Hi everyone! I’m working on a demo right now, but I thought I’d go ahead and make an interest check just to see what people think! I definitely haven’t played every IF out there, so it’d be super helpful to know if anyone thinks the concept isn’t quite original enough. 
Tentative Title: The Gilded
Your younger brother, Leo, went missing three days ago. Your parents called the police, and they started investigating quickly. They were too late. Leo had already disappeared into the deepest part of the forest, where the mortals had long since vowed to avoid. The police have offered to contact your family if Leo crosses the barrier back to the mortal side, but their investigation can’t go any further without inviting the wrath of the Fae.
The winter solstice is approaching fast, which means that the High Fae are likely gathering mortal children for their great feast. The only way to get your brother back is to follow him into the forest and steal him back from the palace of the High Fae… If you can get there in one piece.
Genre: This is a dark fantasy story, and includes romance and horror. This story is likely suited for a more mature audience, one that isn’t afraid of some gore and violence. The story includes role playing elements, like stat building and an inventory system, and will involve some “free” exploration outside of plot events. This includes some elements similar to a text adventure - choosing what path to take or which items to interact with.
The MC: You’re a young college student, living at home with your family over winter break. You can set your name, nickname, gender, and appearance within the story. You can modify relationships with other characters throughout the story. You can choose your starting abilities, and improve them by collecting items. Later, when you discover your character’s secret, you can also choose how that secret affects the character for the rest of the story.
Stats: Your character stats will be primarily related to their combat and problem solving abilities. These will be used to perform skill checks during the story, but you will always have access to an option that suits your highest skill. You will set your starting Strength, Defense, and Logic skills at the start of the story, and you may discover additional hidden talents during the course of your adventure.
Romance: It is up to you to decide if your character should pursue a romance during the story - the plot will not be hindered by a lack of romance. The game includes aromantic and asexual options, as well as LGB romances. I’m not sure at this time if there will be a poly option, but it’s something I’m considering. There will be 4-5 romanceable characters, who will also join you on your quest. You can choose the gender settings for these characters according to your preference, or leave them as their default settings. Regardless of their gender or your own, each of these characters will always be romanceable. Each romance will have a “lock-in” point, at which you can choose to pursue the relationship or switch to another one. “Flirt” options in the game will lead to romance, while “Friendly” options will lead to a more platonic relationship. “Mean” options can result in a character’s friendship or romance being locked out, so that the player cannot pursue them. It may be possible to make a character leave the group if you are consistently mean to them, but I will have to decide if that mechanic is worth pursuing.
Let me know if you have any questions! I’ll be trying to get a demo and some concept artwork up in the next couple months.
Edit to add:
Inspiration: The setting and creatures involved in this story are largely inspired by western and ancient mythology surrounding faerie creatures, like Fauns, Centaurs, Kelpies, Bluecaps, Dryads, and more. The story is loosely inspired by the dark fantasy works of such authors as Holly Black and Sarah J Maas, whose work depicts a very sinister sort of fae folk, while also drawing from established myths and old stories of the Fae
Congrats on getting ch3 up!
