After being made aware of the situation here, I myself subscribed to the creator’s Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/yummygoods) at the requisite subscriber tier to view updates specifically for Mochi Moshi. With that in mind, I can provide some input on people’s feelings and the reality of the situation.
While I cannot go into the specifics of what their updates detail, as the creator has expressed that these updates are meant specifically for supporters of the game to stay in the loop, I can say that there is updates. Over the course of the entire lifespan of the project, the creator has provided at minimum a monthly update (although it has not been uncommon for these updates to occur multiple times in a month) which details the circumstances surrounding their rate of progress. This is includes detailed information on the progress they’ve made between updates, the process by which they develop the game, and the details of how the game is structured, both in terms of development and gameplay.
In addition, there is a provable history of a demo being made available to paid supporters which contained a condensed snapshot of the script, alongside assets made specifically for the demo. This can be seen in posts made on their Patreon, as well as associated links and platforms made to download the demo during its’ beta period, with documented feedback.
As for the rate of the project, updates display a clear pattern of consistent forward progress with minimal stalling, and occasional snippets of information/images that displayed the files and platforms used for the writing process, which itself has been confirmed to be finished, topping out at well over 65k words of dialogue over 24 paths, including crossover between different branch variations.
Now that the story section has been completed, the creator has moved on to UI/sprite creation and has provided tangible proof of such in the form of physics demos, UI development progress, and updates which display the sprites being worked on, and their function.
My own opinions on the overall situation are colored by further investigation into what information the creator has provided over the years regarding their personal life and work history, alongside what financial information does exist about the state of their Patreon and the Kickstarter financing.
By all accounts, I do not believe this to be a scam, nor a project which spiraled into feature creep or unrealistic expectations. I will address each point individually, detailing my own personal interpretation and explanation on each.
There are projects both advertised on this site in the past and on other platforms over the course of the history of the community which could be seen to be scams (although compared to the actual ratio of legitimate projects to scams it’s an exceptionally low number), but they have followed a clear and distinct pattern. As is expected with most scams, the creator is someone with no defined history within the space, who simply appears with an entirely fresh public facing profile and account. They immediately and swiftly introduce a project almost immediately, with a few screenshots to prove the legitimacy of the product, but with the caveat that any actual download past an extremely barebones demo will have to be paid. Upon payment, the game is almost invariably incomplete, and what material does exist is either AI-generated, re-used base assets spread across a few characters, or lacks any assets whatsoever asides from writing. The game may receive a few “updates” which usually act as bait to garner further purchases to a point, but when scrutiny increases, the game and its’ creator completely vanish, never to be seen again until they return under a new name and profile, to repeat the process once again.
In regards to Mochi Moshi being a scam, the creator has been explicitly clear that no game is yet available to download, and while they provide general estimates for when they expect sections to be complete, at no point have they promised more than they said they would deliver. Any support given to the game has been given with the understanding that the support is to allow the creator to dedicate more time towards finishing the game, and in return the supporter will receive access to updates about the development progress of the game. It is understandable to be dissatisfied with the arrangement and the value gained from a person’s invested support, but it is a clearly defined relationship with a clearly defined return. Updates are also given freely on their Patreon, just at a slower rate and with less detailed information than the supporter tier, on top of the updates sent out to their various social media platforms.
Given the consistency of information, pattern of behavior, and established relationship between supporters and the creator, combined with prior examples of scam material, it should be clear that the game is not a scam.
This brings us to to the next point addressed by some, being the idea that the game has experienced feature creep which has slowed progress of the game.
I believe that most of the points I explained already can be used to show that this as well is not the case, as they very early on in their development update history outlined exactly what they intended to do, and have stuck to exactly what was stated. Upon reaching the goals outlined in their Kickstarter, the plan has always been to create and develop 24 unique paths which take place over the course of four in-game weeks, based on a set of base transformations which then cross over into one another. Once the dialogue for each story path was completed, they would then move on to developing the sprites and UI for the game within a selected game engine.
Over the course of four years, this has remained consistent, with no additional features or added bloat. While they acknowledged early on that they had to increase their expectation of how large of an amount of text would actually be required, they have delivered on stated deadlines for progress, with limited overrun.
More realistically, it’s just an unfortunate fact that attempting to juggle the arduous task of outlining, drafting, and writing an entire novel’s worth of content is something that can’t be done full-time without the expected return on expended labor, on top of having to draw well over 128-150 fully shaded character sprites before even taking into account each individual UI asset, backgrounds, sounds, and musical composition, and programming, all of which are being undertaken by a single person.
Maintaining a stable income as an artist is difficult at the best of times, and the amount of money actually earned through both the Kickstarter and Patreon earnings is rather low compared to the ever-increasing cost of living standards. While 3000 dollars may seem like a significant amount of money, divided over the course of four years that’s only 750USD per year. Their job history shows that they work as a freelance artist, web-developer, and community manager, all of which are very time-consuming and low-paying/unstable job positions that require a significant amount of time and effort to maintain. They also do not take frequent commissions, and their aforementioned Patreon income only amounts to around 191USD per month before even accounting for Patreon’s fee, and taxes.
As rude as it may sound, this project is not a professional endeavor that is beholden to the same standards as would be expected of such. It is a project with minimal financial support being developed by a single person, with just enough financial support to justify the investment of time being spent that isn’t based purely on their own passion for the project. As already discussed, the people who support it know exactly what they’re supporting, and why, and by all accounts seem to be satisfied.
With that in mind, I can understand why someone who has invested years of their time, passion, and creative effort into a project which has taken hundreds of hours worth of work to bring to fruition with no expectation of a reward would be upset that their work could be so easily dismissed on the basis of unsubstantiated hearsay.
There are avenues to confirm or deny these suspicions, but rather than taking the time to do so, certain people unfortunately let their own mistrust (rightfully earned from prior experience or otherwise) overtake their own ability to follow up on those suspicions, and may have removed one of the few public avenues available to communicate politely and professionally with the person they held a grievance with.
I myself took time to dedicate my own focus and attention towards properly researching the subject, and as a result have actually come out with a greater sense of respect and optimism for the project they have on offer, knowing full well that it’s within capable hands. I can only hope that this post has shed more light on the situation, and perhaps even inspired others to do their own research on the subject before passing judgement.
Best Regards,
-PS