External Links


Play on itch.io
Play this game in your Web browser.

Have you played this game?

You can rate this game, record that you've played it, or put it on your wish list after you log in.

Playlists and Wishlists

RSS Feeds

New member reviews
Updates to external links
All updates to this page

the beating of my heart

by eckardlise

2023

Web Site

No reviews yet - be the first

About the Story

Molly wants to leave you. And you want to know why.

Then she tells you...

A satiric anti-love Interactive Fiction story written for the anti-love jam 2023, complete with all the clichés of the Romance genre. There are 6 individual stories, but only one ending.

I used ChatGTP for 42 pages of research on romantic clichés and expressions, and some content. The story idea and all six plots are 100% mine. The story was written in Twine.


Game Details

Tags

- View the most common tags (What's a tag?)

(Log in to add your own tags)
Tags you added are shown below with checkmarks. To remove one of your tags, simply un-check it.

Enter new tags here (use commas to separate tags):

Member Reviews

Number of Reviews: 1
Write a review


An attempt at parody?, August 5, 2023
by manonamora
Related reviews: antiromancejam


This entry does not give one, nor two, but six and a half stories within one game, all taking a jab at romantic clichés. In the container half story, you are courting Molly, a more-or-less maneater, who coyly tells her different affairs with past men and why it never worked out. Among those: a perfect man she always felt insecure around, a mad scientist who let his work consume the relationship, a literal Don Juan who depleted her savings, a foozball celebrity who partied too much, a royal alongside which she felt too much pressure, and a rockstar who cheated.

While the entries try to make fun of romantic clichés, its prose is none the better, emulating those romance novel of questionable quality, without really fully hitting the mark. Adding on to an unneeded formal tone, this adds to the impossibilities of the tales being reality, removing the possibility of fantasy. With the game switching from a second-POV (you, the player) to a first-POV (Molly), it also fails to give both Molly and you distinct voices, making the transition between past and present a bit strange.

Molly is everything you find in Romance stories: she is gorgeous and yet bland, capable and helpless, confident in herself and insecure around men she thinks are better; and in most situation. She is honestly quite infuriating; worse even when she finishes her tale, taunting you with showing her how you are better than her ex.

The end of the game is none the better. After going through Molly’s retelling of her life with her different exes, you simply throw your hands in the air and leave. Claiming she was looking down at you. Which she had until now. But showing the tipping point being the man who behave the worst towards her left an awful taste in my mouth, when you barely flinched her taunt the other times (and had no choice to give up before then).

At this points, I questioned whether this was truly parodying the genre. Or just trying to make a bad joke. In any case, it felt of bad taste.

Was this review helpful to you?   Yes   No   Remove vote  
More Options

 | Add a comment 




This is version 2 of this page, edited by Zape on 13 January 2024 at 3:40pm. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item - Delete This Page