I have dumb game design ideas all the time, but no idea where to write them down, so I guess I’ll just post this one here.
A socially focused game, probably following a standard visual novel format for the most part. At key moments the scene will play out as a fully voice acted conversation, where you need to survive a meter-based rhythm game like guitar hero or DDR.
The idea is to create gameplay interaction with a conversation without it feeling confrontational. You’re not trying to win an argument, you’re just getting through it in the best way possible, whatever that happens to be.
It’d probably play closer to Sequence (er.. Before the Echo) because that game was great.
Throw in a few dialogue choices and branching paths for good measure.
Maybe consider going full rhythm game and making the key conversations in the style of a musical.