Fetish. It’s the closest word I can find that might represent the feeling of being attracted to buildings, although it’s more just an attraction to inanimate objects in general. Still, after playing “Build a Relationship” I think they’re going to have to invent a new word, thanks to all the people this will wake up to something. Yes, there’s now a game where you can lust after literal buildings, and you know what? The demo at Steam Next Fest was pretty good.
I guess I should provide some context now: Relationship Building is a very silly game where you are a house and you come to an island for the express purpose of, building relationships, both literally and figuratively. When I say you’re a house, I mean it – you’re not a house with eyes, arms and legs, you’re just a building, and to move around, you just roll around.
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You’ll also come across a variety of other buildings, such as a windmill called a Millie, or a tent called a Tenet (which immediately raises the question of what a building is – a discussion that I’m sure will continue for 1000 years without victory who). Some of these buildings are so eager to get into your basement – I’ve never seen so much sexual tension between two buildings before, even though the facades of the buildings are completely devoid of any emotion because, again, they have no faces.
Of course, it’s all presented in an incredibly tongue-in-cheek way, with puns found in every corner of the demo’s small area. There are a lot of times I have to be careful not to hit too hard for fear of bursting a blood vessel or something, even though a lot of the time it’s silly at the wrong moment and you might catch me blushing.
It’s obvious that the gameplay should be fun, too. Like I said, you’re really rolling around with this one, it kind of reminds me of the Katama Tamama, at least in terms of that lightweight quality, just minus the whole building up to a big ball thing. Also, it has a really fun movement system.
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Lead developer Tanat Boozayaangool describes it as “a short hike, but a silly one,” which feels pretty apt. You can talk to different chesters, which are different chests in complex aggregates (yes, really) that can give you bonus jumps and even wave dash, meaning you can travel around the island at breakneck speeds Bounce Your Tiny House – This is a game I hope speedrunners will take a chance on and see how wacky things can get.
There’s also a simple dating mini-game where you build furniture to give to potential bachelor pads, and then they, uh, eat it. I’m going to assume that the furniture in this universe isn’t sentient, because if I don’t make that assumption, I might run into a crisis. This mini-game is really simple and is obviously modeled after IKEA furniture, but I can see how certain types of furniture might make things more complicated. Fans of the fishing mini-game will also be happy to hear that it’s pulled from Stardew Valley but allows for more action to add a bit of challenge.
It doesn’t take you long to get through the demo, but it’s packed with so much goofy charm that I couldn’t help but be won over by it despite some of its simpler elements. Platformers tend to be at their best when they’re plunged into absurd worlds, and Forged of Relationships certainly does that. Now all I need to do is evaluate how I feel about the house and I believe this will be an easy solution in therapy.
