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This is a game I created for the Anti-Romance Jam 2023 based on two characters from my upcoming interactive fiction game.
philia: denoting fondness, especially a love for a friend.
Terri Mathers never thought they would find that special someone. The one that everyone talks about--the one that everyone asks them about. Are you seeing anyone? Have you gone on any dates yet? They were sick of it.
Quite frankly, they didn't see the appeal of dating. They could look at someone and determine if they were good-looking or not, but nobody ever caught their eye. And for the longest time, they never thought they would find anyone who caught their eye.
When they believe they have finally found the one, they take the opportunity offered to them.
Only it's not everything that they expected.
This is the story of a person discovering their meaning of the word love.
Told from the perspective of Terri, a love-inexperienced student, this kinetic entry tells the story of two dormmate hitting off after meeting, moving into a relationship, before breaking things off when unsaid truths were kept silent. And learned lessons along the way.
This entry is what you'd expect from a slice-of-life story, considering the theme of the jam. It is sweet and at times a bit corny (in a good way). Kind of heartbreaking, leaving a bittersweet after taste, overall.
That said, the prose didn't do much for me. While it had some heart, I found it a bit too meandering to keep me focused, dragging some scenes longer than it should, while glossing over beats that maybe should have been a bit more expanded (like the whole avoiding your partner, or going further into Terri's struggle with their identity). There is potential here, it just needs a little more TLC to get there.
I wasn't particularly fond of Terri's passivity either. I think it made sense in the context of the story, but I wanted to shake them so they'd face the issues they created rather than letting Trinity to all the work for the both of them.