Games about building strictly platonic relationships

[Blue Lemma]

And male-made game on male relationships.

How's that for realism and authenticness?

That one would probably need explosions for most guys to be interested

[Fawn]

@Camille: Actually not what I'm aiming for at all... I didn't like that series actually, I felt the characters were a bit too shallow sometimes ^^;

The characters I've created are all socially awkward kinds of females (in the adorkable way, not the creepy way) that have always been shy or just never got to be social. (everyone likes adorkable ladies to a point, I definitely do ) It wouldn't be the typical "boys and clothes and makeup and girly stuff!!" kind of thing.

That one would probably need explosions for most guys to be interested

This makes me think of Duke Nukem, Mr. T and Chuck Norris all getting together and going on a bromantic adventure haha.

[Auro-Cyanide]

@DaFool, I was thinking something more along the lines of, say, Big Bang Theory male friendship. Or the friendships in a lot of slice of life stories.

I love slice of life with a passion (seriosuly, who can't like something as cute as Yotsubato!), so I'm all for this kind of stuff. I have read a whole heap of things that either don't have romatic overtones at all, or if they do, they aren't realised. I'm fine with that, it's just nice reading about everyday moments you can relate to. The problem is you have to do it really, really well. You don't really have suspension of disbelief in slice of life so the relationships kind of have to be spot on. Especially if it's about socially awkward females, because there are enough of us here that have been there and done that.

[DrakeNavarone]

Most of my games actually have platonic relationships. Mirai Imouto actually focused on a sibling love relationship, without all that creepy incesty stuff. Unfortunately, fact is, the ONE story I have with a romantic relationship is also by bounds the most popular piece I wrote. It certainly might not have been the deciding factor in the attention it got, but I can't help but note the correlation.

There's an audience for platonic relationships among main characters, and I'm among them. But it might not be the biggest audience. Even in games with abundant romance in them, you'll see pleads of "why is Miss So-And-So unromancable?!" It's a thing that a lot of people look for. And that might be the reason it isn't seen as often. If you care to buck the trend, more power to ya! Just be wary that you might not get as much attention as your peers who pair everyone off.


Also, I'd be all for more awesome male friendships, as long as you don't fall into the trap the "male best friend" archetype often brings with it... especially a high Stupidity Quotient.

[Sapphi]

I think it's a good idea, except I want to meet those characters in a world where my relationship with them is not the entire point. Just like with romantic games, there should be a greater plot, and the relationship-building should tie into the plot.

I do like slice of life, I really do, but there are only so many slices a person can eat before they get tired of the... uhh... cake. In this case, I am thinking of K-ON. I was SO HYPED to watch that show because of all the cute adorable girls with incredibly cute teeth, but I couldn't even finish the first season. It was just so boring to me... I mean, I probably will go back to it eventually, but the point is that I would rather watch a show with a little more plot than just "Cute girls do cute stuff!" and with visual novels it's the same.

[Mink]

I mentioned that it might be weird because so many games are about romancing characters (especially when girls are involved) and that players might feel like something's missing, as Lemma mentioned.

Ah, I get that. But then, that's weird to me, because why would you expect something to have romance unless, you know, it's a romance? Or maybe I'm thinking about it the wrong way. I dunno.

Maaan...my game is a freak show, then: player character is a guy, other two characters are girls, and neither of them does he attempt to hook up with. With one of them, it'd be creepy if he did. He's even meant to point that out.

[Camille]

@Camille: Actually not what I'm aiming for at all... I didn't like that series actually, I felt the characters were a bit too shallow sometimes ^^;

The characters I've created are all socially awkward kinds of females (in the adorkable way, not the creepy way) that have always been shy or just never got to be social. (everyone likes adorkable ladies to a point, I definitely do ) It wouldn't be the typical "boys and clothes and makeup and girly stuff!!" kind of thing.

Well, that's why I said "kind of like". XD I dunno about shallow. They were just a group of average teenaged girls. Not like everyone is really mature at that age.

From what this sounds like, then, it's kinda like "Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai" without the guy. XD I think that'd be kinda cute. I had a vague VN plotbunny a while back about a couple of otaku/hikkikomori/fujoshi type girls who start living together to save on housing costs, but then thought that was a little too similar to "Kuragehime".

Also, on a bit of a tangent, Mink: if your game isn't about romance, why is it called "Say You Love Me"? 0_o (not trying to be snarky or anything, just genuinely curious)

[HikkiPanda]

platonic relationship .... .

i dunno ... I both like it and hate it. It's like you're serving us a delicious food, give us a bite and then take the rest of the food away ... . ^^;

I do like slice of life, I really do, but there are only so many slices a person can eat before they get tired of the... uhh... cake. In this case, I am thinking of K-ON. I was SO HYPED to watch that show because of all the cute adorable girls with incredibly cute teeth, but I couldn't even finish the first season. It was just so boring to me... I mean, I probably will go back to it eventually, but the point is that I would rather watch a show with a little more plot than just "Cute girls do cute stuff!" and with visual novels it's the same.

The boring stuff in the anime is courtesy of kyoani (the animation studio) with their filler + original story and drama, so if you want to go back, I suggest to try the manga instead ^^

[Aleema]

What about a game that there was no romance, but just friendship? Platonic friendship, just about getting through the conflict of the story without having to romance someone?

That's pretty much what my By The Lake game is about (supposed to be about). I love character studies, it doesn't have to be romantic.

[Van Knox]

And male-made game on male relationships.

How's that for realism and authenticness?

That one would probably need explosions for most guys to be interested

Not really. Boston Legal, a great legal drama, focused a lot on the bromance between two characters, Alan Shore and Denny Crane. Their relationship was better received by men than by women, due to their authenticity. Not that men hate explosions, mind you. I love a good explosion. Quite frankly I love explosions so much I want to marry one.

My current project doesn't focus on bromance, since it's a murder mystery, but I'm definitely approaching the bromance idea. No idea if that will interest people though. I'm not exactly new to writing, but I am completely new to visual novel writing, so I don't have a good hang of the audience in general and have no idea what people like or not. Still, since it's a side theme, I'm not too worried about including it there.

I would love to see people's reactions to a pure bromance story though, even if it was a short one. Hell, I just might write one if I can find the time.

[sake-bento]

I'm working on a raising sim right now that has zero romance options. I like it that way. Most books I read don't have romance in them, or if they do, it's secondary to whatever else is going on.

[LVUER]

And male-made game on male relationships.

How's that for realism and authenticness?

That one would probably need explosions for most guys to be interested

Romance for men (without love) is giant robot and drill

[DaFool]

I'm not exactly new to writing, but I am completely new to visual novel writing, so I don't have a good hang of the audience in general and have no idea what people like or not.

I'd welcome your works in the future!

Don't "dumb down" the writing like I've seen other writers try to mimic Japanese writing (it won't work because what we read were only translated). I'd prefer to write the way you write and have the medium/presentation adapt to you than the other way around.

Also, unless you have a good manga-style artist onboard, don't expect much hype for your work.

Best of luck!

[Van Knox]

I'm not exactly new to writing, but I am completely new to visual novel writing, so I don't have a good hang of the audience in general and have no idea what people like or not.

I'd welcome your works in the future!

Don't "dumb down" the writing like I've seen other writers try to mimic Japanese writing (it won't work because what we read were only translated). I'd prefer to write the way you write and have the medium/presentation adapt to you than the other way around.

Also, unless you have a good manga-style artist onboard, don't expect much hype for your work.

Best of luck!

Yeah, I definitely agree with not trying to mimic Japanese writing. It's just not possible for me. I tried playing around with the writing a bit, but then I realized I just wasn't having any fun with it at all, so I'm going to stick to my own style and see how that plays out. I'm still negotiating with a few artists, but I think they are pretty good. Thanks for all the advice!

But on the topic of other mediums(to keep this post from going too far offtopic) I think bromance is interesting in that it's portrayed very differently across different cultures and different mediums.

For example, in a Japanese visual novel, a bromance is likely to be shown through a fist fight resulting in banter. In a more Western setting, it would be shown differently, like...this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq5Xz-P2T-M

It's a pretty interesting thing to consider when writing a bromance in a visual novel, because people reading visual novels might be more conditioned to the eastern representation of bromance.

...Well I say it's something to consider, but to be perfectly honest I'm more likely to just write what I believe would be interesting without giving it that much thought in this case

[Omnificent]

I am down for more womance as well as bromance, particularly if the former is anything like Jane and Daria from Daria. Heck, just exploring the tenuous difference between feelings of platonic affection and romance is an interesting subject.

Recently a few of my friends from college and I talked about how if one of us was in trouble, even if they were halfway across the country, the rest of us would drop what we were doing and charge over there. And one of my friends declared that we were the only people in the world he would consider dying for. That there is bromance.