Free Dating Sim Don't Stare Turns NPC Eye Contact Into A High Stakes Game
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
A clever new game jam title called Don't Stare turns invasive player staring into a weaponized speed-dating mechanic, offering a fresh perspective on how virtual characters react to our unrestricted camera views.
Video game cameras are usually entirely at our mercy. Whether we are tearing through an open world or chatting up shopkeepers, we constantly swing our perspectives around without a second thought, treating virtual bodies as public property. A clever new game jam creation called Don't Stare flips that dynamic on its head by making your gaze the ultimate weapon, and it highlights just how much depth modern RPGs are missing by letting players stare with impunity.
Developed as a speed dating sim featuring sixty-seven fantastical characters, Don't Stare casts you as an unwilling participant who just wants to escape. Instead of trying to romance anyone, your actual goal is to creep everyone out by hovering your cursor over their sensitive anatomical features. You only have twenty seconds before a bouncer tosses you onto the street, turning the experience into a fast-paced puzzle of discovering what makes each weird date squirm. It is a brilliant little project that instantly makes you wish mainstream first-person RPGs adopted similar mechanics.
While games like Lethal Company punish you for looking at specific monsters and Death Stranding famously features a very protective Norman Reedus, most virtual citizens simply tolerate unblinking, invasive staring. Bringing social consequences to how we manage our camera views would completely transform immersion in massive single-player worlds. As detailed by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell over at Rock Paper Shotgun, checking out a Demon King's prominent ears until he flees in tears sounds like a much better alternative to standard boss fights anyway. You can check out the original breakdown and try the game for yourself over at Rock Paper Shotgun.
Tags: Indie Games, PC Gaming, Game Design, RPGs, Dating Sims
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun