What inspires you to write romantic stories as an aromantic person out of curiosity? Obviously not all of your stories are romantic in nature but so many of your games hinge off of at least a cursory romantic idea and I'm curious why you wanted to make a career out of writing experiences like that even though you don't personally relate to them :0 (I hope that doesn't come off as judgey or naïve or anything I'm legitimately curious and want to be educated!)
It's fine to ask! I like stories where you can pick who you care most about/want to spend your time with. That's fun. I originally started out with no romance, "romance" played for comedy, or had games where romance existed but there were minimal romantic scenes. Ultimately, the focus was always on getting to know the characters in general and, in some cases, a focus on the story. Our Life: Beginnings & Always was the first game I made where I decided to take a swing at writing a romantic way of playing that was sincere and significant. I did it because OL1 was meant to let players have the type of relationship they wanted and I didn't want the romance path to be almost identical to the friendship version.
I didn't know if I'd be able to pull off this concept, but I believed in Cove's personality and the type of feelings he would have even if they weren't mine. I'm happy with what I managed to do and now I want to keep allowing players to choose what kind of relationship they get into!











