The Pick-Up Simulator: Ars Amatoria

Ars Amatoria is a dark, satirical exploration of manipulation in dating advice culture, inspired by social media "alpha male" influencers. This interactive fiction game places you in the shoes of a teenager stuck in a time loop, repeatedly trying to win over a crush by any means necessary—learning and applying increasingly toxic and manipulative tactics with each reset.

Features:

• Time Loop Mechanics: Every failed attempt resets the conversation, but the knowledge from each loop carries forward. Learn from your mistakes... or fall deeper into toxic behavior.
• Satirical Narrative: A commentary on the absurdity of pick-up artist culture, gradually subverting the player's expectations as their actions grow more disturbing.
• Interactive Parser: Type commands to interact with your environment and the girl, with suggestions guiding you—but not always toward the right choice.
• Multiple Endings: Your actions and choices determine different possible outcomes, ranging from reflective regret to total obsession.

Setting:

You begin just outside your final exam, free from the weight of textbooks and stress, and there she is—the girl you've barely spoken to all semester but can't stop thinking about. This is your chance, one more time... but what will you do with it?

Project Information:

This project was developped for the Summerschool "Transposition Ludique" under Yannick Rochat, David Javet and Isaac Pante and the class "Développement de Jeu 2D" under d'Isaac Pante (SLI, Lettres, UNIL, Lausanne, CH).