I’m hopefully going for something a little unique as far as choice games are concerned. I wanted to write a story that focused on the trope of “the one who got away”, the idea that the two people were right for each other but the timing was off or there was some outstanding circumstance that kept them from being together.
This would focus a lot more on the story side of interactive fiction as opposed to the game side but your decisions will most definitely have an impact.
The plot takes place between two characters who had met at work (police dispatching center) who have an immediate attraction to one another and hit it off right away. The only problem is that one is about to be married and the other is on the fence about running down the aisle screaming “I object!” So long story short the two never get together and eventually move on to new things. The married one becoming a journalist in a rocky marriage and the other fulfilling their dream of becoming a detective. A chilling mystery surrounds a Jane Doe that brings both characters to the location of her untimely death… Staying in a cabin together nearby. What fun. Creepy shenanigans ensue and the player can choose whether or not they bring these two characters back together again or if they truly were just never meant to be.
The mystery is a fun plot point but will not be the main focus of the story. This is a realistic romance that centers around character development and the dynamics between the two.
The way it’ll work is that the game will flash back and forth between the present (cabin and murder house) and the past (how they met and how they were when they were you younger etc). There are certain things that you can decide about the past but things always end up pretty much the same in the present. The flashbacks are more for character building and learning what exactly led to the end of this potential relationship. The player can only truly change what happens in the present and what will happen going forward.
While I can certainly have it where you are always switching perspectives between the two characters I think it would be more fun to have you choose which you would rather play as and have the whole game in their perspective. It would add a fun twist for replayability as now you’d get to read again and see how the other character felt.
I’d love to here some opinions and ideas on what I have so far. Is it something you’d want to read? Do you like the idea of choosing your perspective at the beginning of the game? Let me know!