College Romance

This game blends one of those choose-your-own-adventure type books with a little bit of material from a dating sim game, to present a submission that is nearly entirely story-driven. The graphics are nice, but not staggering, the game relying primarily on the author's writing skill, story-arcs, and portrayal of various characters' lives and personality traits. For a game where all a player does is read, and occasionally click an item from a mulitple-choice list, it was a surprisingly engrossing experience. While we never see our protagonist, he must be a serious looker, as every woman he runs into is instantly interested, not to mention conveniently unattached. Despite that little bit of fantasy, the author paints a frighteningly familiar picture of a college student, torn between majors, deciding what to do with his life, and influenced by the people with whom he wants to spend his life. Right alongside our hero, there are five women, each a sharp contrast from one another, all with differently engaging life stories, and personalities and desires that stem logically from their backgrounds. The multiple choice selections affect which women the protagonist encounters, and what happens, getting the player a little bit invested in the story. There's no "wrong" ending, but for each player, a different ending might seem better than the others; that's all a matter of taste. I played through to get the "win" ending for each of the women, didn't bother exploring all of the different losing options, and called it a day. It's well-written, and definitely worth an hour. Consider it a daily dose of reading, since nobody reads enough any more. I'd almost like to see the author writing books with such engrossing characters, versus making computer games. Maybe the protagonist, torn between comptuer programming and writing, is a little like the game's creator.