Disharmony

About Disharmony

Disharmony is an interactive story by Pink Soda Studios, made in Twine and released free on itch.io around 2020, where almost sixty players rate it 4.9 out of 5. It runs in the browser on computers and phones. The makers say it began as a prototyping exercise and is a finished game, with some rough edges left in the design.

Everything happens inside Harmony, a desktop messenger that looks a lot like Discord. Reina, one of your circle of friends, has disappeared. Her account posts the same line again and again, in the Never it's colder than ever, and a friend swears he heard her voice in his headset saying his name. One friend jokes about calls from beyond the grave; another asks him to stop. You are the one who has to keep them talking.

You play by choosing what to say. The game warns at the start to pay close attention to everything said, because it may save a life, and there is no going back once you answer. Over about 26,000 words the conversations turn to who knew what, who resented whom and what lies beyond the veil, until you have to make a choice about your friends.

There are several endings, some of them secret and harder to reach, and the game cannot be saved, so each run is played straight through in about half an hour. It suits players who like mysteries told through screens, like Last Seen Online, with a cold supernatural thread running through them.

How to play Disharmony

1. Open Disharmony on itch.io and press Run game; it plays in the browser, also on phones.
2. Type a name for yourself and press Play Disharmony.
3. Read the chat as messages arrive in the Harmony app.
4. Click one of the replies offered to answer your friends and steer the conversation.
5. Make your final choice at the end, then play again to find the other endings.

Tips

• Read every message closely; the opening warns that paying attention may save a life.
• There is no saving or going back, so set aside half an hour to play it through.
• Keep track of what each friend says about the others; their motives matter at the end.
• Some endings are secret; the makers say not every option appears on every playthrough.

Questions