Title: Deux à Deux
Author: Ray Wilson
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Romance, Crime (and a tiny bit of comedy)
Current Progress: Prologue & Chapter 1 completed.
Remaining Progress: Chapters 2-8 and Epilogue.
Wordcount: 43,000
Average Playthrough: 17,000
AI Disclaimer: This game was not made with the use of any generative AI tools. All art assets were made from open-access images, good ol’ Photoshop, and commercial-use fonts.
When you catch the eyes of the fabulous and filthy-rich Lyonses, the gritty New York you’ve known for your whole life cracks open into a world of glamour, money, and power. If you want to change your life, the perfect opportunity has fallen right into your lap: all you have to do is reach out and take it.
That is, as long as you can work around the corporation with its hand in every pocket in the city (or more accurately, the entire country), the criminal syndicate that’s operating just below the surface, and the many skeletons in the Lyonses’ closet. You could have it all if you manage that—but there’s no going back to your old life before you’d been thrust into the conflicts of the highest (and lowest) spheres of New York.
You’ve got eyes on you now, and the attention of some less-than-savory types with big aspirations of their own. Like it or not, your life is about to change.
Perhaps you’ll greet this new phase of your life with open arms, or perhaps it’ll drag you in kicking and screaming. At the end of the day, though, you’re more than capable of find your way in this new world—and you’re going to make it work for you through sheer willpower, quick thinking, and the relentless determination you use to tackle all your problems.
A few details…
Deux à Deux has a gender-variable PC (man, woman, or nonbinary), and the four ROs are all gender-selectable as well.
The player-character (or “PC”) is a bartender for work and boxer in their free time. They have a somewhat variable personality, but the tone of their narrative voice is pretty consistent. My friend (and current sole alpha tester, lol) described the PC as “mentally sharp, with a sense of humor and a cynical streak.” The boxing part of PC’s character also helps establish them being “independent/a strong individual, tough, and a little gritty” (to steal my friend’s descriptions again).
Most of the branching I plan to do will have less to do with the PC’s personality stats, and more to do with choices they make that affect how the story unfolds. These will start somewhat vague in their implications, because the PC doesn’t start knowing exactly the playing-board they’re on, but will become more and more deliberate in time. I explicitly want the PC of Deux à Deux to be a very strong, influential character with high agency and autonomy within the story.
Any and all critiques/thoughts on the demo are welcome, always!! I want to make this game as solid as I can, so please don’t shy away from giving any feedback, good, bad, or anything in between. I appreciate all of it more than I can say!!!
