's car breaks down along the New Mexican highway, and Amber just happens to be the one to rescue her. What ensues is an unforgettable road trip, taking the girls to iconic American landmarks like the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park, and more. The promise of riches attracts all sorts of people, like the insufferable Mariah and her group of &quot;highly trained, elite treasure hunters.&quot; When Amber herself gets swept up in the frenzy, she's not expecting to find gold, and she's definitely not expecting to find love. But like all great roadtrips, what's waiting for her along the way isn't always what she expected. In May 2018, nearly two years after the game's original release, we put out Highway Blossoms: Remastered, an update which added full English voice acting to the game as well as multiple other improvements. Highway Blossoms features art by <a href="https://twitter.com/rosuuri" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Rosuuri</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/weee_desu" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Raemz</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/gaisvelt/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Shiyun</a>. Purchase the game on: <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/451760/Highway_Blossoms/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Steam</a> | <a href="https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/highway-blossoms" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Itch.io </a> <a href="https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/highway-blossoms" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><img src="https://vnstudioelan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/sqhbne.png" title=""> </a> Highway Blossoms: Next Exit, a DLC that will see the girls return to Las Vegas for an alien-themed convention. The DLC features art by <a href="https://twitter.com/oekkimm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">moekki</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/kamifish" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">kamifish</a>. Purchase the DLC on: <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/490270/Highway_Blossoms_Next_Exit/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Steam</a> | <a href="https://vnstudioelan.itch.io/highway-blossoms-next-exit" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Itch.io</a> <h1 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://vnstudioelan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/sqCR.png" title=""></h1>Celestaria Records is a collection of Patreon-only series, containing Celeste Academy and Cherry's Story. In  Celeste Academy, the main character, Carida, is a senior at the titular Celeste Academy, a school for studying Attunement, a unique and diverse form of magic. Her emphasis is on culinary attunement. Because she hasn't had much luck with romance, she goes to the fabled Love Witch, who offers her a prophecy: &quot;Within the next year, twelve choices will present themselves to you. Within those twelve, you will find your one true love.&quot; It's up to our readers to help Carida decide who The One is. Once a month, Carida had three different matches on Wondr, a dating app. Our patrons voted on which of the three girls Carida went out on a date with that month. Each date was written by a different member of our team, or by guest writers who are friends of ours. Once Carida went on all 12 dates, readers voted on which one they enjoyed most, to help Carida decide who her one true love is! Celeste Academy posts are available for anyone to read, patron or not, but only patrons can read the extra side stories! Cherry's Story follows Cherry, a new international student at the academy, on her journey into learning about the magic of attunement, the Nouveau islands, and herself. An index of all the chapters can be found <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/46891117" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">here</a>! <h1 style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://imgur.com/4LAfeo0.png" title=""></h1><img src="https://vnstudioelan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/sqlak.png" title=""> Lock and Key is a mystery romance that follows a married couple of retired magical girls, Sherri and Kealey, as they work together to save Chicago from a terrifying new enemy. With only a few months left before they lose their powers forever, the two of them will have to enlist help from both the past and the present: their old friend, Nina, and a new protege, Ruby. Sherri and Kealey’s love for one another may have kept them safe as kids, but will it be enough to protect them and the people they care about now? Telling a story that harkens back to past decades of magical girl history while also looking forward to the future of the genre, Lock and Key asks you to make a choice that will shape the fate of its entire world: what does being a magical girl mean to you? Play the demo now! <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1803850/Lock__Key_A_Magical_Girl_Mystery/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Steam</a> | <a href="https://vnstudioelan.com/games/lock-and-key/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Itch.io</a> <img src="https://vnstudioelan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/sqsummer.png" title=""> Summer at the Edge of the Universe is our optimistic, forward-looking solarpunk visual novel. The titular Summer Nansen and her friends reunite after several years apart, and go on a journey across the universe together. There are three different routes, with both romantic and platonic endings. Each route will take the girls to a number of different planets, with their own breathtaking landscapes and alien cultures. We started this game with the mindset of &quot;good vibes only,&quot; and aim to carry that optimism through the story and stars. In addition to these projects, we have a couple other games on the back-burner right now. We may post occasional sneak peeks of these. Or we may not. We want to bring more positive representation to the world, one WLW story at a time. We hope you'll join us on this journey.

Free

<ul><li>Access to general progress updates and news</li><li>A special color in our Discord server</li><li>10% off code to our merch store</li></ul>

Pledge $2 or more

<ul><li>Access to general progress updates for our announced titles</li><li>A special color in our Discord server, with access to a Patrons-only channel</li><li>Vote on polls and content </li><li>Access to creative posts like character interviews, side stories, and more </li><li>Access to technical posts on the development process,  including how we make some of our features work, drafts of scenes, and more </li><li>First look at select new sprites, CG's, and other assets</li><li>Occasional previews of our unannounced games</li><li>Name in the credits of our games </li><li>10% off code to our merch store</li><li>Patreon-exclusive Q&amp;A</li></ul>

Pledge $5 or more

Same as the $5 tier, but for those who want to support us even more!

Pledge $10 or more

Three or four times a year, we'll release exclusive demos and betas to patrons at this tier! The size and scope will vary, as will the game. Sometimes they'll just be for fun, and sometimes we'll be looking for feedback or help testing. We might even occasionally share some sneak peeks of unannounced projects 👀Also includes all prior rewards.

Demo Access

Same as the $5 and $10 tiers, but for those who want to support us a lot more!

Pledge $20 or more

Every month, we'll make a sticker or postcard of one of our monthly illustrations and mail them out to Patrons - shipping is included, even for international patrons! Every 3 months, we'll also send out an exclusive seasonal-themed bonus item to everyone who's pledged for all three months.Includes all prior rewards, including demo access.

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