Ezrebeth (A Holiday Mindfudge)

***Ezrebeth (A Holiday Mindfudge)***, or simply ***Ezrebeth***, is a 2022 visual novel and point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Tymedust Games. It expands upon the character of Ezrebeth Casarecce, first seen as a shadow in Pitstop in Purgatory, while also deepening several aspects of the wider game world's story and lore.

It is the second side story, and third entry overall, in a series of related works collectively known as the The Purgatoryverse.

The game was made for Winter Visual Novel Jam 2022, and is available for PC, Mac and Linux.

## Gameplay

The player controls Ezrebeth, an old, reclusive woman as she tackles unwanted visits from her family. Simultaneously, she finds herself in a time loop and it's up to the player to help her figure out what's going on. As Ezrebeth, it is possible to click and investigate your surroundings and find clues, which you then must ask your visitors about in order to get closer to the truth. In these respects, the game owes much to the detective subgenre of visual novels.

Ezrebeth has, as vaguely established in Pitstop in Purgatory, supernatural powers. Using these, she can discern what other characters are thinking, which proves useful for the player as the investigation carries on.

## Plot

Ezrebeth is awoken by multiple rings on her doorbell. She begrudgingly answers the door to find her estranged sister Begonia whom unexpectedly visits her during the winter holidays. After this short courtesy visit, which hints at a deep hatred between the sisters mainly carried by Ezrebeth, other visitors successively drop in; Ishobello and Volumnius, Ezrebeth's son and grandson, respectively, and eventually Charta, Ezrebeth's husband and the only one she actually likes. Tired from the day's events, Ezrebeth falls asleep, only to once again be awakened, although this time by a mysterious shadow which stares at her through the window.

Surprised that Ezrebeth can see it, the shadow lets itself in and after spouting some gibberish promptly leaves again. Ezrebeth wakes up the next day and soon realizes that she's actually back at the previous day, with her visitors once again dropping in one after another. Once again going to sleep, Ezrebeth's suspicions are confirmed when the day once again refuses to change. From this point on, Ezrebeth starts looking for clues, aided by her supernatural "gift" to discern hidden truths about other people, which eventually lead her to find out that the shadow's real "name" is RT.

Ezrebeth suspects that her family, who all seem to display traits unlike them, are part of whatever is going on. Confronted in order, they all turn out to be shadows, controlled by RT, whom they display clear loyalty toward. RT eventually reveals herself to be a young woman who claims to be behind Ezrebeth's current predicament. She is in fact God, and Ezrebeth is in what appears to be Heaven; a place in which your dreams come true over and over, for all eternity.

Naturally surprised and shocked, Ezrebeth questions God and why she would have her relive a day with her family, whom she loathes, over and over. To this, God responds that meeting them and having them love her, which they didn't actually do in real life, is in fact what Ezrebeth truly wants. It is further revealed that Ezrebeth was ostracized in life on account of her abilities, which lead her family to disown her, and those close to her to abandon her. In reality, Charta was Begonia's husband and not Ezrebeth's, and by extension, Ishobello and Volumnius are not Ezrebeth's offspring.

After these revelations, Ezrebeth criticizes God to such an extent that God, believing Ezrebeth to be ungrateful, decides to punish her by turning her into a shadow, doomed to wander aimlessly in Purgatory. Before that can happen, though, Ezrebeth is given the opportunity to meet her family once more, and during these final moments she makes amends to the best of her ability, with her family members (or the fake versions of them, at any rate) reciprocating. Ezrebeth insults God one last time before being turned into a shadow.

In a post-credits scene, God offers Ezrebeth (now in shadow form) as a gift to a man she refers to as her brother, whom graciously accepts. Before leaving, the man tells God that Volumnius, Ezrebeth's relative, has recently passed away, which God finds very intriguing.