This comes with a bare recommendation with a caveat. The game is simple. Much of the puzzle gameplay falls down to trial and error while you learn how to create various celestial objects. So if you like simple, relaxing games than you will like this. If you don't like trial and error though, this game will be INCREDIBLY frustrating.

A delightful little puzzle game with visual novel elements. Basically the crux of the game falls down to: you are asked to create specific celestial bodies (stars, nebula, planets etc) in the 'Star Seeing Basin'. The basin contains gases of five elements, and placing various 'seeds' at different locations within the basin affects what celestial object will form. So trial and error. You are given hints as to how specific things will form – which not only includes where a seed is placed in the basin, but its proximity to other placed objects – but essentially it comes down to experimentation. This basin affects the flow of energy within Kyoto. As you form new celestial bodies in the basin through experimentation and thus complete requests, you then travel to each of the five locations in Kyoto within the game which will give a progression of the story. Each location has a character to meet, and basically you affect their lives as you manipulate the basin.

One of the first things you notice is how animated characters are. Usually even with higher budget VN games it is static images talking to each other. Here there is lip-flapping, clothes and hair moving to wind etc. The drawings can be a little on the crude side occasionally, but it still fits within the distinct artstyle. The music likewise is very good and matches the mood and style of the game very nicely. The localisation is solid and has a flair and finesse to the translation that Carpe Fulgur have become known for. It is something a little different from them and adds nicely to their catalog of interesting titles. Basically this game is something good to chill and relax with.

I have no idea what I'm doing but good news! It seems to be working!

The gist is basically there's this Star Basin that is able to affect what's going on in various places in Kyoto. By creating stars (however one is supposed to do that) of certain types fulfill the quests you've been given and it progresses the game. Seriously, this isn't a game style I've ever played before.

It give you the bare minimum tutorial and leaves you to trial and error like a boss. I felt like a real scientist when I was trying to make a nebula. And then I felt like an inept God when I accidentally created a Black Hole. But that's the real fun of this game. You don't know what the ♥♥♥♥ you are doing but you keep doing it anyway and stuff happens and you're like YEAH I DID THAT AND I DON'T KNOW HOW OR IF I'LL BE ABLE TO DO IT AGAIN BUT WHO CARES BECAUSE I'M AWESOME AND DON'T NEED ANY RULES!!!!

I love this game. I will be playing more in the future.

An interesting simulation/VN hybrid that challenges you to intuit how to develop a galaxy via alchemy. The writing's charming and the game itself is fun, even if you may brick wall in places as you try to figure out what you need to do just right. If it clicks, you'll blaze through it, and even if it doesn't, it's still a fun world to dive into briefly.

This is a rather quirky puzzle game. I can recommend it but I will also warn you it requires some patience. The puzzles come in the form of trying to make certain types of stars and constellations. Making stars can take time, practice and experimentation, though. You sometimes have to wait for various stars to evolve to the right level and if it didn't work out the way you hoped then you may have to start over. The game also doesn't hold your hand. You're expected to just jump right in with a "try various things and see what happens" approach. It is sort of time sink-y in that regard. If you get stuck, however, there's a helpful "SOS" button right in the game that links to a partial walkthrough just in case. If you're looking for a more laid-back kind of game, you should be able to get into it.

The story is delivered in VN-style cutscenes and you learn of various NPCs' problems that you try to alleviate with the help of the Star-Seeing Basin - a kind of sea monkey tank for pseudo stars. You'll place various types of seeds in the basin, grow some stars, combine some elemental alignments and, voilà!, problems solved. If you're still not sure, there is a demo available. Check it out!

Final Edit: Don't take my playtime to be an indicator of the length of the game. Due to the large amount of downtime while growing stars, I often played this while doing other things so the playtime is inflated from idling. Having completed the game, I would still recommend it to any puzzle game fan. It's rather unique and the story, while not terribly fantastic, still does a decent job of driving the game and giving you goals.

Frustrating but interesting puzzle/simulation game. (Don't be misled by the number of 'visual novel' screenshots, that portion of the game is just a fairly slight framing device...)

This game is for people who like to poke an opaque puzzle until they're able to make sense of how it works. It will take a lot of experimentation and patience, but it's pretty satisfying when it works. (Some of the recipes were just too unguessable for me to figure out, so I wound up looking up some of the answers, but even for those ones I still had fun experimenting.)

It has almost a 'clicker'-like level of compulsiveness when you're setting up experiments--ingredients take time to mix (though usually only a few seconds) so you can start setting up a second trial while the first one matures, and so on...

Absolutely worth playing if you like experimenting and can enjoy a little frustration.

i have a somewhat unique perspective on this game: at some point between buying it years ago and beating it just now, i've become something at least resembling a practicing taoist if you squint real hard. in fact it was while i was studying the taoist concept of the Five Elements that i remembered this game and resolved to finally 100% the whole thing. it's great having this perspective now because this is a very thoroughly Taoist game heavy with the japanese syncretic taoist practice of Onmyoudo and all its weird esotericism. so big points on that front

regarding it purely as a game, though, i love it. i love any game that just lets me sit down and play with a system, not holding my hand too much, letting me experiment and find my own way (also a very taoist idea). not only that but i have a particular fondness for games where you unlock and catalogue things each with their own little descriptions to read, and this has that in spades. great translation, awesome taisho-era aesthetic, entrancing story as always from CAVYHOUSE. i really want to see more games like this, all about slow-paced exploration and experimentation. makes me feel like a real onmyouji

i give it 5/5 elements

For some weird reason there are no user reviews or rating for this game on the store page, yet there are a lot of reviews in Comminity Hub... It's strange.

It's a very cute, very meditative and... well, pretty weird game in various aspects, and with a genre which is really hard to define. It's a mix of jRPG, visual novel, simulation game and a puzzle, and it's hard to describe it clearly. Basically, you're a young girl, Hamomoru, who get lost while exploring a local shrine festival in Kyoto, and wandered into some small mystical area in the outskirts of the shrine. There was a basin and some strange guy who introduced himself as Shingoh and asked you to help with his half-occult research about that basin in exchange for treating you and helping you to find your lost wallet with all the money and train tickets. Well, you have nothing to say or do, but agree, right?

The game itself consists of four linear parallel scenarios (fifth is for heroine herself) where you go to different places in the city, talk with residents and try to solve their (sometimes pretty surreal, an army raiding a Chinese restaurant... wat? O_o) problems via the basin. The basic has mystical powers, which is heavily based on traditional Japanese magic and Shinto tradition. By putting pebbles and clay into the basin you can turn them into different "stars" and form constellations and other celestial bodies from evolving them following a certain rules. These structures in the basin affect energy flow in the city and could change the flow of events, to proceed a scenario, you must form a structure needed for it.

The gameplay here is very, very meditative, there is a small tutorial and tips during the whole game about how to create structures needed for your quests, but it only shows you the very basics of gameplay mechanics, everything else is up to your imagination and ability to experiment. That's what I really like about this game, as you're given more than enough freedom to do things, but at the same time not left in the darks with no clues about what to do next. The interface, though, is a bit clumsy, and I MUST warn you that there is NO AUTOSAVE! Also, there is no warning before exiting the game, so if you hit Exit button accidentially instead of Return, you will lose everything you did after the last manual save. That's why try to save as often as possible to not lose your progress, there are only three slots to save to, but it's enough. Well, this is true for almost every jRPG out there, so it's not all that sudden. I didn't encounter any bugs during the first run, and most probably, there aren't any.

The art here looks clumsy, but it's really well done within this hand-drawn style, and with animations too. The music is calm and not annoying, which really makes it a relaxing meditative game about throwing pebbles into the pond. The translation is not bad and pretty consistent, but I still don't understand why Hamomoru constantly uses phrases like "our Lord in Heaven" and similar ones. I got it she might be a Christian (also, her clothes and book has cross symbols on it for some reason), but it's a little strange given that the game is basically about Shinto magic. I might go and try Japanese version to compare and see whether it is a translator's error, or not... Well, as I said above, the plot itself is pretty weird already, so it's not a big deal for me. This game is obviously a little gem out there.

upd: I read descriptions carefully here and in The Midnight Sanctuary and it seems that Hamomoru really is a Japanese Christian pastor. She's a really rare type of character, especially for this type of media, so I was confused at first, but now it's clear.

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If you are interested in other games I'm playing, check my Curator page. Maybe there will be something good for you.

While I liked CavyHouse's previous game; Forget Me Not: My Organic Garden, this one falls short in terms of story and gameplay.

1. The story is too heavy handed compared to Forget Me Not. Starting off you've got about 15 minutes before the title, and only 2-3 minutes of that time is gameplay.
   
2. The area where you are to put the stars is barely visible, and honestly the contrast between white, black, and yellow is minimal.
   
3. Forget Me Not got you right to the gameplay, the explanation is quick, and you can very quickly get in a rhythm of fulfilling requests which then leads to more world and character lore.
   
4. Puzzles on growing stars is so obtuse that its better to just look up a guide.
   
5. The graphics give me a mixture of motion sickness and headaches due to the moving patterns on certain characters.

The game is honestly just too boring to get past the opening to even see if the story is worth this slow grind. If you like the idea of a puzzle simulation game just Play Forget Me Not: An Organic Garden.

Achievements: All possible. They'll take some time without a guide. Not too challenging of a 100% overall.

Pros/Cons:
+ Nice story
+ Beautiful art
+ Variety of mechanics introduced through gameplay
+ Unique concept
+ Nice length for the price
+ There's a demo available

- Needs something of a hint system-- it's way too easy to get stuck
- There's no autosave and there's no warning when you choose to quit without saving-- which is very easy to do.

Overall:
This Starry Midnight We Make is so very weird. It's difficult to define. The overall charm, for me, was in the bits of story unlocked by the gameplay. The visual novel elements kept me excited to try new combinations, to make new stars, to learn more about the characters and their plights. If you're looking for a unique puzzle game with some compelling plotlines thrown in, then give this game a shot.

This Starry Midnight We Make is a charming indie game with experimentation at its heart. I do not think this is a puzzlegame and I think that's a good thing.
After having completed this game 100% I can recommend this game to everyone who is a perfectionist, likes astronomy or is just generally packed with curiousity.

Gameplay:
I was intrigued by how well this game handles exploration and experimantations and I rarely found myself frustrated as the game always ever so slightly nudges you in the right direction. If you really read the descriptions and the dialogue you will get through 90% of this game without having too much trouble.

Which leads me to the last 10%.
The game puts a timer on each type of star you can plant and thats fine as long as you can switch between multiple different "building sites" where you try to figure out how stars evolve, however, It gets tedious as soon as you are set to get this one star that completes a sequence and you need like 20 or 50 of these beginner-stars which only regenerate at a snail like rate.
My tipp: If you 100% this game you should watch some youtube videos on the side or a movie or something.

Graphics:
This Game has surpsingly good character models which can do a variety of animated expressions which I would love to see more in games that feature this visual novel like style. There is a downside to this though, or should I say a bummer: You don't really see the character expression when you have to read the text... So this would have worked much better in a fully voiced game, but then again, this was done by only a handful of people.

Story:
Basically you have 5 storylines: 4 people living in the town the game takes place in and your own.
There is nothing much to say otherwise. There is not nearly enough dialogue or time you spend with each character to get you deeply invested, but each character is unique in his own way and well written (props to carpefulgur).
The twists and overarching story are interesting enough so the story ends up being a definite plus for the game.

I also like how they use the story to drive the progression of the game, give you hints for certain type of stars and give you an overall sense of purpose. As a result this game does not suffer from "Ludonarrative dissonance" which I am always a fan of.