#interactive romance

​Night IV of Bride of Shadows is now available to play on Itch! This update actually includes the second half of Night III in addition to Night IV, adding around 30,000 fresh, hot words of gameplay. Enjoy some banter with Serax and intimate moments with Valdricht, all while delving deeper into the mysterious world in your dreams.

[Play for Free on Itch] [Follow on Patreon]

Bride of Shadows is a text-based interactive novel and a WIP. There are four chapters available on the public build, with around 60,000 words of content. It is a dark fantasy for adult readers who enjoy story rich tales and toxic males. Please mind the content warnings.

Housekeeping

It's way past my bedtime. Here is some stuff mostly for patrons who see this before my posts tomorrow:

Shadewalker Edition is updated! I'll be making an alternate link this weekend for users who need it.

Fated Mates excerpt will be posted tomorrow evening. When I was writing my schedule I kinda forgot I had a whole chapter launch scheduled for today, and I haven't had time to transcribe and edit the excerpt yet. I've added a cool fork wherein even if you asked Valdricht to marry you, you can still let him debauch you in the morning. Just don't expect him to be rushing you the the altar, you degenerate.

I'll be posting some longform excerpts of Dark Maiden and Fated Mates to Patreon next week. These will be free for followers to give everyone an idea of what the Dark Maiden and Fated Mates routes are like.

The sexy content in the public build update is time sensitive. Next week I will be transitioning Bride of Shadows to Mature, a step down from Adult. This means that explicit encounters will become fade-to-black, however sensual scenes will remain intact. I don't think I'll have to change any of the language or violence levels, but I'll double check with the guidelines and let you guys know.

Note, this is only for the public build, Patreon versions aren't affected by this. Once the changes are made, UK players should be able to access Bride of Shadows on Itch again. Users can play the uncensored version of Night IV on Itch until February 9th.

Ardenia Online is a fully immersive virtual reality MMORPG set in a fractured world where two realms collide — the techno-industrial sprawl of Abelion and the myth-touched wildlands of Ioyeni.

Players jack in to escape a dying Earth, finding power, meaning, or madness in the neural depths of the game. Every decision matters. The people you meet — they’re more than just code. They remember you. They rival you. They might even fall for you.

➤ Two Worlds, One Avatar

Switch between Abelion’s neon chaos and Ioyeni’s ancient magic. Your choices ripple between both worlds — forging quests, unlocking new identities, and altering destiny itself.

➤ Build Your Legacy

No rigid classes. Develop your character through stats, implants, magic, and choices. Everything from cybernetic spines to divine mutations is on the table.

➤ Romance That Evolves

Companions grow with — or against — you. Rivalries can become romances. Betrayals can become obsessions. Every connection is dynamic, memory-driven, and meaningful.

➤ Consequences Are Real

No reset buttons. Your wins and failures echo across the server. The world is reactive, persistent, and built to remember who you are.

Amelia/Abel [F/M]: Your best friend since childhood. Grounded. Steady. Comfort in human form. Amelia/Abel is the kind of person who brings you soup when you're sick and threatens your enemies with a shovel. Loyal to a fault — but that same loyalty can be classified into blind stubbornness. They want things to stay how they were, even if the world is changing too fast to hold onto. Quietly brave, a little anxious, always watching you for signs that you're slipping away.

Age: 23

Height: 5'6"

Skin: Fair with freckles

Hair: Curly (brown, Back Length for Amelia, blonde, Neck Length Abel)

Eyes: Hazel (Amelia), Amber (Abel)

MBTI: ISFJ

Enneagram: Type 6

Love Type: Friends to Lovers, Fast Paced

Raven [M/F/NB]: The mysterious strategist who sees through you. Intense. Razor-sharp. Elusive as hell. Raven doesn’t open up — they unfold slowly over time. They're analytical and cold on the surface, but their silence hides emotions. Observant to the point of discomfort. They remember everything. Will never admit they care, but they care so deeply it aches. The romance feels like solving a puzzle with your hands tied behind your back by barbedwires.

Age: 24

Height: 6'0"

Skin: Pale

Hair: Black, straight, Shoulder Length

Eyes: Onyx

MBTI: INTJ

Enneagram: Type 5

Love Type: Strangers to Lovers, Slow — slow Burn

Kai [M]: The firestarter. Charisma incarnate, walking serotonin and chaos. Kai’s your ride-or-die adrenaline junkie. He jokes through danger, flirts through fire, and fights like he has nine lives. But there’s depth under the bravado — fear of failure, a need to be seen, and an almost desperate hunger for connection he masks with swagger. He’s loyal, but unpredictable. You'll laugh with him. You might will cry too.

Age: 22

Height: 5'9"

Skin: Tanned

Hair: Dyed red, natural brown, Ear Length

Eyes: Turquoise-green

MBTI: ESFP

Enneagram: Type 7

Love Type: Fast-paced, Flirty Disaster

Nova [F]: The Healer. Warm. Empathic. A soul like moonlight on water. Nova is gentle with others, sometimes too gentle with herself. She listens more than she speaks, and when she does speak, it’s with weight. A natural healer, emotionally and physically, but struggles to prioritise her own needs. She’ll hold your hand through storms but might forget she’s getting wet too.

Age: 24

Height: 5'8"

Skin: Dark

Hair: Dreadlocks

Eyes: Deep brown

MBTI: INFP

Enneagram: Type 9

Love Type: Gentle Romance, Emotional Healing

Iris [F]: Tactical, graceful, deadly. Commanding. Strategic. Hot enough to burn and cold enough to freeze. Iris exudes competence and doesn’t suffer fools. She’s brilliant, blunt, and often a step ahead. She demands respect — but the real challenge is earning her trust. When she opens up (rare), it’s like standing in a sunbeam. She feels deeply but doesn’t always know how to show it without turning it into a battle plan.

Age: 36

Height: 5'10"

Skin: Brown

Hair: Wavy black

Eyes: Dark brown

MBTI: ENTJ

Enneagram: Type 8

Love Type: Power Couple, High Stakes, Slow Burn

Howard [M]: Scarred and silent. Grim. Stoic. Quietly haunted. Howard’s the type who keeps his back to the wall and watches exits. He doesn’t talk much unless it matters. But when he lets you in — it’s real. He’s not brooding for the aesthetic, he’s seen things he can’t explain and carries guilt like armour. Underneath that: surprising softness. The kind of man who’ll sit in silence with you because he knows sometimes that’s enough.

Age: 38

Height: 6'1"

Skin: Tanned, scarred

Hair: Short dark brown

Eyes: Grey

MBTI: ISTP

Enneagram: Type 1

Love Type: Protector Dynamic, Stoic Softie

Arlo [M]: Grumpy. Tired. Always one snarky comment away from becoming your problem. Arlo’s the kind of guy who rolls his eyes while patching you up, mutters "idiot" when you make a reckless choice, and then stands in front of you when things go bad anyway. He will protect you — just don’t expect him to smile while doing it. He has a soft side, but it’s buried under layers of deadpan, reluctant affection, and brotherly grumbling. Low tolerance for bullshit, but infinite tolerance for the people he secretly cares about. Especially his sister.

Age: 26

Height: 5'10"

Skin: Deep caramel

Hair: Cropped dark brown

Eyes: Warm brown

MBTI: ISTJ

Enneagram: Type 1

Love Type: Protective Romance

Alex [F]: Absolute gremlin. Tech goblin. The chaos engine. Alex is clever, snarky, loud, and borderline feral. He will roast you while fixing your hair and probably break into your heart by accident. He talks in memes, flirts in saracsm, and runs on caffeine and spite. Underneath the noise? Loneliness. Insecurity. Genius. And a weird sweetness he pretends doesn’t exist. If you romance him, it’s like dating a livewire with a crush on you and a grudge against god.

Age: 19

Height: 5'2"

Skin: Pale

Hair: Long ash-brown

Eyes: Pale blue

MBTI: ENTP

Enneagram: Type 4

Love Type: Banter-Filled Chaos, Fast Burn

Elara [F]: Elara is radiant — a bold idealist with a poetic soul. She speaks with passion, acts with purpose, and believes deeply in love, beauty, and people. There’s fire in her, and she’s not afraid to fight for what she believes in. But for all her confidence, she’s also deeply trusting — sometimes to a fault. She sees the best in others, even when they don’t deserve it, and her heart leads her into places her head maybe shouldn’t. She’s fearless in pursuit of what feels right — even when it puts her in danger.

Age: 22

Height: 5'5"

Skin: Fair

Hair: Blonde, wavy

Eyes: Blue

MBTI: ENFJ

Enneagram: Type 4

Love Type: Whimsical Soulmate, Artistic Romance

Sora [F]: Still waters run deep — and Sora is deep. Thoughtful. Unshakably calm. She's blind, but nothing escapes her notice. She listens like it matters. She moves like a whisper. She sees people more clearly than they see themselves. Getting close to her is like entering a quiet place in your mind you didn’t know you missed. But her calm hides storms — and some scars she doesn’t talk about yet.

Age: 23

Height: 5'5"

Skin: Pale beige

Hair: Soft grey

Eyes: White and clouded

MBTI: ISFP

Enneagram: Type 9

Love Type: Quiet Romance, Tranquil Connection, Soul mates

All my games have slightly different romance structures behind the scenes.

Blood Money has a base level of romantic eligibility that can be gated first by the PC's orientation (so you can't romance Nico if you're a lesbian, for instance), and then by various actions. There are variables describing being in a committed romance and also being ineligible. (Fun fact, I did this in the same way that Baldur's Gate 2 does its romances, because modding BG2 was where I first wrote interactive romances.)

In Creme de la Creme, there are romance_expressed variables which represent having flirted with someone or having started a romance, then romance_locked which means you're committed to a particular character. Then there are seriousbreakup variables for each character that describe having been committed to someone before breaking up.

In Noblesse Oblige, it's simplified, with a romance variable, a friendship variable, and end-romance variables.

In Royal Affairs, there are romance_expressed variables and slowburn variables. This is the first one where there's a dedicated flirt variable tracked.

In Honor Bound, there's an added complication in which you can discuss romance with someone without officially starting a romance, either because you're keeping things casual or the other character is reluctant for whatever reason (the latter is what can happen if you make a move on one of the slower-burn characters early on). I also separated being interested in a character with flirting, so the PC can silently yearn without showing it if they wanted to. There are also different kinds of breakup, like in Creme, where the NPC is more upset with you afterwards if you've broken up under more fraught circumstances.

In starting Project Amble, I've already planned the different possible shapes of the romances. Each character's romance has distinct tones, but also includes a lot of variety in how you can engage with it. So for example, one character is up for having an early fling. It can be a one-off thing, something that remains emotionally casual throughout, or becomes romantic - slowly or quickly. Or you can not do the fling at all and get to know them over a longer period, becoming romantic later on.

I'm keeping the silent-yearning options from Honor Bound as I know players are into it (so am I!), and the potential fraught-breakup variables from it and the earlier games. Project Amble has the most dramatic breakup possibilities of any of my games.

What I'm adding for this one is a hidden chemistry meter. It's separate to the relationship meter, and it tracks when the PC does something that the NPC thinks is particularly attractive. It likely won't gate off starting a romance, but it'll add flavour, so for example if the PC initiates a romance there might be these sorts of responses:

"I can't believe I'm actually thinking of romancing you when you're SO frustrating, ugh, I can't stop thinking about you" - low relationship, high chemistry

"I've been thinking about this but wasn't sure how to say it - yes, I want to be with you!" - high relationship, high chemistry

"I've been really liking how close we've become and - wow, I never thought of it like that but I'd love to see how we can make it work" - high relationship, low chemistry

"You're serious about this? Well. Maybe we can try..." -low relationship, low chemistry

The reason I'm doing this is:

there are characters for whom I want to be able to have more specific interactions based on the sort of things listed above.

various characters will think the PC is doing something attractive... without necessarily liking the PC more.

I love the Dragon Age 2 style friendship/rivalry romance structure and while this is a bit different, it means I can stretch some muscles in that direction

I want to experiment with NPCs developing crushes on the PC and tweaking if/how/when they initiate or flirt with the PC. I did this a bit in Honor Bound with the more flirty characters and built in responses to the PC overtly flirting, but would like to develop this more for Project Amble.

Some of this was inspired by Michelle Clough's work. I'm not someone who necessarily minds a "do sidequests/bring gifts for NPCs and then they like you more" structure, but I do enjoy different ways of doing things and I especially like when NPCs respond in ways you don't expect (or when they cause trouble for the PC even if they're in a romance). I'd very much recommend Clough's Kindness Coins, or Chemistry Casino? for a deeper dive on this subject.

An artillery battery is a unit of cannons, missiles, and other weapons grouped to ensure command and control of the battlefield. In the 1860s, baseball statistician Henry Chadwick first described the teamwork of a pitcher and a catcher as a battery: the firepower of the staff.

DEMO TBA.

Before reaching the stardom of grand slams in Yankee Stadium or World Series shutouts, every professional baseball player was once where you are now: the Minor Leagues. Divided into levels from Rookie ball to Triple A, everyone working their way through the Minors has the same goal: to get promoted up to the Big Leagues. The Major Leagues. The Show. And you?

You are no exception.

Me when playing Howie’s route-

The early morning sun shines brightly on the gilded roof of the Heavenly Palace. Peach blossom petals danced in the gentle breeze, before their delicate pink bodies lay to rest on golden clouds. A woman in a flowing silk gown floated gracefully down the majestic palace halls. Her long, transparent sash flutters daintily behind her, as she moves past red, green, and gold dragon-relief pillars. In her small, white, petal-like fingers is a tray, bearing a cup of jasmine-scented tea.

The woman arrives in front of a set of large doors, elaborately decorated with carvings and reliefs of dragons. She grasps the ring of the ornate dragon-head door knocker and calmly gives the door two gentle knocks before letting herself in. "Pardon the intrusion, your highness," she says with a cheerful voice and a smile, "I've come to deliver your morning tea".

I'm sure this is old news to everyone by now, but it seems Itch is being pressured to delist and/or remove games that contain adult content due to activist groups putting pressure on payment processors.

I write an interactive erotic romance novel and as such my game seems to have been shadow-banned. My game has nothing in it that you can't find in the romance section of a Barnes & Noble or on the Amazon bestseller's lists, albeit with shoddier writing :) As such, I'm hopeful that Bride of Shadows will at least be able to remain on the platform, even if it remains shadow-banned.

The story will continue. I have no intention of shelving Bride of Shadows and in fact the next update is right around the corner. What I may end up doing is publishing a new clean/SFW version of Bride of Shadows as a public build that way new readers can still find the story. This is very new and I'm going to give Itch a few days to figure things out, I'm sure they're having a hard time on their end. I imagine that the adult games represented a majority of their income and I doubt this was a decision they made lightly.

I don't see this affecting the Patreon as of right now, but I will be looking into alternative sites just in case the censorship brigade comes for Patreon NSFW, too. In the meantime, I'm going to get back to writing.