Date a monster! I made this game with M Tayao, and we really wanted to create something reminiscent of early AOL chatrooms or with the serendipitous energy of spontaneous ways of connecting on the Internet. When writing the script, we had a vision of someone insecure about themselves but able to hide behind the barrier of the chat screen, and therefore is able to mold themselves to whatever you want them to be. We took this a step further, coming up with the idea of having this person be a literal shapeshifting monster, created from dynamic collages of open access art from the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian Open Access Collections.
We all know someone (maybe ourselves) who ends up changing themselves to try and fit in or be liked, and that’s what we wanted to make a game about. What happens when you connect with someone who is able to shapeshift completely into your ideal friend or partner, what feels real, and what parts of ourselves are actually original?
Made in Unity, I did all the programming, M and I collaborated on the writing, and M created all the art assets and UI design. Originally made for the 2026 Global Game Jam.