It’s an alternate 1920s. You’re at a high-class party full of rich people. And you’re about to rob them blind.
The Valentine Caper is a short, but complete heist game that I might expand into a full-length game later. It all takes place over the course of one evening: a fancy party hosted by a shady rich person. Your job is to get into her locked office and steal her most prized possession- the Valentine Ruby. Con, sleuth, or charm your way around several partygoers, including a gossiping socialite and disgruntled journalist, to uncover the information you need. You might just be stumbling onto something you weren’t prepared for.
Oh, and watch out for the good-looking detective.
You can play the game here.
And as always, It’d be great if you left feedback for me on this form.
Illustrations posted! Thanks everyone!
So, I read the story, really liked and, and filled out the form. I do have to ask, though, in what way is this story in an alternate 1920s? It seemed pretty normal to me.
I just played once for now. But I love the atmosphere and humour. Very true to the roaring twenties. It works well for a short story. If you made it bigger to become a Hosted you totally should. I recommend you made it like a series of different types of heists that have in common the protagonist where the player could choose a further goal like have their luxurious casino or become a celebrity. That and add more customization.
I really enjoyed playing this one. Short but sweet. Could’ve enjoyed a bit more with variety in flirting in ch2. All in all…a good read for Valentine’s day.
the stats are perfect for a game like this, well done there
“You bat your eyelashes at the large man at the door and slip inside with a wink as he blushes furiously.” seems odd for a guy to do? i’m playing as a straight guy, so even if I was pretending to like guys… do guys do this?
you do a ton of eyelash batting haha
That was very fun! First things first, errors. None! I was pleasantly surprised, but I didn’t find a single spelling/grammar/punctuation error. Good work.
As for the story, I loved it! It’s short and sweet, but you could definitely make it longer. I have a couple ideas for how you could make that longer if you’re interested. But just for this short version, it is very well done. I actually failed my first play through! Then my second and third attempts were successful. The only thing I found a bit odd (besides the constant eyelash stuff) was the fact that you could hook up with a ton of people. Really nobody noticed that? Maybe make it not possible to hook up with more than one person?
Again, fantastic job! It felt like a true 1920s party with a Great Gatsby kind of vibe. Good work!
In that time people hooked a lot. For instance women had a dance notebook to appointment men to dance. So it goes with the time. So you dance and talking ten men was nothing weird
Thank you for sharing your game entry; as others said above, I also think this is a great core to build upon.
The biggest change I would make is with the choice of clothing – I would add a secondary choice that confirms the reader wishes to play the corresponding play-style (ie. gold flapper dress means you are a brilliant con artist, is this what you desire?)
You know I didn’t notice that until you pointed it out lol… I’ll rethink some of those!
What do you mean stupid, this is genius
Good idea. Clothing doesn’t affect the stats too much, but I’ll add it in.
Thanks for playing everyone! I’d love to hear more ideas for how this can be expanded. You can dm me, or post here, or submit a form if you have thoughts. I have some ideas right now of where I could take it but nothing set in stone.
Just played it and I loved it! I agree with an earlier comment, you nailed the atmosphere! Definitely loved the 1920s vibe. I had some game overs at first and it was fun replaying it to successfully pull off the heist. I would 100% play this if you ever turned it into a full-length game.
Don’t know what direction you’d take but thinking out loud I think it would be cool to have the game consist of different “episodes” or “chapters” going on a different heist for each episode, while still having an overarching plot in the background that ties everything together in the end. Would love to see more action scenes.
To add on to what other people have said, now that I have mulled it over, I don’t think that the story needs to be expanded in the area that it has already covered- the heist itself is so simple that adding more on to it would be adulteration. Rather, the better option would be to add more after the end; e.g. perhaps a series of heists in which you interact with Max, Benny, and Hilda again, or perhaps running from the law and/or facing consequences. Perhaps do a Calendar Man type of story, and have one bite-sized heist for each holiday (Valentine’s, St. Patrick’s, the Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, et cetera).
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I don’t know if I should feel sorry or appreciate you…
