Like others before me, I heavily recommend Fallen Hero. You just have to if you love character driven and character interaction heavy stories. The start may be a bit slow? But once the introduction part is done, you’ve gotten to know the characters and their past together and everythiiiing has so much heartbreak potential. The alpha of book 2 is amazing as well.
Already recommended as well but I have to recommend it again: Evertree Inn and its sequel Sordwin (there’s a third game work in progress - Lux - and I think the author mentioned they have many ideas for more games in the series). I just love the characters. In Sordwin, you can take the character you allied with in the first game (two are ROs, one might turn into an RO in a future game) with you on a little journey or decide to leave them behind. And they play a part in the game! An actual part! I’ve been disappointed in some sequels before where your companion from the first game is barely mentioned, has no role to play, feels like they don’t quite belong in the sequel. This is not the case in Sordwin. They are incorporated and have their own arc. (this disappointment is one of the reasons why I like Superlatives: Aetherfall a lot more than its sequel Shattered Worlds. Just has more Dusk)
As others have mentioned, Wayhaven Chronicle is a romance game and focuses on characters. The sequel is on the homestretch right now, being in the editing and soon beta phase. There are about 6 or 7 books planned for the series.
And I agree that A Study in Steampunk is worth a mention as well! It is male genderlocked, but it was all worth it for Finch <3. The start was a bit strange for me and took me a bit to get into, but I grew to enjoy it.
Now some new mentions:
Dragon Racer. There are dragons. And great characters with plenty, plenty of interaction with them. Sequel is in development. I think there’s going to be three games. If you end up liking it, the author is also working on another ChoiceScript game - Insight - right now and has released Superstition, the first game of a series, over at itchio, having used Twine to code it.
Asteroid Run had an enjoyable atmosphere, reminded me a little bit of Firefly.
Heart of the House has a wonderful atmosphere as well as great characters. It’s more in the ~horror/mystery genre so it might be a refreshing change.
I think as you enjoyed the Zombie Exodus games, perhaps you’d also enjoy Choice of Rebels. There’s camp management, especially when you choose to bring your group through winter yourself instead of letting the system do it. (not sure if the CoR in your post stands for Choice of Rebels
)
Now, there are some to-be-released and wip games that I want to recommend as well:
The Soul Stone War (first of a series, so many series…) is on the publishing queue right now. It’s going to be character and romance heavy with amazing characters. I love Morkai and Straasa and their dynamics, and I’m very much looking forward to the polyromance routes of the game.
I’ve heard good things about The Shadow Society, also on the queue, but haven’t played it myself. But the place I heard good things about it is a place full of romance (and heart ache) lovers, so I assume there are great characters there.
Another wip to mention is The Golden Rose. It is great already and it has Bill, the horse with personality, who I hope you’d love as well. Bill is a dork, but a lovable dork.
There are dozens of wips on the forums right now of which many are amazing I bet, just haven’t gotten to try most of them so far.
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When it comes to my favourite games on here…
Fallen Hero is right at the top, no question there.
The Evertree series is up there as well.
I love Tally Ho and am looking forward to the author’s next games (a series starting with Cake and Ale in the same universe and some cameos like Haze).
I also like Dragon Racer a lot. There are some amazing stories here.
Edit: I completely forgot to mention The Passenger. It’s a wip, and it’s amazing. You play an Eldritch Monster trapped in a human casket and hunted by another Eldritch Monster. Romance options are great far, I’d say especially Roach (not human either, changeable gender) is a fan favourite.