Title: Deux à Deux
Author: Ray Wilson
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Romance, Crime (and a tiny bit of comedy)
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Email: if you prefer email for communicating feedback/questions/whatever else, PM me and I will send you my email address!
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. For more information on the ROs, see the following tab:
Love Interests!
T (Tom/Tess/Tory) Lyons. T Lyons is cool, composed, and very, very obviously wealthy. They are married to N Lyons, who is a lot more outgoing than they are. They have cold, appraising eyes and seem to mask their perpetual tenseness with impeccable posture. You get the feeling there’s more to T than meets the eye; there’s a certain heavy air that follows them around like a storm cloud. T Lyons is Black, with a dark-skinned complexion and very dark brown eyes.
N (Noah/Natasha/Nico) Lyons. N Lyons is friendly and charming, their smile almost bright enough to disguise their intensely perceptive gaze. N is a talented conversationalist and they delight in banter. They carry themselves with confidence and have an unmistakably magnetic personality. You get the feeling that N might be even harder to read than their spouse, T. It’s ironic, given how much easier they are to talk to, but maybe that’s how N keeps people from prying too deeply. N Lyons is Mexican-American, with a tanned complexion and dark brown eyes.
Minh Nguyen (gender-variable). Minh Nguyen is a bit of a jaded, standoffish figure. They’re younger than either Lyons spouse, maybe only a year or two older than you, but they seem much older if only because of their cynical, disillusioned attitude about…well, basically everything. Minh lives with the Lyonses, and also is…dating them? Sleeping with them? Their sugar baby? Honestly, you have no fucking idea what their relationship is. You get the impression Minh has no desire to explain it to you, either. Minh Nguyen is Vietnamese-American, with a deep tan complexion and very dark brown eyes.
Ronnie Burns (gender-variable). Ronnie Burns is your boxing coach of nearly two years now. They know how to push your buttons more than anyone you’ve ever met, but they also know exactly how to train you to be a better boxer than you ever imagined you’d be. Ronnie is always teasing you, poking fun with little taunts and impish grins, but they backpedal immediately when they think they’ve pushed you too far. Ronnie has gotten nicer to you over time, and now they’re almost sweet sometimes. Almost. Ronnie is Punjabi-American, with brown skin and dark brown eyes.
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!!!
