THE MAZE TRIALS- Chapter 1

you are brand new to existing, finding yourself in a sprawling complex made of ever-shifting pillars, puzzle chambers, and dangerous traps... welcome to the Maze Trials.

you are See, a tiny little chocolate heart in a new, scary world. more specifically, you're a tiny cat person, a species that learns rapidly and comes in different "types", and you've been designated a typing that everybody wants a piece of...more literally than you'd like. as a molded chocolate type TCP, your designated purpose is to use your own body to heal others- and the overseers running the experiments you've found yourself in could not be more pleased about it.

you'll meet potential friends and foes alike in chapter one...all wrapped up in a fridge horror package with a side of dark comedy. be aware, though- the story's just going to get weirder and more harrowing from here.

this is the Director's Cut edition of Maze Trials' first chapter, mirrored from its original state as an interactive forum comic, expanded upon with bonus "side passages" detailing character inner thoughts, and toggleable developer's commentary.  we consider this to be the definitive version of the comic, and while you can read the original at any time for free, this version is chock full of bonus content (almost over 200 side passages + 11k words of developer commentary added!) for both new and old fans of the comic to enjoy.

the entire twine is nearly 45k words long, and has a save/load feature in order to be readable in multiple sittings. you can toggle director's commentary on at the start- but it is recommended, even for forum readers, to read through with it off at first. there are lots of spoilers within, including for new passages! there is also a linked animated cutscene at the very end!

content wise, this twine is rated 16+, and contains:

heavy themes involving cannibalism, self harm (both cartoonish and non-graphic visually, but detailed upon extensively in text), lack of bodily autonomy, abuse + manipulation, cartoon gore, drugs (specifically weed), violence. none of these themes are here for exploitative or shock reasons, and are done as respectfully as we can.

please note that other maze trials works (soon to come!), while still within the 16+ age rating, will be a hell of a lot more blatantly skewed towards the horror aspects of this project. 

interested in more? check out our forums or discord! (18+)

please consider leaving a review, comment, or rating if you enjoyed- anything helps our discoverability!

CREDITS

WRITING
Ringor Mortis- main narrative, See, Max, Monty, Suzanne, overseers, commentary
The Winds- TeeVee
Zenthis- the Gamercule, "J the overseer", FORG help, commentary
Shivers- Entity + Proxy dialogue
Comorant- Proxy-related blurbs
Homebrew Deviants Community- suggestions!

ART
Ringor Mortis- primary artist + designer
The Winds- storyboarding for animation, overall animation help
Vyn- colorist for animation
Knux400- colorist for animation, all pixel art assets (laptop, webpages, FORG)
Zenthis- gamercule room concepts, LAN party type's design collaborator
Comorant- proxy design, proxy kit + advertisement art
Shivers- proxy design advisor

CODE
Vyn- primary twine coding + mirror work, CSS + javascript
Ringor + Thresh Mortis- side passages, additional formatting
Molasses- TCP generator code
Mraof- TCP generator code