Pitstop in Purgatory

***Pitstop in Purgatory*** is a 2022 visual novel and point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Tymedust Games. It takes place in Purgatory, an afterlife setting/limbo in which lost souls seek to make peace with their deaths in order to move on, and follows the story of Astrid, a recently deceased amnesiac.

It is the first mainline title, and first entry overall, in a series of related works collectively known as the The Purgatoryverse.

Originally released June 30, 2022, on itch.io, the game was well received and has accumulated over 4000 downloads as of October 31, 2022.

Upon its October 14, 2022, release on Steam, it received positive reviews. Critics cited the characters, story, music and interactive gameplay elements as particular highlights. Additionally, the game received an official Android port on February 16, 2023.

A final act entitled **I Will Remember You** was released as free DLC for all owners of the game on March 17, 2023, as part of update version 1.4. This new content closes off the story and provides setup for the game's sequel, which will be released in June, 2023.

## Gameplay

The player controls Astrid, viewing the world through a first-person perspective. Characters and items are largely interactable and clicking on them yields information, world-building, clues on how to progress or just general quips from Astrid herself, whose thought process is entirely revealed to the player as well. At times, there are dialogue choices which the player can choose from, some of which are necessary for progression and others purely for entertainment. In addition, various items collected by Astrid occasionally needs to be used to further the story.

The game consists of three acts. At the end of act 2, the player may choose one of three different routes, each choice changing the entirety of act 3. Upon completing the game for the first time, the player may choose to resume from the end of act 2, making it easier to try the other routes. When all routes have been completed, a final, previously unattainable route is revealed. When completing that, the hidden epilogue is unlocked.

All acts, routes and the epilogue must be completed for the entirety of the narrative to unfold.

## Plot

### Original version

A young woman named Astrid Braid dies under mysterious circumstances and arrives in Purgatory, greeted by the enigmatic The Guide. It is revealed that she has suffered amnesia, rendering her unable to recall most of her life, including how she died. In order to pass on through the tunnel to the other side, she needs to regain her memory and make peace with her death. While reluctant, she decides to trust the mysterious Guide for now.

Arriving at the Ouroboros Bar, she meets some of Purgatory's strange shadow denizens, including Smiley, a perpetually happy trickster, and Ezrebeth, an angry and malicious spirit. Assisted by the gentle and enticing Rahel, she manages to find her room, realizing that it contains the same objects she treasured while alive. She has a vision of a shadowy intruder who tells her that she "doesn't belong" in Purgatory. Perplexed, she returns to the Ouroboros bar to get more information. While there, she meets the downtrodden alcoholic Locke and gains his trust while helping him with a personal errand involving him and Smiley, whom he hates. The Guide, meanwhile, tells Astrid that she shouldn't trust the shadow's words, reassuring her that she *does* belong in Purgatory. Not much wiser, Astrid returns to her room and decides to rest.

The shadow shows herself to Astrid again, but their encounter yields no more answers than before. In addition, it is revealed that Astrid's rest lasted 10 years, much to her shock and dismay. Through the events that follow (depending on the player's choices), Astrid connects on a deeper level with her friends, learning about their pasts, and eventually also her own, and how everything is connected to the shadow she had met earlier; a projection of her boyfriend in life, Volumnius.

Astrid comes to remember how they met, fell in love, and how their relationship eventually started to deteriorate as their opposing personalities began to clash. Astrid aggressively pursued acting and had next to no money while Volumnius, a doctor and son of rich parents, worked full-time and paid for everything, causing friction between them. A particularly heated argument took place the night before the couple were to visit Astrid's parents, but was eventually defused, the pair reaching an agreement that they need to listen and better understand each other's views, deciding that they would talk things through more properly after their trip.

While driving the next day, the brakes malfunction, a result of Astrid forgetting to bring the car in for repairs. Overcome with grief, she cries and screams, realizing that they're going to crash at high speed. Volumnius, meanwhile, closes his eyes and tells Astrid that he loves her. Upon impact, Volumnius dies instantly, while Astrid is brought to the ER, dying shortly after from her injuries, leading to the start of the story. Astrid realizes that it's guilt that's holding her back from leaving Purgatory.

Even with her memory returned, she is inconsolable. The Guide, understanding that an additional push is needed, asks Astrid to head into the void, by exiting through her room's windows. Hearing a familiar voice coming from the outside, she decides to follow it. While in the void, she finds Volumnius, looking just like she remembers him, causing her to break down and cry. Volumnius tells her that he is not the real man she loved, but instead a constructed vision of him containing his memories and mannerisms, allowing Astrid to get some degree of closure.

Some time later, Astrid takes a final look at her belongings before getting ready to leave Purgatory through the tunnel. The Guide arrives and congratulates her on a job well done. Astrid thanks him for allowing him to meet Volumnius one last time, commenting that maybe there's hope for The Guide after all, to which he scoffs. While walking toward the light, Astrid feels Volumnius' presence surrounding her, lending assurance that they'll meet again.

### Extended version and true ending

In the extended version of the game, a new route is added, which is The Guide's route. Astrid, out of ideas and desperate for help, begs The Guide for aid. He requests that she be his assistant for the day, asking her to partake in strange interactions with her friends using a set of mysterious items. After this, he tells Astrid the truth. Breaking the fourth wall, he reveals that each route taken by the player actually took place in the same timeline, but each time Astrid reaches the tunnel he resets her, and her friends', memories. Sensing Astrid's potential, he decided early on to test her, using four particularly difficult Purgatory visitors as tools in this endeavor, against their knowledge and consent. Impressed by Astrid's resourcefulness, kindness and ability to make others easily trust her, he brings her to another place and tells her that he wants her to join him by his side, as a Purgatory deity.

Understandably shocked by all this information, Astrid doesn't trust The Guide, believing this to be yet another of his manipulations. He assures her, in a way that she finds to be sincere, that he's telling the truth and that he needs her help. In a bizarre moment, the pair dances together, with Astrid thinking that maybe there is something to like about The Guide after all, behind that disconcerting veil.

The Guide continues, telling Astrid about a being more powerful than him, a being that humans would likely refer to as being God itself. The Guide wants to preserve a balance in the afterlife, and believes that having "God" become too powerful is a threat not only to Purgatory but to humanity as a whole. He explains that when a person leaves Purgatory, having made peace with their death, energy is emitted from the person which is transferred to "God", further fueling its power. By means of the items that Astrid used when talking to her friends, this energy can instead be transmitted to The Guide as the objects drain the people they're associated with. However, for this to work, a person must willingly open up, which can only be done when talking to someone who inspires trust, something The Guide admits that he - unlike Astrid - does not. As a result, The Guide grows more powerful, and lost souls will be able to leave Purgatory faster.

Astrid challenges The Guide, claiming that each person in Purgatory should have the chance to go on their own journey, and that nor she or The Guide has the right to manipulate that out of them. The Guide, predicting that Astrid would react in this way, sweetens the deal: If she joins him, she'll get her memory back. Tempted by the prospect of regaining what she's lost, along with potentially helping lost souls and humanity itself, Astrid begins to possibly relent. In addition, she learns that if she were to decline, The Guide would wipe her mind of everything that's happened, resetting her back to the very first day she arrived in Purgatory. He admits that while he doesn't want to, he'll have to find someone else to help him if she doesn't do so willingly.

Before thinking things through completely, The Guide warns that "God" is on its way, and while it can't sense The Guide's presence, it can most definitely sense Astrid. Realizing that she has to make a decision right away, she recalls her death at only 20 years old and all the things she never got to do or decide on her own, having been robbed of life so early. With that in mind, she begins to utter a sentence, but the screen turns to black.

In a post-credits scene, Astrid welcomes a new arrival to Purgatory, confirming that she accepted The Guide's offer to become a deity.

### DLC: I'll Remember You

In the game's DLC, Astrid regains *all* her memories, including her life and all the loops she went through in Purgatory. Thinking back on her mother's words about the strange and fickle nature of human memory, she concludes that while it's accuracy is hard to trust, the feeling it leaves always stays.

After this reflection she returns to the Ouroboros Bar to speak with The Guide about what they are going to do now that she is a deity, and he warns her that she *will* become it *that night*. Astrid asks about her friends and discovers that miraculously The Guide didn't expel them all from Purgatory while she was reflecting in her room, which is especially generous of him. And even though they don't remember the romantic moments they shared with her, they still remember having her as a friend. That, coupled with the fact that Astrid still has some time to wait before becoming a deity, gives her an idea.

Despite not liking this idea at all, Guide ends up reveling and offering a small room with a jukebox and some drinks for the party. The guests arrive one by one, happy to see Astrid again while also feeling bittersweet knowing that she is leaving. But despite all that, they agree to make that party something to remember.

During the event, it is possible to chat privately with all guests, as well as eavesdrop dialogues with likely and unlikely combinations of characters. In each conversation, Astrid reflects on the relationships she developed during Purgatory's loops, proud of how her friends overcame their failures and fears and achieved peace with their life - or rather, their afterlife. Secrets and promises are exchanged between her and them, and although it is possible to make different choices in some dialogues, the predominant feeling is the same: Astrid is happy to have helped each of them, and they are eternally grateful for having found her.

After finishing talking to all the characters and moving on, we see a quick dialogue between Remm and Volumnius, where she discusses the possibility that *something is going on* in Purgatory, and her plan to investigate. Despite not liking it very much, Volumnius ends up agreeing to help with the idea when he discovers that he can find Astrid again in there.

Back in the Waiting Hall, where it all begins and ends, Astrid says goodbye to all her friends with tears and gratitude. In the end, everyone takes a photo to keep that moment.

When everyone leaves, The Guide is left alone with Astrid, and he asks how she is feeling. She complains because he insists on asking when he said that her emotions doesn't matter, and asks if he understands the concept of *human sadness*. At that moment, he ends up making a bombastic revelation.

Astrid fears that she might become emotionless like him and he reassures her that it would be too difficult. She again asks why she had to become a deity and he states that, among other reasons, it is to keep their plan a secret from the mind-reading power of God. Astrid is glad that he answers, and seems pleased with the greater ease with which she is being able to talk to him, though he denies that it's anything more than her impression.

In the end, she asks Guide for one last thing: to see Volumnius again. He, a little impatient with the constant requests, says that it will be the last thing he will grant her, and she thanks him. The DLC ends with the song "I'll remember you" and with the CG of the two looking at each other at the window.

## Gallery

Early sketches of Astrid's design.Early concept of Rahel.Sketch + final version of Rahel's asset.First sketch that caught the "essence" of Locke.Early sketches of The Guide's designSketch + Final version of Volumnious asset.Remm's asset finalized sketch.Sketch of the main menu art.Main menu art, finalized.Main menu art, after beating the whole game (including the epilogue).Art celebrating the 5000+ downloads on the game on itch.io. (2022)Promotional art for the autumn sale that happened in November of 2022.Halloween commemorative art by Alcinus (2022)Commemorative Christmas drawing by Alcinus (2022)Small feature of PiP's main art in My Spring With You (a collaboration between TotES Studio and Tymedust)

## Steam Achievements

In the Steam version of the game, there are 16 achievements you can pursue. Here is a guide to get them.

## References

1. ↑ The Art and Character Design of Pitstop in Purgatory, on itch.io.