Facade

Nothing beats real life, but Façade is here to prove that you can interact with your virtual friends just like you would in real life and your choices might just help them stay together as a couple.

Everyone had good and bad times in a relationship, but no one is actually prepared for a breakup and the advice of a friend might be just the thing you need to put your thoughts in order.

In Façade, you play as the friend of Grace and Trip, a couple that's now in a desperate situation and needs your help to straighten things up. Façade is all about the user interaction with the virtual environment and that interaction is not scripted to offer you choices or any other pre-made scenarios.

To communicate you will have to directly write anything you want or feel that might help the couple solve their problems.

After arriving at their apartment, you hear Grace and Trip arguing about something, but it's not clear what their real problem is. As mentioned before, you will have to write your dialogue using your keyboard and ask pretty much everything you can think of.

The goal is to make them work through their problems by making both confess what really bothers them about each other. On the other hand, you can also provoke or upset them with bad remarks, or even try to uncover their most hidden secrets if you're skilled enough.

The possibilities in Façade are almost endless but, as the conversation develops, you will find yourself in a position where you'll have to take sides. There's no actual limit at what you can say, but, beware, if you upset Trip, he will eventually throw you out of the apartment.

In addition to that, you will sometimes have to interrupt both partners in order to say your opinion about everything they argue about and topics are not short on that matter. You can talk about anything you want, from criticism to praise, agreement and disagreement, flirtation, and even more sensitive topics like divorce or their love life.

Façade might not look like the latest AAA games, but, even after almost 10 years since its release, the game doesn't fail to impress thanks to its intricate stories and unique interaction method.

Trying to help your friends will prove to be harder than you think and you'll soon find yourself in a position where you're going to ask yourself: If all this were real, how would I react?