Combining genres can make for some interesting gameplay. Monster Loves You combines Tamagotchi style virtual pets along with Choose Your Own Adventure books. When you start the game you take control of a Monsterling, and then you’re given a series of choices that determine the base stats for your monster.
Once you enter the monster village proper, you begin to have adventures and these further refine your stats. It takes about 45 minutes to play through a single life cycle for your Monster, letting you get one of about 14 endings. You’ll find that there are some very specific and obvious endings you’re guided toward, but based on your stats the way that you get there can become very nuanced.
While there isn’t a lot going on animation wise, there is still a lot of nice art to this game. The background and choice art is very nicely done. It feels like a cross between cel-shading and Maurice Sendak. This is important because despite the fact all the action is limited to text, the game still feels alive.
You can actually check out the PC version of Monster Loves You on the PC now. However, the iOS version shown at PAX Prime is due out in October. You can check out more about this game on Dejoban’s website.