You didn’t think we were going to leave the love stories out of our teasers, did you? Romance might not be the backbone of the WINTERSANDS plot, but love is a force to be reckoned with. And this post is about the loves to come.

The key WINTERSANDS characters by Ami

WHAT IS LOVE? BABY DON’T HURT ME – NO NEED

Hardly anyone would dare to claim that love is not the thing that drives the best stories or the audiences seeking out such stories. In some plots, like Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, love rules the universe in an almost scientific way! It is the emotion that involves extreme feelings, drama and spurs personal development like no other, because often, we grow into our “Selves” when coming into contact with the “Other.”

Love started it all, there’s no denying that

Yet, from the outset, we’ve emphasised that romance is not why we’re making WINTERSANDS. We intend the game neither as a dating simulator (where your sole purpose is to pick up and seduce another character), nor an otome game (a similar genre), and Agatha’s movement through the plot will not depend on whether she establishes a romantic relationship with one of the designated partners.

Put simply, you can play the game and be equally successful with or without pursuing a love interest. 

The six characters on the banner above? They’re the main points on the relationships grid, true. But even discounting romance, there are plenty of meaningful connections Agatha can form with them that will be crucial to the game. Sempai didn’t notice you? No biggie – but mind where you are on his/her/their agenda.

Even without romance, she’s gotchu

SHIPPING ONE, SHIPPING TWO, SHIPPING THREE – SHIPPED!

That said, there will be love interests on WINTERSANDS (we’re not unreasonable or entertainment-suicidal :). Without further ado, let us introduce the clickbait of this post, our fruits basket of love with some comments and sketches straight from the greengrocer –

Five-a-day, six-a-day – need we ever stop caring about your health?

The first four yummy choices are Agatha specials, and we’ve added two relationship extras on your plate – take your pick!

Are you Team Strawberry? Independence is your choice, player! Loving oneself is no less tough than loving another, and at times even tougher. ‘Can we get an amen up in here?’ © Seriously, though, Agatha learning to love herself is a legit romantic choice on WINTERSANDS. When the game is out, make sure to sample it– there will be self-care scenes (wink-wink).

Who said the solo act can’t be simply the best?

Are you Team Cherry? You like it arcane and somewhat ethereal! Nimeire, our dark-haired beauty, the blind prophet, what does she have to offer or what do you have to offer to her? Fun-fact: this ship actually sailed last. Although it was obvious, for the longest time we couldn’t quite place the right feeling and air for this relationship. But we are happy that it arrived.

And it happened thanks to this sketch

Are you Team Peach? Ooh, mama, this is going to be raw, it is going to be ferocious (and fierce!). You know how the sublimated permanent annoyance that you saw our man Eliris radiate in Scene 1 plays out – it does a poor job hiding the passions within, precisely. Make a breach and run for it… or, rather, towards it! This relationship will be stormy, but is it worth your while? Yes – yes, it is.

These two needn’t be opposites to attract

Are you Team Plum? Await zesty love-hate sprinkled with wit and topped off by the choicest vulnerability. It isn’t that much of a secret (as you can see by the ancient sketch above) that this was Agatha’s very first pairing, plotted out long before we decided to add variety and alternatives to her story. You’ve seen Sandris’s sprite in the previous post, and we’re simply itching to have you see him in action in Scene 2!

Smooches will be abundant, that’s a given

Team Grape is off-limits, sorry, folks – spoilers much! But wait for it, and we’ll deliver. Aren’t you at least a little bit intrigued by two, not one, juicy grapes of Erin’s prickly heart? Turns out our blueblood is not as Frozen Elsa as he lets on! Team Pear, on the other hand, is an established relationship that we fully intend to warm your precious hearts all the way through the story. Love, as you can see, is very much on our agenda after all <3

HOT… TIMES

Ahem, one more thing. WINTERSANDS will be a mature game – it features romanceable characters that are of age (by both human and elven standards), have and may choose to act on their desires. So while we are so far omitting putting an 18+ rating on the game (although we probably should, because the boring Russian laws automatically require anything even slightly gay to be rated 18+), we are only doing it because such games tend to be perceived as hentai or sex-oriented, and that is not our jam. Life and love are, and if they sometimes have consenting adults interact against a variety of surfaces, who are we to stop it? :^)
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So, that’s it for the introduction of the fires that will be ignited and burn strong on WINTERSANDS. We hope that you are properly teased – and we’re returning with a soundtrack to that in our next post!
See you, loves!