What Paper Kite: Threads of Longing is
Paper Kite: Threads of Longing is a short pure-love GALGAME about a long-distance relationship told in Chinese, from Wuhan Liyu Game Studio. It follows Shen Luoying and Chen Yanqing, two students who confess their feelings right after the grueling college entrance exams in June, then get sent to universities in different cities — Beijing and Jiangcheng — because of parental expectations and academic scores. The story stretches across four turbulent years of college life, with the pair trying to keep a fragile bond alive while distance, doubt, pressure and change pull at it. The full game runs to roughly 120,000–200,000 words, and the trial version sits at around 15,000 words covering only the opening chapters: the early days of Shen Luoying and Chen Yanqing and the setup for their separation. The full version is meant to carry the post-separation story. The game is tagged as story rich, visual novel, interactive fiction, linear, relaxing and emotional, with multiple endings, first-person and 2D presentation, plus anime, cute, colorful, atmospheric, funny, romantic and psychological notes. Character work includes Shen Luoying at 164 cm with voice acting by Yan Momo, artwork and character design by YuanGungun, story concepts by CangLanDeFeng and BaTuola, and music by Naonao丶. Project by Beijing Liyu Tech (LICOGAME), development by Wuhan Second Branch Studio (Liyu Games).
Playing it together
The Steam feature listed for this game is Remote Play Together, which lets friends join your session over the network. Since the game is a linear, story-driven experience rather than a competitive one, a group playing together works best as a shared reading session: one person hosts, others watch the dialogue unfold, and the group reacts to choices and endings as they come. That suits the format of a visual novel, where the fun is in discussing what a character said, arguing over a decision, or comparing which ending you each expected. Because the trial only covers the opening chapters, a group can get through it in one sitting and then talk through where the story might go next.
Before you start
The trial version currently only fully supports Simplified Chinese. The game text can be translated by your language setting, and UI translation is still in progress — you run dialogue content by clicking "Start Game". Translation issues are possible, and the developers ask for feedback through the game's review section if you hit any. Expect the trial to end where the separation begins, so it sets up the long-distance premise rather than resolving it. Going in, the tone is emotional and psychological wrapped in a cute, colorful presentation, with multiple endings waiting in the full version.