Haunted Trumpet 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

@team.hauntedtrumpet.com

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Approximately three queers in a trench coat making interactive fiction together 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Our visual novel, The Left Eye, is in early access now! 🖥️ https://store.steampowered.com/app/3811440 🎮 https://hauntedtrumpet.itch.io 👻🎺 https://www.hauntedtrumpet.com

Artwork of Emile from The Left Eye, a visual novel. He is shown from a low angle, holding a rose, with a sad expression on his face. He is depicted in monochrome over a lilac background. A stock photo of a gold trophy has been added in the corner, with the words SADDEST BOY pasted over it.
A short video of The Left Eye, a visual novel. A tall, slim man in a coat is standing to the left of the scene, and to the right is a shorter, chubby young man. Behind them is a halftoned background of a New York street. The dialogue box takes up the lower quarter of the screen, and gives the speaker's name as Alex, then man on the left. He is saying: He manages to compose himself, but he can't get the sparkle out of his eyes. Alex: Thank you, Emile. (pause) Alex: You're pretty slick, you know that?
A video of a visual novel. A young man, viewed from behind, is sitting in on the edge of a window, with a city in front of him. The script plays out in a text box in the lower quarter of the screen, and is as follows: With a twist, my legs are hanging out and dangling in the open air. Downtown Seattle is stretched out in front of me, noisy and alien. There's a strong breeze, and it's carrying the smell of smoke and the sound of streetcars. All I have to do is drop down, do my best not to break my ankles, make a run for it and get to King Street Station. If they catch me, they'll-- Well, they'll have to catch me first.
A promotional banner for the nonbinary coded games event on Steam. It has a purple background with darker purple diagonal stripes. In the left half there are illustrations of four characters: a green-haired mage, a cream-colored rabbit, a bright blue monster and a dark-haired cat person. On the right is text that reads "nonbinary coded games" and under that is the capsule art for The Left Eye. Below that are the dates of the event: july 13th to 20th 2026. The tagline at the bottom reads: "celebrating games made by nonbinary developers"
A screenshot of a visual novel. Three characters are standing in a bar. From left to right: a tall young man in a suit with a coat over it (Alex), a shorter, chubby young man in a suit (Emile) and a chubby young woman wearing work clothes (Deirdre). The dialogue box takes up the lower quarter of the screen and shows that Alex is speaking. He is saying: "Emile? You managed to find the bar without somebody tossing you onto it?". The scene has a film grain filter and a blue tint.
Emile: Believe me, buddy, I get it. Emile: You're just tryin'a do your job here. Emile: But I'm begging you... Emile: This trip was meant to be our honeymoon, but since the old lady came down with influenza... Emile: <i>cough</i> Emile: They don't know if she'll make it-- Emile: <i>cough cough</i> Emile: If you could just-- Emile: <i>cough</i> Emile: Find it in your heart-- Emile: <i>cough cough cough</i> Emile: To refund us-- Officer: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Fine! He practically throws the money at me. Emile: Buddy, you're a king among men! God bless y-- Officer: And wear a goddamn handkerchief, you animal!
A promotional graphic. The background is a beach scene, with sky and hills in the distance, a blue sea and a sandy beach with shells and a towel in the foreground. Text at the top reads “Steam summer sale, Jun 25 - Jul 9 at 10am PT. Below that is the capsule art for The Left Eye, and text that reads “-25%”. The old price, $4.99, is struck through, and the sale price, $3.74, is displayed.
A photo from The New York Botanical Gardens. In the background is the Haupt conservatory in slightly soft focus, a bright blue sky, green hedges, a pond and a tiled patio. In the foreground is a teal sketchbook being held up to the camera by a hand. There is a sticker on the front of The Left Eye logo.
A screenshot of The Left Eye, a visual novel. There are three characters on the screen. In the foreground and to the left is a tall man with a chiselled face and round glasses with a diamond tie pin. Next to him is a short, chubby man with curly hair, looking annoyed. In the background to the right is a young woman who is slightly out of focus, also looking annoyed. The dialogue box takes up the bottom quarter of the screen and reads: “If I just brush past him as I return my glass…”. There are two dialogue choices in the middle of the screen. The top one reads “He won’t even notice that it’s gone”, and the second reads “It’s not worth the risk”.
A screenshot from The Left Eye. On the right is a young man wearing a fur over a tuxedo, and on the right is his bio: EMILE DE LA ROCHE AGE: 25 BIRTHPLACE: CALAIS, FRANCE OCCUPATION: SOCIALITE CURRENT ABODE: THE WALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL, NEW YORK CITY
A banner advertising the Power of Pride bundle on itch. On the left is a colorful, painterly piece of art showing a one-eyed character with long purple hair and greyish skin, wearing a long tie-dye dress and holding an umbrella. There is a small black cat in the corner. They are both sitting on a red gingham picnic blanket. The text on the right reads: “The Power of Pride Itch.io bundle. June 1, 2026 - July 6, 2026. $60+ wallpaper bonus pack, $10+ PWYC.” Below that is a tile with The Left Eye logo and art of two characters looking at one another, drawn onto a playing card. The tile is monochrome.
A screenshot of The Left Eye, a visual novel game. Three people are shown in profile, dancing together: Emile, a short, chubby man in a tuxedo; Deirdre, a chubby woman wearing a dress and pearls; and Alex, a taller man in a grey suit. The image is monochrome with a blue-green tint. The UI text box takes up the bottom quarter of the screen and shows the line: “And the three of us danced for hours.”
A screenshot from The Simpsons. It shows Bart's classmates and teacher from his POV, all turned to look at him with enthusiastic expressions on their faces. A caption has been added to the bottom of the image that reads: "SAY THE LINE EMILE"
A video of a visual novel scene, in monochrome with a slight green/blue tint. It opens on a closeup of Emile's hand being held in Alex's, and Alex raises it to his lips. Narration: He takes my hand, palm down. Narration: And raises it to his lips with absolute certainty. The camera pans up to Alex's face. He is a young man with slicked-back hair, wearing a suit and tie, with an impish expression. A panel appears on the left with his biography: ALEXANDER WARREN AGE: EARLY 20s BIRTHPLACE: LONDON, ENGLAND OCCUPATION: BOOTLEGGER, GUN. RUNNER, SCARY MURDERING BASTARD EXTRAORDINAIRE CURRENT ABODE: SEATTLE (crossed out and replaced with: SLEEPING ON HENRY WARREN'S SOFA?) The panel fades out. Alex: Sorry to disappoint you, your majesty.
A screenshot of a positive steam review for The Left Eye. The date stamp indicates that it was originally posted on the 16th of April. The text of the review reads: "I LOVE this visual novel! The characters are all really compelling, and the intersecting plot points are fascinating. The humor is great, and the serious moments feel very sincere. The main romantic storyline has me in an absolute CHOKEHOLD. I'm really looking forward to more episodes coming out!!! (pleasepleaseplease I need more)"
A screenshot of a visual novel. Two men are sitting at a bar, viewed from behind. The man on the left is looking at the one on the right, his head turned so his face is seen in profile, and he has curly hair and wears a suit jacket. The man on the right is wearing suspenders over a shirt. The UI shows that the speaker is Alex, the man on the right. He is saying: “Anyone ever told you that you’ve got awful taste in men?”
A square pride flag with an image of a sleeping cat surrounded by a game controller, a piece of paper, a musical note, a pencil, a six sided dice, a book and a raised fist. Beneath this is text reading: “Congrats, you’re in!”
A screenshot from a very early build of a visual novel. Two characters are posed in front of a drawing room background. They are indistinct and sketchy with their names written on their chests. The character to the left is male with 'Alex' written on him, and the character to the right is a woman with an eyepatch with 'Jackie' written across her chest, but backwards due to the sprite being flipped. The text box indicates that she is speaking, and she is saying: "No. We've all seen dead bodies. Some of us have even made a few ourselves". The whole image is monochrome.
A video from a visual novel, shown from the main character Emile's perspective. He is sitting across from three people: an older man (Henry), a younger man (Alex) and a woman with an eyepatch (Jackie). We can see two playing cards, the Seven and Three of Clubs, in Emile's hand. NARRATION: Jackie turns over three more cards: (The camera pans down to cards and poker chips on a wooden table) NARRATION: The Jack of Clubs, the King of Hearts and the Six of Diamonds. Henry: Nothin' here for me.
A promotional banner for the Steam Spring Sale, featuring pink, rounded text over a stylised countryside landscape. The text reads: “Steam Spring Sale: Mar 19-26 at 10AM PT”. Below that is the steam capsule for The Left Eye, featuring its logo and characters. A caption beneath reads: “-25%”, and indicates that the game’s full price is $4.99 and its sale price is $3.74.
A screenshot of a visual novel. the screen is split in two horizontally, with a sprite of a young man triumphantly pulling a fur coat on over a tuxedo on the left, and a UI panel with his biography on the right. The text reads: EMILE DE LA ROCHE, AGE: 25, BIRTHPLACE: CALAIS, FRANCE, OCCUPATION: SOCIALITE, CURRENT ABODE: THE WALDORF ASTORIA, NEW YORK CITY
An orange label with black text stuck to a brown cardboard box. It reads: “This is a set. Do not separate”
A screenshot of a game showing a title card in the style of silent movies. There are art deco diamond designs in each corner. The text in the centre reads: "THE LEFT EYE EPISODE THREE: PAS DE CHANCE"
A screenshot of the Twine editor with a large number of connected nodes indicating a branching narrative structure. The text on the nodes is largely too small to read but pertains to the flow of a poker game: different actions can be taken in different rounds.
A monochrome image of two men, focused on their torsos. A shorter man in a suit jacket is facing a taller man in a shirt and suspenders, and is wiping wine off his neck with a handkerchief. The lower quarter of the image shows a visual novel user interface, and identifies the speaker as Alex, the taller man. He is saying “We must be spending too much time together”.
A monochrome screenshot of two men sitting on the balcony of the statue of liberty's torch. A text box covers the lower portion of the image, which identifies the speaker as Alex, the man sitting on the left. The text reads: "...Truth is, I like you. And I need your help."
A monochrome image of scattered playing cards. The ace of diamonds has two mens’ faces inside, looking at one another. Another card has the Left Eye logo on it. A hideous colourful heart overlay is animated over the top of it.
A black and white illustration of a woman, cut so that only her eyes and nose are visible. She has thick, dark hair, and a white bandage over her left eye. She is glaring out of the frame, slightly above the viewer, nostrils flared with rage, menace in her one remaining eye.
Art of Emile and Jackie, two characters from The Left Eye, titled “if ya like:”, with various pink captions placed haphazardly over the image. They read “con artists”, “queer history”, “scary butches”, “stealing”, “codependent dyke/tyke friendships”, “chubby sociopathic twinks”, and “queer art by queer artists”.
Text over a monochrome image of two silhouettes standing on the balcony of the Statue of Liberty's torch. The text reads: "The Left Eye is set in the 1920s, but it's about the 2020s. It's about queer folks inventing themselves. It's about code switching and going stealth. It's an homage to Anna Delvey. It's about a moment in time of queer visibility and joy, right before a vicious backlash in the 1930s."
A monochrome image of scattered playing cards. The central card is the ace of diamonds, with profiles of two mens’ faces looking at one another inside the diamond shape. A card in the bottom left shows the logo for The Left Eye visual novel.
A screenshot of a visual novel. The lower half of two women's faces are shown in the corners of the screen, over a black background. They are speaking to one another through 1920s candlestick telephones. The text box contains the dialogue: "I've got a lead on a pretty thing you might like."
A young Black woman with bobbed hair placing a lit candle into a jack o' lantern. She is wearing a short white dress with scalloped edges. The image is coloured with a limited palette of warm purple, black, gray, and bright orange highlights. A hand-written caption reads "Happy Halloween from Haunted Trumpet"
A picture of Emile, a short young man with curly hair, tilting his head up towards Alex, a taller young man with slicked-back hair. They are both wearing suits. The background is a red theatre curtain. The image is contained in a border with two small diamond patterns in the upper corners.
Promotional banner for Steam’s Next Fest. To the right is a screen shot of in-game art featuring two men and a woman ballroom dancing together, and to the left is the Next Fest logo and informational text reading: “The Left Eye/Haunted Trumpet” and “check out our game demo during Steam Next Fest”
A screenshot of a visual novel, all in monochrome. The background is a 1920s diner. A young, chubby man is positioned in a diner booth and a dark haired woman is in the booth behind him, facing away. The text box indicates that the speaker is the woman, Jacqueline, and her dialogue reads: “Because I take care of you.”
A woman with an eyepatch over her left eye and a cigarette hanging out of her mouth (Jackie) glares angrily. She is possessively holding a considerably shorter young man (Emile) who is looking back over his shoulder at the viewer with a smug facial expression. The whole image is monochrome, with a brick wall background and a border with art deco inspired motifs.
The logo for The Left Eye, with two panels either side of it showing the characters from the game. From left to right: An older woman with dark hair and an eyepatch, a young, chubby man in a tux, a lean man with slicked back hair and angular features, and a middle-aged man in a formal suit and hat.
A monochrome image from a visual novel game. The background image is the statue of Liberty’s torch against a darkening sky. The flame of the torch is the older glass panelled version, and is lit from within. Two characters, one taller than the other, are silhouetted as they stand on the torch’s balcony. There is a text box over the lower quarter of the screen, containing text that reads: “We emerge into the cold night air, bathed in amber light from the glass panels of Liberty’s torch”.
Four rough drawings of a short, slightly chubby young man (the main character of The Left Eye: Emile de la Roche) showing him in a variety of outfits , including a fur coat, casual suit and tuxedo, in order to clarify his design for in-game sprites.
Three colourful model ghosts on a bookshelf
A screenshot of a monochrome visual novel. A middle aged male police detective is standing in a fancy hotel room next to a guarded-looking young man in a robe. The detective is speaking and his dialogue box reads “Tell me about that.” The young man has two responses to this, shown in the centre of the screen and reading “Bend the truth” and “Deny entirely”.
Steam Capsule art for The Left Eye. A brick background, with five white-bordered panels containing characters surrounding The Left Eye logo. The whole image is monochrome.
A bio for a character from The Left Eye: Deirdre Lawrence. The text reads: Age: 20 Likes: Poetry, roses, cocktails Dislikes: Small venues, bartending, liars Occupation: Up-and-coming singer "I'm just here to make a name for myself."
A digital sketch of a short young man with wavy hair. A tall, butch woman is standing behind him and to his left. She has an eyepatch over her left eye, and is holding her left hand over the man's left eye, forming a ring that he is looking through.
A photo of a square black sticker on a moon patterned desk mat, with the text “The Left Eye” in glitter
A logo with text reading "The Left Eye". The text is white with a bloom effect, over a grey half-toned diamond shape. The word eye is stylised within an eye shape. The background is black.
Six tiled images of a butch woman with dark, messy hair and an eyepatch over her left eye, with various facial expressions. The tiles are tinted in the colours of the lesbian pride flag.
Two people standing next to one another in a bar: to the left, an older man in a 1920s suit and hat, and to the right, a butch woman with a patch over her left eye.
A bio for a character from The Left Eye: Courtney Krakowski. The text reads: Age: 47 Likes: Cats, parties, pithy remarks Dislikes: You Occupation: Master of Ceremonies “Let’s break a few hearts.” To the right is a column of three images in greyscale: one of an ink drawing of an older man in a formal suit, one of the same man with his arms spread wide in front of a theatre curtain, and one of a yet-uncoloured sprite of the same man looking disdainful and holding a cigarette in a long holder. In the top left corner there is a logo for Haunted Trumpet.