My next game, The Last Days of Friendship Valley, just launched its Steam page today! It's a deckbuilding narrative RPG about conflict negotiation, cute lil goats, and impending doom. Build your negotiation deck, investigate ancient mysteries, and try to heal the deep schism at the heart of Friendship Valley before it destroys the world.
Wishlist today:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2815700/The_Last_Days_of_Friendship_Valley/
To give an example of the card-based tactical Friendship Encounter system: Let's say you're trying to mediate an argument between two other goats. Things are getting heated, and it's up to you to keep the peace. Depending on how you've built your character, you might...
- Approach with caution, starting with small talk with one goat to build rapport and take their attention away from the argument, and tamping down their anger until they give up the argument. At that point, you can focus on the other goat, suggesting that they apologize; with luck, they'll do so, resolving the encounter.
- Wade into the argument by starting a completely new fight. Once you're the center of attention, you can start to resolve that argument by apologizing for the mess you caused. Of course, if you're not careful, you might end up losing your head...
- Get at the real issue as quickly as possible by poking at touchy subjects. Sure, there's an argument happening, but is anger really the problem? Or is there an underlying grief that needs to be resolved?
- Completely ignore the argument, shouting "NICE WEATHER WE'RE HAVING, HUH" at louder and louder volumes until everyone else gives up trying to have a conversation.
All the while, you need to handle your own emotions; if you're not careful, you'll become the problem.
Outside of encounters, there's the town of Friendship Valley to explore, filled with colorful characters and surreal mysteries. Make friends, pick up quests, and learn new negotiation strategies, all while trying to hold the entire town together with your bare hooves.
This is a big departure from Snake Farm on an aesthetic and mechanical level, but I hope you're willing to take the leap with me. I promise it'll be worth it. <3
