Building Relationships Preview

I first saw Building Relationships during Summer Games Fest, and let me tell you, the excitement was real. Now that Steam Next Fest has begun, what were my recommended demos to try out? Lo and behold, it was the beautiful, Building Relationships.

In Building Relationships, you play as a house. You may either name it Billding, or Cementha. These are both very believable names, and I loved them. Upon arriving on the island, I had to look for houses that were bachelorxes (is that the plural? Quite possibly). I was immediately told how to move around with the WASD keys, and to look around, I just had to use the mouse. These were, by far, very simple controls, but they worked. I rolled my way down to where my friend, Mint, was waiting.

Mint is a house with a mint-green roof, so it’s no surprise how they got their name. We discussed what we’re doing here, and it looks like Mint wanted to set me up with a bachelorx. They informed me I could explore, fish, and ask the important questions, like are they a bachelorx? and to that, I’m left to a comedic moment of “Haha no silly, unless…” Which had me cackling.

After leaving Mint, who had instructed me to go and visit the windmill on the beach, I rolled around and also met the fishing boat. The fishing boat is stuck in the pond, and they suggest I catch all the fish on the island. My reward? Uncertain, it has not been implemented in the demo yet, as Docktor explains. They also shut me down when I asked if they’re a bachelorx, which I thought was rude. You can almost see the despair in my windows.

Leaving with a fishing rod, I went to one of the fishing signs on the beach. Now, after talking to Mint, I also learned how to jump, using a satellite dish. So, you jump with the spacebar, and I made my way to the fishing spot, where you need to move the cursor to catch one of these… fish. The fish are cars. I’m fishing for cars. It’s really easy to do as well, with the most difficult being a race car later on. Otherwise, it’s mostly the same.

Once I finished fishing, I was heading over to Millie the windmill, and I have never been more intimidated by a building. As we spoke, she talked about me being stuck, helpless on the rocks. Immediately, she zooms in and towers over me, and for a game that has a PlayStation era of graphics? I’m impressed.

Clearly, she liked me though, and Millie said she’d meet me up in the field of flowers, where I could join her for a picnic. But, I thought I’d explore first, and there I met a tent, who did not know what a ‘Bro’ was, but was keen to talk to me about what I was looking for in a house. As a fun house, I decided to say I was looking for fun. Because, apparently, whenever I’m on a dating sim, I really do just spiral into the opposite of how I actually am.

On the island, they’re not the only buildings. There are a pair of townhouses who come by, and one of them is intrigued at the choice of opening their relationship. The other just wants to enjoy bouldering, but the one who is open to an open relationship absolutely hates bouldering with the burning passion of a thousand suns.

As I explored the island, not only did I find fishing spots, but I also found little coins to collect. According to my journal, there were 40 to find. I did not collect 40, but I did like the idea of them, even though they didn’t really serve a purpose (in the demo, full game? Who knows?). There were also chests around the island called Chester, and one of them even gave me a cool cowboy hat. He truly was the most rootin’ and tootin’ and was clearly a fan of Cementha.

When I reached the picnic spot and when I was happy with my exploring within the Relationship Boundaries (there was a neat net and a name for the areas you couldn’t explore during the demo), I went back to Mint, who was talking to me about my picnic date. While there, I embarked on a mini-game where I had to build furniture for my prospective date to enjoy and dine on.

So, IKEA flat-packed furniture is 100% fine-dining here. I’m okay with that, and once I clicked and dragged all the items together, following the instructions as I went, and just like that, it was the end of the demo.

When I wanted to leave the demo, I went to hit the QUIT button on the main menu, to be met with one of the funniest announcements I’ve ever seen:

And with that, I knew I would be eagerly awaiting the full release.