Old school romance mechanics sell players, characters, and game developers short
Many times, romance mechanics in games can feel a bit like seducing a vending machine. Put enough coins in and out comes the love and affection. At GDC 2022, writer and narrative designer Michelle Clough argued that there's an approach that allows for more flexibility, more player opportunities, and richer storytelling: the chemistry card tower/casino.
This "kindness coin" loop, arguably the most frequently seen method of establishing in-game romance, repays favors, compliments, or general nice gestures with romantic or sexual responses. For obvious reasons, it can feel a little cheap to reduce a romantic entanglement down to "well you said I was pretty 14 times, but if you say it 15 times, I'll fall for you."
Clough argues that the kindness coin approach doesn't build or reflect who the player character is beyond surface-level gestures, while also making multiple characters reliant on the same kind of emotional progression. Perhaps most importantly, it denies NPCs their agency, turning them into the aforementioned vending machines instead of the messy, complicated beings most people are. Using kindness coins can even conflate platonic respect or gratitude with romantic or sexual interest.
Chemistry, as defined by Clough, is anything that inspires non-platonic interest, be it romantic, sexual, long term, or short. This also includes player action and gameplay systems (like how a player fights, how they eat, how they dress), not just dialogue.
"If narrative design is considering how systems can tell stories, then let's use these systems to tell romantic and erotic stories," Clough said. "If you do, it offers more interesting opportunities for character role-playing and character development. So it's not just giving gifts and
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