Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
A lot of games try to tackle the subject of romance, and it's safe to say that the majority of them don't get it right -- especially when it comes to integrating that romance into the actual gameplay. That's where terms like "kindness coins" come in, describing the kind of transaction-based relationship mechanics that games trying to represent dating and courtship often use. Tell someone what they want to hear, dress like they want you to dress, give them things they like, and eventually you'll earn enough points to win.
... Their love, I mean. Win their love. How romantic.
In reality, that's not an act that anyone can keep up for ever. Sooner or later a relationship built on nothing but white lies and pandering to your partner will fall apart. Most games don't care about addressing these inevitable Unhappily-Ever-Afters, but Kitty Powers' Matchmaker isn't most games.
Kitty Powers' Matchmaker casts you as a protege of eponymous matchmaking legend Kitty Powers. You're opening a new branch of her matchmaking agency, helping clients (straight, gay, and bisexual included) find the partner of their dreams. The more clients you successfully pair up the higher your level and reputation will climb, allowing you to attract more affluent customers and purchase new services for the agency.
But your work doesn't end once you've made the match. When you've found a compatible pair you'll need to guide your client through a date, coaching them on what to say and do through a series of randomized minigames and puzzles. You'll need to remember the waiter, calculate tips, come up with witty banter, and even help your client skirt potential date-disasters (I'm talking abous gas, here.)
Throughout the virtual evening you will also help them pick topics of conversation, and if your client doesn't see eye-to-eye with their date you'll have the option to coach them in a lie which might get caught, or might slip by unnoticed. In this stage of the game, as in life, it's totally possible to convince two fundamentally incompatible people that they adore each other. If you give your client a makeover to suit their date's tastes, pick all the "right" conversations and get lucky with every litle white lie you tell, it's easy to turn the date into a relationship. You'll collect your fee, raise your reputation, and move on to the next client.
However...
Kitty Powers' Matchmaker has a dose of reality for players who are good at playing the game but bad at making a good match in the first place. After some time passes you'll receive a letter from each client you've matched up letting you know how the relationship is going. Sometimes it's good news, which comes with an additional boost to your reputation.
But sometimes it's not. If a pair is fundamentally incompatible, no matter how good their date was you can look forward to a big hit to your reputation when they break up. And that's where Kitty Powers gets it right: In addition to being an all-around entertaining game, it doesn't sugar coat the reality that human relationships boil down to a lot more than the spending your "kindness coins" to buy that happy ending.
You can check our Kitty Powers' Matchmaker for yourself on iOS, Android and Kindle Fire.
[Edit: This post originally stated that bisexuality wasn't represented in the game, which I've corrected in light of communication with the developer. After about two weeks of regular play I'd never come across a bisexual client, so I assumed they weren't present. Developer Magic Notion reached out over Twitter this afternoon to clarify that there are bisexual clients in the game, but that they are relatively rare since "from a game mechanic perspective they do give you an advantage."]
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