An Office Romance Game--Updated April 10, 2019

Ah okay I think that makes sense.

Long time no see! Short update to the game. Thank you for your patience :smile:

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Blunt question:

When we finally get promoted to a higher position, will we be able to hire a secretary?
And can we have sexy time with that secretary?

P.S.

If it’s not possible since you’re creating an under 18 game, can you put an option instead to hire an intern? And then let us be able to bully them? Or order them to fetch this, fetch that, come over here, now that’ a good doggie… I meant intern?

I want to re-enact my office days. Hahahaha…

Kidding!

Glad to see your still working on this!

New reader here really like it glad to see your still working on it

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Why is it pushing a romance so hard? You can’t even have a conversation with someone without being asked if your interested in them.

This was answered before: because the game is intended to be romance-focused.

I can understand it being a romance based game but nothing feels natural, every interaction feels forced.

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@Knightstrike: Lol! I want to keep the game relatively PG so it’s open to a wider audience. If I ever finish this game, my next idea is to continue it, but instead of starting as a temp, you’d start from a position of power (like a regular employee and/or a boss). I def like the secretary or intern angle! It should make for some interesting situations.

@attolia: Thank you! Will try my best to upload more often.

@Misa101: Thank you for checking out my game!

@bitmo: I’m sorry you feel that way. I’ll look into adding more scenes so the romantic decisions don’t feel so forced. Thanks for the feedback!

@Ramidel: Thank you for answering DeeFlavored’s question!

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Short update available! The update is for when you choose the shuttle and to sit in the front window seat. Still working on mapping the other paths. Thanks for playing :slight_smile:

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Short update available! The update is for when you choose the shuttle then choose to sit in the last row. Thanks for playing!

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He starts telling you about all the cool hiking trails you guys should visit. You guys talk casually about the trip for awhile with Jillian seeming asleep the whole time. You decide to tease Tyler and ask if he feels comfortable. He scrunches his nose anf flashes you a silly grin. You quietly laugh at his facial expression. It seems you weren’t quiet enough because Jillian opens her eyes immediately.

anf should be and

Love the story so much, can’t wait for more, but the part of the story with the Alex character trips me up as there is no stat for them, and as this is also the first time they appear.

@Uniqueth: Thanks for pointing out that typo! Thank you, I’m happy that you enjoyed the story :slight_smile:

Would introducing Alex earlier, but briefly, would make his scene less abrupt? I wanted a story arc where players can build/tank their reputation with other employees outside of their group. (SPOILER ALERT!) I was considering, if players chose to work hard for Alex’s group, there’s a potential for a job offer.

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Yeah, introducing him earlier would help. When I first read through that part, I thought it was a typo that another character had been named Alex in an earlier draft of the text

First: Errors. ^-^

Mark introduces you and you take your place next to the presentation board. You take a deep breathe.

->breath

You read the brochure more to see what your offsite weekend will be like. This time of the year, the conditions are right so bioluminescence occurs.

I think you need to include what is being bioluminescent, the reader has some difficulty linking bioluminescent marine bacteria making the water glow, and “bioluminescence occuring”.
As a suggestion:

This time of year the conditions are ideal for bioluminescence to occur in the marine life.

Other than that I’ve enjoyed reading this so far, and look forward to seeing it finished. Keep up the good work. :slight_smile:

This game has a lot of potential…but it would be better if you could select your gender in the future.

I like it. I hope I’ll be able to date more than one person at a time, although considering that they’re a tight group of coworkers, it probably wouldn’t last long.

Okay, I did a play-through and took some notes.

  1. Pharmacide. I loved this clever name for a pharmaceutical company. It also lets the player know right out of the gate that this is going to be a pretty light-hearted game.

  2. Grammar: When Mark apologizes for working you so hard on the team project and asked if you’re stressed, one of the choices is “No I’m ok” but it should be “No, I’m ok.”

  3. I like that saying you’re not interested in a romance doesn’t lock you out of pursuing it later on, since real people frequently don’t immediately know if they’re interested in someone romantically, but I do kind of feel like the romance prompts should be spaced out a bit more.

  4. Grammar: When doing the presentation for the team project one of the choices is “I like that Mark and I’s presentation is more comprehensive.” I recommend something like, “I like that our presentation is more comprehensive.” It’s contextually clear who the “our” refers to, and it’s grammatically correct.

  5. When talking to Anne about Jillian’s behavior, you can offer to smooth things over by “volunteering to help with Billy,” which was completely confusing for me since in my playthrough I didn’t see any hint of Anne being interested in Billy at that point. Maybe you need to set up an “if true” for knowledge about Anne’s interest to show this option?

  6. This is a weighty one. Remember how I said that the game sets itself up as light-hearted from the beginning? Seeing/experiencing sexual harrassment from Anne is really jarring. Because the general feel of the game is so light-hearted, it doesn’t really have the foundation to handle the topic of sexual harrassment in a meaningful way. I wouldn’t say that you have to take it out completely, but ask yourself what purpose having such overt sexual harrassment actually serves in a light-hearted office romance game, and if there is a way to handle the topic sensitively while still adhering to the general ambience of the game.

  7. Grammar: On the shuttle to the weekend trip, there’s this confusing sentence: “Tyler and Jillian are sitting quietly, with Anne slightly leaning into Tyler.”

Otherwise, keep it up! Keep fleshing out those characters because in a game like this, that’s the most critical thing. At this stage, I’m most curious about what Jillian’s deal is, and if she can redeem herself in the eyes of the MC.

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Short update available! The update is for when you choose the shuttle, choose to get on first, then sit in the middle aisle seat. Thanks for playing and commenting!

@Uniqueth: Thanks! It’s on my to do list.

@m3ales: Thanks for pointing out those errors! And thank you for your words of encouragement :slight_smile:

@Zahid_Uddin1: I can’t make any promises, but I’m hoping that after I finish the story, I can go back and add that option. Thanks for playing!

@eunicegirl: Yes, you’re right about dating multiple characters at once. You can pursue multiple love interests, but your choices will affect your points with the other characters (example: choosing to declare you like a particular character can lessen your points with the others). Glad you like it so far!

@DylanTK:

  • Some of my inspiration for this story was the Office (US sitcom) and shoujo manga/anime. Both sources take serious situations, like harassment, and present them in a manner that downplays their true gravity. My intention for my story was to provide a source of strife/common enemy. I also wanted to give the MC an option to advance in the game through more “questionable” means, such as being romantically involved with your boss. I agree with you that this is a lighthearted game, and will think if there’s a way I can still have those elements without using such a serious platform for them.
  • Thank you for your detailed notes! Was able to fix those errors. I’ll work on spacing out those romance prompts (I’ve gotten feedback that the romance can feel forced) and make sure the scenes that hint about Anne’s interest in Billy are present in all the paths. I appreciate the feedback, it was helpful!
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I can definitely see that you took inspiration from anime. I actually very nearly referenced anime in my previous comment.

I get what you’re saying about anime/sitcoms downplaying the gravity of sexual harrassment… I don’t like to say any kind of topic is off limits, but the reality is a lot of people have experienced sexual harrassment/coercion/violence/abuse. Like, 20% of your readership, and that’s more than likely an underestimate. Granted, reactions will vary in that 20+%, but it’s just something to keep in mind, I think. My recommendation is to tone it down a bit (like just keeping it verbal instead of physical maybe), and give players the opportunity to punish her by sabotaging her career, or devising plans to publicly humiliate her. That way the player will feel like they can do something about it.

It still just won’t sit well with some people, but others will find it very satisfying to get the better of a character like her.

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