Fantasy Township: Presumption of Guilt – An 8-Year Indie Dev Journey
The indie development team Xirang Games has completed an eight-year journey to create 《幻想乡：有罪推定~夜明前的三色堇》(Fantasy Township: Presumption of Guilt ~ Pansy Before Dawn), a text-heavy visual novel based on the Touhou Project universe. Founded by 17-year-old Teng Jiaqi (Archie) in the northeastern Chinese city of Fushun, the small team faced numerous challenges including funding shortages, canceled crowdfunding campaigns, and personal losses. Despite these obstacles, they persevered to create a game with over a million words of text, focusing on narrative depth rather than flashy combat. The team recently shared their development story in an interview, revealing their passion-driven approach to game creation.
According to the developers, their journey was far from smooth. Team members relocated from southern China to join the studio in the northeast, working against the odds in a region with limited game development resources. Teng Jiaqi expressed that every Northeast town youth likely harbors a dream of “revitalizing the Northeast.” After completing the game, Xirang Games made the bold decision to release all their art asset source files for free, hoping to help other indie developers save costs and avoid similar pitfalls. This gesture reflects their commitment to supporting the broader indie development community.
The game takes a unique approach within the Touhou Project fan creation space by focusing more on original content than featuring established characters. The developers describe it as more of a derivative prequel that requires substantial original material to support its narrative. While early sections contain lighter Touhou elements, these become more prominent in the mid-to-late game. The story explores the traditional theme of human-youkai relationships through a romanticist lens, attempting to provide what the developers call “a romanticist answer” to this grand proposition. They emphasize respecting original characters whenever they appear in the game.
Originally conceived as a “王道恋爱” (orthodox romance) story, the game evolved into a narrative exploring themes of humanity, exclusion, and political struggle. This transformation stemmed from their desire to create a “new birth ceremony” for the protagonist Hieda no Akyuu, whom they wanted to save within the story’s world. The developers had to cut many side quests due to budget and timeline constraints, though these tragic endings would have further developed the female characters’ arcs. Regarding future projects, the team remains passionate about Touhou but notes that sales haven’t been ideal, making future development uncertain despite their many ideas. This eight-year passion project demonstrates what’s possible when developers pour their hearts into a beloved universe, even against significant odds.
