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Posted March 16, 2015 by Peter in EGX
 
 

EGX Rezzed: Hands on – Kitty Powers’ Matchmaker

Kitty Powers Matchmaker logo
Kitty Powers Matchmaker logo

Am I one of the great lovers of our time? Would I know how to find love for others? Should I be trusted with the fate of others’ hearts? Sadly, all of these are “no”. But could I bring myself to turn down having an employer like Kitty Powers? Also, “no”, which leaves me ready to set up couples in Kitty Powers’ Matchmaker.

Originally released for Android, iOS and Kindle Fire last year, Kitty Powers’ Matchmaker is coming soon to Steam, once again offering you the role of matchmaker in Kitty’s dating agency, with access to a worryingly broad selection of spy equipment to try and make dates go smoothly.

Starting with some prospective clients, the game gives you the basics of their occupation, hobbies and interests, star sign and so on – a basic overview of who they are. Then, with access to Kitty’s Black Book you try to find an optimum match for them.
Kitty Powers screen
As well as hobbies and sexual orientation – regardless of gender, clients may be attracted to men, women or both, and this is presented with very comfortable normality – the characters can also be matched on how much they like each others’ appearances. Perhaps that seems a little shallow, but you’ll want everything that can contribute to the chances of success.

… and then the date itself arrives, and you realise that the matching process was more about how much you – the player – were paying attention. Restaurant choices are shown and then shuffled like a Three-card Monte game (multiple dates may be required, but going to the same one twice would be a faux pas), and there are numerous moments during the date that require your personal knowledge – which meal offers white meat with a little spice, or is a safe vegetarian option? Can you remember the items on the dessert trolley when asked to order the first one? Did you remember the number the waiter gave for a taxi correctly?

These and other minigames all come between the stages of the evening, which are otherwise filled with conversations (you did remember their interests to raise as conversation, right?) and moral choices (such as do you tell them to lie when the client’s ex-partner stops by to say hello?). At each stage, the date’s interest rises or falls, with humorously verbose dialogue making it clear if your client is gaining their approval.
Kitty Powers screen
My first attempt at matchmaking was optimistically based on the single shared interest of building tree-houses, but when that didn’t get raised it is fair to say every other topic went down like lead balloons, and by the end of the evening the couple didn’t even end up as just “good friends”. A second try was based on several mutual attractions based on appearance, which was combined with the correct dinner etiquette and some conversation that didn’t cause disgust. Mercifully, it ended up with a happily paired couple.

The game’s stand at Rezzed was undeniably pink. Like, very, very pink, and this matches a lot of the game’s aesthetic. You could sense some trepidation from handfuls of passing players, especially men uncertain if social pressure to be the embodiment of “not pink” should allow them to approach. There was even a rather confused conversation from one passer-by on “boys’ games and girls’ games”, missing a fundamental point – games are played because we have fun with them.

There is a lot of fun with Kitty Powers’ Matchmaker – the cartoony design of the characters (all randomly generated), the flamboyant dialogue, the silly encounters during the dinner… and it also works by involving you, the player. You are not just cross-referencing hidden databases of interests against each other, but having to become involved in each step of the encounter (beyond… you know, if they really get on with each other). And it would be a shame if rosea chromophobia was to prevent anyone from trying that fun.

Kitty Power’s Matchmaker is available now for Android, iOS and Kindle Fire; and will be coming out on Steam this spring.


Peter

 
Peter can be described as an old, hairy gamer, a survivor of the console wars of the 1990s, and a part-time MMO addict. He has an especial fondness for retro gaming and observing the progressions in long running gaming series. When scandalously not caught gaming, he can also be found reading comics and fantasy fiction, or practising terrible photography.