One Night Stand (video game)

One Night Stand
Developer(s) Kinmoku
Engine Ren'Py
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation Vita
Release Windows, macOS, Linux
  • WW: October 20, 2016
Genre(s) Visual novel
Mode(s) Single-player

One Night Stand is a visual novel developed by Kinmoku. In the interactive story, players wake up from a drunken one night stand beside a stranger and must piece together the events of the previous night. It was based on a free game Kinmoku wrote for a game jam at itch.io. One Night Stand was released on October 20, 2016.

Gameplay

Players take the role of a male who has just woken up beside a woman in her apartment. Despite not remembering the events of the previous night, the player learns their character has had sex with the woman. When the woman leaves the room, the player has the opportunity to look around, then question the woman about the various objects found. Based on the player's actions and dialogue choices, they can unlock twelve different endings, ranging from being angrily kicked out to the possibility of a friendship.[1]

Development

One Night Stand is independent video game developer Lucy Blundell's first game.[2] It is based on a free game that Blundell designed with a friend for a game jam at itch.io.[3] The inspiration came from a young man she saw on public transportation. While trying to guess at reasons for his miserable-looking state, she found the idea that he was recovering from a drunken one-night stand interesting.[4] The game is rotoscoped based on footage that Blundell shot of herself via a cell phone.[1] One Night Stand was developed using the free Ren'Py visual novel software, and Blundell credited its community with supporting her.[4]

Release

The free version of One Night Stand was released on March 24, 2016. The commercial version was released October 20 on itch.io and November 7 on Steam.[2] Blundell credited the free version as making the Steam greenlight process easier.[3] The free version also acted as a demo, which she said helped to dispel players' fears that the game would be outside their demographic,[5] though she said the free version's popularity eclipsed that of the commercial version.[3]

Reception

Emad Ahmed of the New Statesman wrote that One Night Stand takes a more realistic approach than similar games. Comparing it to other games that feature physical relationships, Ahmed cited it as an example of using dialogue to tell a story rather than as a gameplay mechanic used to reach a desired conclusion.[6] Kill Screen wrote that the initial mystery – what happened the previous night – becomes less interesting than learning about the woman and trying to find a happy ending.[7] At Hardcore Gamer, Derrick Bettis wrote, "One Night Stand feels more like a think piece than a proper game", as it does not introduce any unique insights but allows gamers to discuss their views on the topic.[8] Johnny Chiodini of Eurogamer wrote that the game captures the feelings of awkwardness and vulnerability following a one-night stand well.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Couture, Joel (2016-12-08). "Heartwarming Smiles - How One Night Stand Creates An Emotional Bond With Its Main Character". IndieGames.com. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  2. 1 2 "One Night Stand Pres Kit". lucyblundell.com. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  3. 1 2 3 Luby, Luke (2016-11-23). "Interview: One Night Stand's Lucy Blundell". PopGeeks.net. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  4. 1 2 Allen, Jennifer (2016-11-14). "Lucy Blundell on Her Highly Original Visual Novel One Night Stand". remeshed.com. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  5. ↑ Blundell, Lucy (2016-12-08). "Postmortem: One Night Stand". IndieHangover.com. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  6. ↑ Ahmed, Emad (2016-12-04). "Is One Night Stand the most realistic videogame portrayal of sex and relationships yet?". New Statesman. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  7. ↑ "Dating sims don't get much more awkward than One Night Stand". Kill Screen. 2016-11-10. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  8. ↑ Bettis, Derrick (2016-11-16). "Review: One Night Stand". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
  9. ↑ Chiodini, Johnny (2016-12-07). "One Night Stand is suitably awkward". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
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