Surprise & Delight Media

Dev update 3 Aug. 2025

Sorry for the silence this past few weeks. I have been doing a lot of thinking about the future and have been procrastinating a bit with posting. There a few issues that have come up and I want to be completely open with you about them. This is a long post, so I appreciate anyone who reads the whole thing and leaves a comment to let me know your thoughts.

Note: As of today, I have paused billing for this month. It will remain paused until September 3, so anyone who was already charged for this month will not be charged next month. I may also pause next month

First, a little background about me. I work full-time. I live in a rural area that is about two and a half hours (one-way) from my job. Before the pandemic, I was able to telework about half of my working time.

When the pandemic lock-downs started, I started teleworking full-time. This meant that I also had a lot more spare time, as I no longer had to commute five hours a day. I started In Her Own Hands in the summer of 2020 with a friend: she would write and I would code and we split our time with the media. As some of you know, she stopped working on the game about two or three years ago, putting all of the burden back on me.

Two months ago, my job ended telework. All of it. Putting me in a worse position than I was in before the pandemic, as I now have to commute a total of five hours every day, not just half of the time, in addition to the normal workday. This just exhausts me, physically and mentally, as I am sure you can imagine.

On top of this, I am also nearing the completion of an almost 15-year project that needs more of my attention now than it has in the past. I need to finish this project before the end of the year (sooner rather than later), and that project also takes up some of my time and attention.

Second, creatively, I am burning out on In Her Own Hands. I love Becca and the story that we have written up to now, but I really, really want to finish it and move on. It's been just a little over five years. I am committed to finishing it but I don't want that to take another five years. Frankly, I have other ideas that I would rather work on at this point. But we were ambitious and opened up a lot of paths so finishing the game means bringing all of those paths to an end.

In addition, I am still not very confident that I am doing a good job of writing for "Becca." I want the end product to be consistent quality, but the fast turnaround expected of the monthly schedule forces me to rush. And the writing is always the hardest part, even after I have the plot points planned, the coding finished, and the media identified and processed. This is probably why the IHOH updates always seem to be the ones that cause the development schedule to derail.

Third, I am getting to the end of the first "cycle" of path options for In Their Own Hands and the game just really isn't quite what I want it to be at this point. I feel like I may have rushed some plot paths, trying to get in enough "content" to make fans happy, while completely neglecting many of the original plans as far as world-building.

Looking back on some of the earliest scenes written, I think I would like to do some editing. I don't think I did a good job establishing that the couple loves each other. I don't think I did a good job of making "Jenny" relatable. I still see comments that she is selfish or taking advantage of the MC (who, they say, "works to support them while she just plays with her vanity novel project"). Obviously, as a writer, I can't understand the idea that somehow his job is valid but her work isn't ---- there's nothing I can do to remove people's prejudices ---- but I do think that I have done a very poor job of incorporating the work she does into the gameplay, and I have ideas about how to change that. And probably most importantly I never created anything for the MC to do outside of hanging out in the apartment and going to work.

Fourth, now that I have been alternating development months for about a year, I have realized that this causes a problem. It is quite disruptive, creatively, to completely stop one story and switch to the other. Sometimes I get an idea on the wrong month but can't pursue it. The fast turnaround on updates also means that I don't have enough time to fully explore any longer ideas immediately. It also means that neither game gets anywhere fast.

Fifth, as some of you may be aware, itch.io just delisted all of their adult/nsfw games. They also changed their terms of service and have completely removed any games showing adult content between "real people." Which includes both of my games. This may not have a huge impact on me, but it will have some impact.

I'm not an artist, I'm a writer. One of the reasons that I chose to develop the games in the way that I did is because Twine is heavily text-focused. And a lot of the Twine games that I encountered use combinations of photo images and short snippets of video. I can do that.

But I knew that neither of these games would ever be on Steam or other sites, due to the nature of the product. I'd never be able to "sell" the finished product. Which was and is generally fine. But I am a bit worried that other sites might take their lead and crack down on this type of product. If no one gets any enjoyment out of playing my games, why am I making them?

Finally, the number of Patrons has dropped down to about half of what it was a year ago. I was never "doing it for the money" but losing support means that I am not deliverying what Patrons think I should be. Developing two very different games might be part of the reason. Maybe there are a lot of Patrons who are only interested in one of the games and they unsubscribe when I work on the other one. The time line seems to bear this theory out: the decline started in August/September last year, which is about the same time I started the alternating schedule for developing both games.

So I have been thinking about my options.

Option one is to just continue as I have been. Alternate between the two games, try to wrap up In Her Own Hands eventually while slowly pushing In Their Own Hands forward a little bit at a time. All the while hoping that no more major changes to online sites and/or services prevent me from distributing the two games. I see this as the least viable option given all of the various issues.

The other options all involve putting In Her Own Hands back on hold and shifting completely to In Their Own Hands. I would still work on IHOH in the background when I can, with the goal of finishing everything, and do periodic free releases as I make major progress. This would shift the Patreon account almost entirely to supporting In Their Own Hands.

Some options for developing In Their Own Hands include:

Option two: Pick up the monthly schedule that I had before I got back into continuing In Her Own Hands. Short, frequent updates based on polls, while also trying to build up and refine the rest of the content bit by bit.

Option three: Keep billing paused until I have the game how I want it on the QOL end and world-building side to take advantage of the "open world" format. This might take a couple of months. Then start a new polling cycle and continue the monthly schedule of short, frequent updates that I started with, but with the game much better equipped to move forward.

[EDITED TO ADD] Option 2/3B: Devote my time primarily to In Their Own Hands according to the above options, but give myself more time for development of more in-depth progress. Instead of short, frequent updates containing just a couple of scenes/events, I could focus on seeing a particular path forward in a significant way, even if it takes more than a month to publish.

Option four: Consider moving the game to a different format, like RenPy. This would definitely change the game play significantly but might be more suited to the linear nature of some paths. Keep billing paused while I convert the scenes to the new format and release a new version, probably using the same media.

Option five: Do option three but learn how to use different media formats (3D rendering or AI art) so that the use of photo/video media doesn't threaten development. Keep billing paused until I have figured this out and replaced all current media to the new media.

Option six: Do both options three and four --- tell the story using a different format and different media. This would take the longest to accomplish as the entire game would have to be reworked in a couple of way and all media would have to be replaced. But if I were to consider this option, doing it sooner rather than later would be the only way to move forward.

Currently, I am leaning toward option three but I am seriously considering option four. There are pros and cons to both.

On the one hand, continuing the game as it is give me the most freedom to create what I want. It also plays to my strengths as a writer and coder (experienced in the Twine/Sugarcube language that I have been using). But on the other hand, the open world format that I have used might be a bit too much freedom. I will have to carefully balance the linear content with the nonlinear content to prevent the game from becoming as unweildy as IHOH became. I want there to be an easy end to this story, with only a few possible endings.

Renpy is more linear by nature so I could just move from scene/event to scene/event. I could focus on the story that I want to tell and improve the gameplay by removing a lot of the grindiness of going to work and waiting for something to happen, with very little else to do but a lot of time to not do it. On other hand, some of the things I like about this game, like Jenny having (RNG-based) "free will" to move around and do different things and (especially) the "combat-lite" CumPoints sex system, probably won't be able to be transferred over to the new format.

RPGMaker is another possibility that could be the best of both worlds, as the maps would still give some open world options without any real obligation while the Quest system would drive the story forward. But this is also the least compatible with the current media, so it would require the most new creation (and that's not even bringing up the development of maps and the little walking sprites).

Anyway, these are some of the issues that I am currently contending with, and my thoughts about how to move forward. I know it's a lot. Please let me know what you all think. This post will be open to all members, including non-subscriber followers, so please feel free to leave your comments. I may do a poll later this week to gauge the thoughts of Patrons specifically.

Thanks once again for your support. I truly appreciate it!

S&D

Dev update 16 Jun 2025

Just dropping a line to let you know that I am making good progress on the next update.

The poll results mean that we will have a scene in the Jasmynn path with **drumroll** a Bachelor Party event!!

Here's what I have already finished:

• Fix the Save function. Done!

• Introduce the CumCounter and BodyCount features. Done! (Unfortunately, there's no way to make it accurate without starting over. If you load a later saved game, however, it will accurately track everything moving forward.)

• Convert all of the text messages in the Jasmynn path to the new system. Done!

And I have been making progress on these:

• New Bookstore gloryhole event! Media already selected and clips edited. Writing has begun.

• New Escort date event with Steve! Most of the media has been selected. Event plotted out. Next step: writing.

• A Bachelor party escort date event based on the results of the Scene Poll! Most of the media is selected. Event scenes plotted out. Next step: writing.

I will post again at the end of the week once I have made more progress.

Thanks for your support!

S&D

In Their Own Hands v. 0.1.5 walkthrough now available!

The walkthrough for the current version of In Their Own Hands is now available for all Patrons at the $9 “Delight Me” tier and higher. Click here to download now.

Thanks again for your support!

S&D

In Her Own Hands v.0.8.3 Scene Poll & Dev Update

First things first, as you may have already seen, the Jasmynn path won the Path Poll for this update, so that will be the focus. I have also launched the Scene Poll for this month, for Patrons $19 and up. The poll offers a couple of options for what kind of date Jasmynn will send Becca on in this update --- the winner will be a game event! As a reminder, Patrons can also make their own suggestions if they think they have a better idea. Other Patrons can vote for a Patron-submitted option by clicking that heart next to the comment. If a comment gets more votes than any of my options, then it wins the poll and will be used in the game (as long as it fits)! Click here to vote in the poll!

Next up, I wanted to provide the task list for this update. I have already started working where I could, and my goal is to get as much finished as possible this coming week --- as I previously noted, my work schedule will be changing a bit next week, so I want to take advantage of my current schedule before that happens.

Here's what I have planned:

• Fix the Save function. Already finished!

• Introduce the CumCounter and BodyCount features. I don't think it will be possible to make these accurate when loading saved games, but they will work perfectly when/if you start from the beginning.

• Convert all of the text messages in the Jasmynn path to the new system. This path will benefit immensely from the conversion, due to the choices that often appear while texting.

• New date event with Steve!

• New Bookstore gloryhole event!

• A second date event based on the results of the Scene Poll!

That's it for now! Thanks again for the support!

S&D

Dev update 1 June 2025

As you can tell from the picture, we have reason to celebrate!

The polls for this update's content aren't even finished yet, and I've already found and fixed the issue with the saves!! The changes also affected the old code that I had used to allow for custom save names, but I was able to locate some code that worked in the new API, so that function has also been added back into the game! Woo-hoo!! (I'll be adding the new code into the next version of ITOH as well.)

I also wanted to remind you all the Path Poll is still open until tomorrow night --- take a second to let your voice be heard and help shape this next update!

The current results are (in order):

• Jasmynn

• Abby

• (tied) Bobby & Scarlett // James

• Mr. Jones

But the poll isn't over yet! The results are still pretty close and can easily change before it ends. Click here to vote now!

And just to update my task list:

To-do

• Continue transitioning old text messages into the new system.

Done

• Fix the Save/Load function.

More tasks will be added as soon as the Path Poll ends, with more after the Scene Poll.

That's all for now. Thanks again for your support!

S&D

In Her Own Hands v.0.8.3 Path Poll & Dev Update

With the public version of In Their Own Hands ver. 0.1.5 now out of the way, I am shifting focus back over to In Her Own Hands.

First, the Path Poll is now available to Patrons $9 and up. It will be open until Monday at midnight, and be made public as soon as the poll ends. Click here to access the poll.

Second, a few notes about this update.

Creating the public "to-do" list for the last ITOH update worked really well for keeping me on task and preventing extraneous "content creep." I will be doing that again with this update once the Path poll and Scene poll have both ended.

Two tasks are already on the to-do list:

• The latest update to SugarCube changed the Save API, and something broke. More than likely, from what I can tell, it is just some clashing CSS. Fixing this is my top priority for this update. I will be getting started on it even before the polls have ended. Wish me luck!

• I am going to continue transitioning old text messages into the new system. This will be especially beneficial on a couple of paths where---in the old "image" version of text messages---I had options that required multiple images to be created and called based on the choice. The new system will make choosing different options a much easier endeavor. There is no way that I will finish all of them in this update, but I will try to get at least one path done. As far as I can recall, the Abby and Jasmynn paths have the most text messages with the most options.

Finally, my work schedule is going to be changing sort of drastically in about two weeks. I can't predict yet how this is going to affect development time on this and future updates, so I won't project a release date yet. Once I have a better idea of how much I have finished and how my new schedule will affect things, I will let you all know. My current goal for this update's alpha release is between 4-6 weeks, but I am not prepared to commit to this timeline just yet.

Thanks again for your support!

S&D

In Her Own Hands - v. 0.8.3 Path Poll

Time for the Path Poll for the next update of In Her Own Hands!

This game is all about our female protagonist "Becca" and the different people that have helped her along her sexual awakening. Vote for which of these paths you want me to focus on for this month's update. I have also included a miscellaneous option for "non-sexual corruption" which may include things like crime and drugs.

The winner of each month will be removed from the next poll, so that no one path completely outweighs the others. Some of the less popular paths included here are going to be wrapped up quickly to accommodate my time limitations and a faster development cycle, with a goal toward the game's eventual conclusion.

The poll will close at 11:59pm (U.S. Eastern) on Monday, June 2, 2025.

In Their Own Hands, v. 0.1.5 Public Release (Announcement)

To download click here

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Note (changes from alpha release): I did fix two main bugs----one major, one minor----that were present in the alpha release. First, the major one: Satisfaction wasn't decreasing on the "Make it work" path, which blocked the "Cheating" path from triggering. Second, the minor one: the conversation about Shaun should have only been triggering on the non-cheating paths, but it was showing up even in "Make it Work"/"Cheating." Both are now fixed and should work properly. The other change I made is to add an extra condition for triggering the polyamorous couple, because I felt it could show up a little too early. I may adjust this again later, after more content has been added, because I'm still not perfectly satisfied with when it is showing up when you start from the beginning. Finally, I added the new events to the "Just the Tip" pages. Everything else seems to be working fine, so the rest is the same as the alpha release.

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This update focuses on the beginning of a path with Shaun's roommate Becca. There are two options for this path moving forward. If Jenny is on the "lesbian" path, the Becca content will start earlier in the "timeline" and the Shaun path will now stop the way it should have. The more common path with Becca will begin at the end of the current Shaun content. I made a few other changes to the Shaun path (see below). Once you have met Becca, the next scene has two variations: one for the common path and the other for the lesbian path. After this, Becca has been added into several repeating "Meanwhile" scenes where the two girls will get to know each other better and become good friends. Future plans will take this path forward.

Second, I made a big change to the way the "Satisfaction" stat works. Given that the two non-monogamous relationship options are suggested by the husband as a way to help their marriage, it makes sense to me that this should be taken into account. So "Satisfaction" will not go down as quickly when Jenny has an encounter with another person. In essence, if she is satisfied, it won't make as big of a difference who was doing the satisfying. In the "Make it Work" path, on the other hand, Satisfaction will still go down as before, even if she cheats.

I also added a short scene that takes the Boss storyline a little bit further. It's a short scene with a lot of possible impact for the future.

The other big additions to this release are the change of all text messages to the new format and the addition of the new "Orgasm Counter" and "Body County" stats (visible from Jenny's POV in the "Just the Tips" menu). The texting format will allow for a lot more flexibility in allowing for different response options in the future. Please let me know what you think about these new features.

Finally, this update makes a lot of little changes with past content. Because of the non-linear nature of the story, the way different paths intersect, etc., I will continue to modify things here and there to try to keep it all working together in a way that I think makes sense. I have also added some additional story to a few scenes that were missing text.

I do still need to add the new events into the "Just the Tips" gallery. This will be ready by the public release, but I didn't want to delay this alpha release any longer.

As always, please let me know as soon as possible if you encounter any bugs or errors. I got a little delayed with updating the Walkthrough but it will be available as soon as possible, within the next few days.

Changelog v. 0.1.5 (Public):

• First scene introducing Shaun's roommate Becca

• Next scene meeting Becca by herself (2 alternate scenes)

• Repeatable scenes hanging out with Becca during workdays (Gym, Jogging, Coffee shop, Clothing shopping, Beach)

• Extended Beach scene with Becca

• Reduced timing of Shaun path events

• Added short conversation between Christian and Jenny about Shaun

• New scene (with 2 optional endings) texting with Mr. Day (Christian's boss)

• Added two new Jenny selfies for Christian

• Finished writing end of Leah's FuckR scene

• Added an additional condition for the scene with the polyamorous couple so that it doesn't trigger too early in the game

• Added two short scenes (research and relationship conversation) following up on polyamorous couple

• Added "Orgasm Counter" and "Body Count" to Jenny's "Just the Tip" page

• Converted all text messages to new texting system

• Adjusted the statistics calculation to slow down Satisfaction loss if on "Open Marriage" or "Cuckold" routes

• Fixed a bug in the alpha version the caused Satisfaction to not decrease on the "Make it Work" path (which resulted in the "Cheating" path never triggering)

• Fixed a bug that triggered Jenny telling Christian about Shaun on the "Cheating" path

• Fixed a bug that caused one of the sex scenes with Brian not to show up in Jenny POV except on "cuckold" path

• Fixed a couple of small bugs that rarely caused certain scenes not to trigger (which would stall out the Boss path)

• Fixed a few small typos in some of the scene texts

• Updated the "Just the Tip" pages to reflect the new events

In Their Own Hands v. 0.1.5α now available!

Patrons $5 and up: Click here to download the game

The extra couple of days helped a lot. I was able to resolve one of the errors relatively quickly and made some changes that seem to have fixed the other one. (At least in the last couple of days of testing, it hasn't recurred.)

This update focuses on the beginning of a path with Shaun's roommate Becca. There are two options for this path moving forward. If Jenny is on the "lesbian" path, the Becca content will start earlier in the "timeline" and the Shaun path will now stop the way it should have. The more common path with Becca will begin at the end of the current Shaun content. I made a few other changes to the Shaun path (see below). Once you have met Becca, the next scene has two variations: one for the common path and the other for the lesbian path. After this, Becca has been added into several repeating "Meanwhile" scenes where the two girls will get to know each other better and become good friends. Future plans will take this path forward.

Second, I made a big change to the way the "Satisfaction" stat works. Given that the two non-monogamous relationship options are suggested by the husband as a way to help their marriage, it makes sense to me that this should be taken into account. So "Satisfaction" will not go down as quickly when Jenny has an encounter with another person. In essence, if she is satisfied, it won't make as big of a difference who was doing the satisfying. In the "Make it Work" path, on the other hand, Satisfaction will still go down as before, even if she cheats.

I also added a short scene that takes the Boss storyline a little bit further. It's a short scene with a lot of possible impact for the future.

The other big additions to this release are the change of all text messages to the new format and the addition of the new "Orgasm Counter" and "Body County" stats (visible from Jenny's POV in the "Just the Tips" menu). The texting format will allow for a lot more flexibility in allowing for different response options in the future. Please let me know what you think about these new features.

Finally, this update makes a lot of little changes with past content. Because of the non-linear nature of the story, the way different paths intersect, etc., I will continue to modify things here and there to try to keep it all working together in a way that I think makes sense. I have also added some additional story to a few scenes that were missing text.

I do still need to add the new events into the "Just the Tips" gallery. This will be ready by the public release, but I didn't want to delay this alpha release any longer.

As always, please let me know as soon as possible if you encounter any bugs or errors. The public version will be available next week. I will make the updated Walkthrough available as soon as possible, within the next few days.

Changelog v. 0.1.5:

• First scene introducing Shaun's roommate Becca

• Next scene meeting Becca by herself (2 alternate scenes)

• Repeatable scenes hanging out with Becca during workdays (Gym, Jogging, Coffee shop, Clothing shopping, Beach)

• Extended Beach scene with Becca

• Reduced timing of Shaun path events

• Added short conversation between Christian and Jenny about Shaun

• New scene (with 2 optional endings) texting with Mr. Day (Christian's boss)

• Added two new Jenny selfies for Christian

• Finished writing end of Leah's FuckR scene

• Added two short scenes (research and relationship conversation) following up on polyamorous couple

• Added "Orgasm Counter" and "Body Count" to Jenny's "Just the Tip" page

• Converted all text messages to new texting system

• Adjusted the statistics calculation to slow down Satisfaction loss if on "Open Marriage" or "Cuckold" routes

• Fixed a bug that caused one of the sex scenes with Brian not to show up in Jenny POV except on "cuckold" path

• Fixed a couple of small bugs that rarely caused certain scenes not to trigger (which would stall out the Boss path)

• Fixed a few small typos in some of the scene texts

Download Links - In Their Own Hands v. 0.1.5α

MEGA 

Quick dev update 15 May 2025

I apologize for the very slight delay. I finished the content for the new update last weekend and have been testing the last few days.

While there are no coding error alerts, there is some kind of bug where some of the "Meanwhile" scenes while the MC is at work are just not loading. I am working to try to isolate the error so that I can figure out why it's happening in some instances but not others.

I also encountered a bug where Jenny disappears from the home when she shouldn't. There are only two scenes that should be triggering what's happening, so it should be a relatively easy fix.

I am working now to try to get these taken care of as soon as possible. If I succeed without breaking anything else, the update may be ready late tonight or tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed!

S&D

Quick dev update 20 Apr 2025

Wanted to drop a line giving my progress on the next update.

First, I am aware of the issue with saves on In Her Own Hands. The problem does not exist on ITOH. I tried everything I could by myself, and when that didn't work, I reached out to a community of other users of this language. I have some clue about what might be happening, so I am going to spend some time later today to see if I can fix it. As soon as I do, I will post a new update. (This latest update to the code format apparently completely rewrote some of the API which apparently doesn't like some code in the game that was fine before.)

Second, based on the checklist I provided in my last update, these are the tasks I have already completed:

• First "introduction" scene with Becca.

• Finish writing the (currently text-less) ending to the FuckR date with Leah.

• Converting all of the previous text messages to the "new" format introduced in the last update to IHOH.

• Adding the "Orgasm Counter" and "Body Count" stat trackers for Jenny to the "Just the Tip" page.

This leaves the following left to finish for the new update:

• Second scene with Becca ---- two variations based on Shaun relationship.

• Write a follow-up conversation that will occur after the meeting with the polyamorous couple (and if I have time, a second meeting with them).

• Another short scene involving Richard (Christian's boss).

So I am more than halfway finished, with most of the difficult work already finished. Depending on how much I am able to finish today, I may have the next update ready for release to Patrons by next weekend (fingers crossed) or shortly thereafter.

I think that this is a good way to plan updates from now on. Not only does it increase transparency (which I think you all will appreciate), but it also helps me prevent the very real problem of "scope creep" that I deal with almost every update---wanting to do "just one more thing" that delays the release for weeks.

Thanks again for your support,

S&D

Emergency bugfix release - In Her Own Hands v. 0.8.2c

Download here

The last update introduced some new bugs making the game unplayable. Here is a new version that should have fixed all of these bugs.

Basically, the compiler was converting two of the variables into symbols during initialization ---- it had never done this before, so I'm not sure why it started doing it now. But the symbols broke the code on the initialization passage and then caused other errors where other variables hadn't been properly initialized.

I just changed the names of those two variables and everything seems to be working properly now. If you start a new game, everything will definitely be fine, and I don't see anywhere that loaded save games should be affected. The two variables that I changed were very minor in the game, tied to specific events. Please let me know if you encounter anything weird when playing.

Quick poll: New feature?

An interesting discussion took place on a certain other adult gaming forum. One of the fans of In Her Own Hands took it upon themselves to add a few lines of custom code to the game's HTML file, in order to count how many orgasms "Becca" has. This is similar to another idea that I had and have wanted to implement for a while: a "Body Count" statistic. Now that I know that there are at least a couple of people interested in something like that, I wanted to gauge the interest of my Patrons. I would propose creating the feature(s) in both games.

Both features are relatively simple in terms of code. Obviously, IHOH is a lot further along than ITOH so (1) the actual implementation will take a little longer, and (2) in order to get fully accurate stats, you would have to start from the beginning. Once implemented, though, it would count accurately from that point forward. With ITOH I can do the same features with less work, probably even in time for this next update (which I'm making very good progress on---better than expected!)

The "Orgasm Counter" would count how many times Becca or Jenny has an orgasm. This would include both masturbation and sex with others. I could even break it down further relatively easily (masturbation with hand, with toy, sex with guy, sex with girl, etc.)

The "Body Count" would count how many partners Becca or Jenny have. It could either be presented as a simple statistic or as a checklist (or both).

For IHOH, the new statistics would appear on the Statistics page. Since I don't use a statistics page in ITOH, the new statistics would appear on Jenny's "Just the Tip..." page (and would be invisible to Christian if playing without her pov.

This will be a short poll, open to all paying Patrons, and just run through the weekend (ending probably Monday morning). Please also feel free to express your opinion (or wishlist) in the Comments, even after voting for your choice!

Bugfix update - In Her Own Hands v. 0.8.2b

As promised, a quick bugfix update to address the issues with new events in the "Just the Tip . . ." section.

Download

ITOH Dev update - 7 Apr 2025

Just wanted to drop a quick line about development:

First, I have been informed of some errors that occur on the "Just the Tip" screen for the new content in In Her Own Hands. I will be taking care of those errors and releasing a very small public update this week. If you have encountered any other bugs, please let me know asap.

Now, onto the next update, version 0.1.5 of In Their Own Hands. As a reminder, the winning path was "Cuckold - Jenny female preference" and the winning scene was "Meeting Shaun's roommate Becca"! I know some people have been waiting for this crossover to get more involved, and it will!

My plan for the content with Becca will include two alternate ways that the relationship will progress, based on whether Jenny is bisexual or fully lesbian in her outside adventures. I will be starting the progress with Becca at the end of the current content with Shaun. As long-time players might know, if Jenny is exclusively pursuing lesbian relationships outside of her marriage, the Shaun content ends fairly early; otherwise, it continues on to include several scenes. As with Shaun, my plan for the progression of the Becca content will depend on the relationship between the two MCs. If the MCs are loyal to each other, the friendship with Becca will be more innocent.

In total, here are the plans for this update:

• First "introduction" scene with Becca.

• Second scene with Becca ---- two variations based on Shaun relationship.

• Finish writing the (currently text-less) ending to the FuckR date with Leah.

• Write a follow-up conversation that will occur after the meeting with the polyamorous couple (and if I have time, a second meeting with them).

• Another short scene involving Richard (Christian's boss).

• Converting all of the previous text messages to the "new" format introduced in the last update to IHOH. There aren't a lot of text messages, so this won't take long. (I am planning a separate short post to discuss my reasons for changing the text messaging system and the implications of the change.)

I know that this seems ambitious, but I wanted to include enough to make the long wait worthwhile. On the personal side, work has started to slow down----at least for the time being----so I am hoping to be able to finish the update fairly quickly. I can't promise it will be finished by the end of this month, but I will give you a better estimate once I am about halfway finished with the content.

Thanks again for your support!

S&D

In Her Own Hands, v. 0.8.2 FINAL (Announcement)

Download here (Public link)

Time for the Final (public) release for In Her Own Hands version 0.8.2!

The only difference from the alpha version is updating the "Just the Tip . . ." gallery to include the new scenes. No bugs were reported.

Changelog (v. 0.8.2 Final - bugfix)

• Changed order of the text and coffee date with Cassidy following their first "real" date

• Adjusted the way that work scenes are selected in order to speed up progress on work-related events (including Record Store/Cassidy)

• Added ability to respond to Cassidy's sexy selfies with your own sexy selfie: select one of three options, chosen selfie will appear in phone gallery

• Lowered Romance stat threshold for Cassidy's "Romance" path

• Second date event with Cassidy, series of scenes (ends with CumPoints scene), two alternate conversations based on previous experiences and choices

• Third date event with Cassidy, series of scenes (ends with CumPoints scene), extended ending depending on previous experiences

• "Virtual" date with Cassidy

• Coded new look/function for text messaging ---- two text messages (part of the above events) created in new system (earlier text messages will be converted in the next update)

• Updated "Just the Tip . . ." gallery to include new scenes ****fixed bug related to some of the new events****

In Her Own Hands v. 0.8.2 walkthrough now available!

The walkthrough for the current version of In Her Own Hands is now available for all Patrons at the $9 “Delight Me” tier and higher.

Click here to download now!

Thanks again for your support!

S&D

In Her Own Hands v. 0.8.2 - Walkthrough

The walkthrough for v. 0.8.2 of In Her Own Hands is attached to this post.

Thanks for your support!

S&D

In Her Own Hands, v. 0.8.2α (Announcement)

Patrons $5 and up: Click here to download the game

At long last, the update is ready for the alpha release! The extra time needed to finish came from two different issues. The first one was a blessing! As I wrote through some of the scenes, I decided that this couple needed time to explore their new relationship a bit. So the update ended up being much longer than I originally thought!

I changed the end of the last Cassidy scenes in a couple of ways, to make them fit better into the overall narrative. First, her first text message after their first date (the one that ends in Cassidy's apartment) will not come until after the coffee break, when you make the relationship choice. I also added the ability to respond to Cassidy's sexy selfies with some sexy selfies of you own! (You can choose one of three random options, and the one you choose will even show up in your phone gallery.)

Their second date will begin at the end of the next night that Becca works at the Record Store. This date also ends in Cassidy's apartment! A few days later, the couple will have a day-long third date that ends in your bedroom this time. Finally, the two have a "virtual" date the following week, when they can't get together in person.

The two date scenes each also has a couple of choices and variations based on your past experiences in the game, with one scene in particular being extended in an exciting way, setting up a future scene in a different path! (I'll leave that to discover on your own.)

As usual, the walkthrough will be ready within a few days, for $9+ Patrons. The public release will be next Wednesday evening. If you locate any bugs as you play, please send me a direct message.

Now, with the exciting news out of the way, I do owe you an explanation for the long unexpected delay. I rightfully expected that the end of the year was going to be busy, but I thought that things would settle down a bit. Things have not worked out that way. My day job is unfortunately in one of the many industries that have been thrown into chaos since the end of January. I don't want to get political, so I will simply say that there have been a lot of unexpected developments. Some days I am so stressed out that I simply can't come home from a 10-hour day and then put in a few more hours of work.

That said, I am committed to trying to get a better routine in place. I am leaning towards smaller updates more frequently, at least until things start to calm down. First step: I will put out another update in about a week giving more information about the progress of ITOH v. 0.1.5. I have not yet begun the real work, other than searching for media and outlining the plot. But by next week I can at least give you an update with how development progressed over the weekend, and give you a rough estimate of when I aim to release.

Thanks again for your continued patience and support!

S&D

Changelog (v. 0.8.2α)

• Changed order of the text and coffee date with Cassidy following their first "real" date

• Adjusted the way that work scenes are selected in order to speed up progress on work-related events (including Record Store/Cassidy)

• Added ability to respond to Cassidy's sexy selfies with your own sexy selfie: select one of three options, chosen selfie will appear in phone gallery

• Lowered Romance stat threshold for Cassidy's "Romance" path

• Second date event with Cassidy, series of scenes (ends with CumPoints scene), two alternate conversations based on previous experiences and choice

• Third date event with Cassidy, series of scenes (ends with CumPoints scene), extended ending depending on previous experiences

• "Virtual" date with Cassidy

• Coded update to the way text messaging works --- two text messages (part of the above events) created in new system

Dev update 23 Feb 2025

It has been a few bad weeks since the last update. The day after posting the last update, I came down with a very bad flu --- my temperature went up to 102 degrees (Fahrenheit)! Last weekend, my daughter came down with the same thing, so (even though I was still sick myself) I had to spend every ounce of energy I could muster trying to take care of her. Needless to say, I was not able to work at all until about midway through this past week.

Since then I have been alternating between continuing to finish the writing of the scenes and testing the scenes. Yesterday I encountered a bug that broke one of the new functions. After struggling with it for most of the day, I finally simplified the code and worked around it. It doesn't work exactly the way I wanted, but it works nonetheless.

For the rest of the week I will continue to add text to the scenes and test a few times to make sure that it all progresses the way it's supposed to (and doesn't conflict with any of the other paths). I am hoping to have the update out by next weekend, barring any more unexpected crises.

Here is what you can expect in this update (not a full changelog):

• Two new dates with Cassidy, with full sex scenes;

• An "aftermath" scene following the second date;

• A steamy video call with Cassidy;

• Sending hot selfies to Cassidy.

Thanks again for your support!

S&D

Quick update 10 Feb. 2025

Well, I missed another self-imposed deadline. The only reason that I can offer is that work has not slowed down. I can dedicate a lot of time to working on the game on weekends, but weeknights I can only manage a little bit.

All that said, I have managed to get all of the coding framework finished and all of the media processed. I am about halfway finished with the actual writing of the scenes. I don't expect that this will take me too much longer, though I hesitate to give an exact estimate. The absolute latest that I will finish will be sometime next weekend, assuming that everything tests well. If I hit a really good flow with writing the remaining scenes, I could potentially finish sooner.

As for the next update of In Their Own Hands, the winner of the Path Poll was "Cuckold - Jenny female preference" and the current leader of the Scene Poll suggests that Jenny will meet Shaun's roommate Becca (whom you should all be familiar with). There is still another day and a half left in the poll, so if you want to vote, click here.

Thanks again for your support and patience!

S&D

ITOH v. 0.1.5 Scene Poll is now open!

The results of the Path Poll for In Their Own Hands  v. 0.1.5 are in and the winner is . . . "Cuckold - Jenny female preference." The Scene Poll to choose among a couple of different options within this path is now open for all Patrons at $19 and up.

Beginning this month, the Scene Poll will now also allow Patrons to make their own suggestions!

Click here to vote!

The poll will stay open for 3 days, closing at 11:59pm (U.S. Eastern time) on 11 February 2025.

Path Poll for In Their Own Hands v. 0.1.5 now live

The Path Poll for version 0.1.5 of In Their Own Hands is now live!

The Path Poll decides which relationship-type will be the focus of this month's update.

All Patrons at $9 and above can vote in the Path Poll. Patrons at $19 and above will be able to vote in the Scene Poll which chooses between several specific scenes to include.

The poll will be open until 5 February 2025, at midnight (U.S. Eastern time).

VOTE HERE

What's the next path? (In Their Own Hands v. 0.1.5)

Time for the next Path Poll, for Patrons $9 and up!

While some content will cross over between multiple paths, you can vote for which path will receive the greatest amount of attention this month! This will likely mean 1-2 large scenes or sequences of smaller scenes.

The paths that won the previous polls do not appear in this month's poll.

The poll will remain open until midnight U.S. Eastern time zone on Friday 5 February 2025.

Quick update 31 Jan 2025

Just a quick note to let you know that I am almost ready for release. I just need a few days---I am hoping to finish by Sunday evening.

In the meantime, I will be releasing the February Path Poll for In Their Own Hands tomorrow so we can get started with the voting. February is a short month, but I may still be able to turn the next update around relatively quickly depending on the poll results.

Thanks again for your support!

S&D

Happy New Year update!

Happy New Year!

It's a special one, because this is also the anniversary of the debut of In Their Own Hands, launched on New Year's Day one year ago. This year has also been quite momentous for In Her Own Hands, as I reworked a lot of the code and made significant improvements and was able to take over the writing duties for several updates already.

As expected, between the holidays and end-of-year work responsibilities, I have been very busy this last month or two, with little time to work on the game. I have, however, been able to squeeze in some work where I could. I have several scenes partially written and media prepared for this update. I believe that I am still on track to have the update ready for release by the end of the month.

As we get closer to release, I will let you know more!

Thanks again for all of your support! It has been greatly appreciated!

S&D

IHOH Dev & admin update 24 Nov. 2024

I wanted to give you guys a quick update on a couple of things:

The next In Her Own Hands update (0.8.2)

Development has already begun and is moving along on the next update. As you may have seen, the winner of the Path Poll was Cassidy and the results of the Scene Poll was a 50/50 split between "Video sexting" and "Girls' Night Out." I have actually been eagerly anticipating the opportunity to spend more time on Becca's relationship with Cassidy. I'm very excited to move this part of the story along!

Change to higher-tier benefits

One thing that I've noticed in the results to the last few Scene Polls is that we've had split choices. This is bound to happen when only a couple of people vote among a couple of choices. I would like to try to offer something a little bit more interesting to entice more people to participate in the polls at this level.

So, starting with the next Scene Polls, I will allow Patrons to comment with their own suggestions. Other Patrons can vote for these by liking and commenting on the suggestions. If any Patron suggestion gets more votes than my options, it will win the poll! Obviously, there is a caveat: it has to make sense for the characters and story, so I may alter the scene as needed. But I will do my best to stay as close to the suggestion as possible! (It should go without saying, but it will also have to be a scene within the path that won the Path Poll.)

This will give the higher-tier Patrons a HUGE amount of influence on the development of the story! This change will apply to both games as well, beginning with the next round of polls.

Timeline for the next release

Some of you have correctly noted that I have a bad habit of being too optimistic with my development timelines. I am going to try to change that and be somewhat modest about the next update.

I am currently very busy at work with some end of the year deadlines. Plus there are several holidays right around the corner. So, in an effort to create realistic expectations, I am going to tentatively plan for this update to be finished by the end of January 2025. I hope to finish before that, but I don't have a great track record there so I am trying to temper my own ambitions.

This update will include a new mechanic that I have to create (which hopefully won't be too difficult), as well as at least three or four new events. Giving myself a little bit more time should help balance the amount of desired new content with the desired development time.

That's it for now! As always, thank you so much for your support in the development of these games!

S&D

Path Poll for In Her Own Hands available

You still have time to vote in this month's Path Poll for In Her Own Hands! The Path Poll decides which story path will be the focus of this month's update.

All Patrons at $9 and above can vote in the Path Poll. Patrons at $19 and above will be able to vote in the Scene Poll which chooses between several specific scenes to include.

The poll will be open until Tuesday, November 5, at midnight (U.S. Eastern time).

VOTE HERE

In Their Own Hands, v. 0.1.4 FINAL (Announcement)

To download click here

I know I need to improve communication. That being the case, though, I have been working very hard on this update, and I am pretty proud of where this update has ended up. It improves some of the previous scenes and adds several new sexy scenes. The best way to play is by starting over from the beginning, but it should all work even if you continue from a saved game. I am also working to try to make sure that little pieces of scenes are visible if the Wife POV is turned off

First, I adjusted a couple of previously written paths so less time has to pass before substantial scenes occur. This includes the work events, by increasong the frequency of triggering scenes. This also includes the Brian event. I have heard from some players that he was never showing up. So I changed the triggers so that he will come over no later than the first week of September.

Speaking of Brian, I tinkered a lot with the event to be more consistent with both my original plans for the event and with the overall storyline. This first meant fixing a bug that would allow the wife to get physically involved with Brian even if the couple were trying to "make it work." It was never my intention that she could cheat with Brian, but some code issues let it happen. Don't worry, though, if the couple has an open relationship or is on the cuckold path, Brian and the wife will still hook up! One other change I made was to more clearly distinguish the open marriage path from the cuckold path. This includes a path change being explicitly possible (with a warning) on that first night. The ways in which the three interact in the apartment will be different in the open path and in the cuckold path.

The last changes to older content are limited to fixing some of the bugs that I have been made aware of and adding some text to some of the older scenes that didn't have any text written yet. There are still some more scenes that I need to fill in, which I will keep doing in future updates. Also, if you encounter any bugs in this version, please let me know by direct message!

Now, on to the new content. The last polls were unfortunately a couple of months ago now, but the winner of the last Path Poll was Open Marriage. The winner of the last Scene Poll was a tie, between Date night and Beach. So I included both scenes. Here's a quick rundown (see below for the full changelog): a new relationship conversation after Brian leaves (will allow you to confirm open marriage or switch back to "make it work"); a big date event with the couple; a small step forward in the work path; a new beach scene; a small cuckold event; and a new "FuckR" event for the wife. The wife gets a lot of attention in this update! One thing I have not yet finished is the "Just the Tip" section for this update---it will be in the final, public version released in one week. I also had an idea for another follow-up conversation, but it's not critical to this point of the story. If I have time to fit it in during the next week, I will; otherwise it will be included in a future update.

Next month will focus on In Her Own Hands again. I am hoping to get back on track with the monthly update schedule, so you will see the Path Poll launched on 1 November. The final, public version of this update will released next Saturday, 2 November 2024. The walthrough will be released for $9+ Patrons as soon as possible.

Thanks again for all of your support!

S&D

Changelog v. 0.1.4 (FINAL)

• Adjusted timing of work events to reduce timing for progress;

• Changed triggers for Brian's visit so that it will start automatically in the fourth week if not previously triggered;

• Made the "Peek" option on the first night of Brian event change relationship from "Open" to "Cuckold" path;

• Adjusted events with Brian so that peeking does not occur if relationship is "Open";

• New relationship conversation after Brian's visit;

• Added text to first massage parlor scene;

• New Beach scene if on open, cuckold, or cheating paths;

• New "date night" event for Husband and Wife (invitation, date, wife pov, and after-event scenes);

• New texting scene with Husband's Boss (Richard);

• New FuckR event with wife (bisexual threesome);

• New text from wife after second relationship conversation on cuckold path.