We should talk.
A downloadable conversation for Windows, macOS, and Linux
It's not what you say, it's how you say it. We should talk is a short-form narrative game that will make you think carefully about the words you choose, released Thursday July 16th 2020 to Windows, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux, and Nintendo Switch.
In We should talk, you'll use the sentence spinner to piece together modular sentences in response to the in-game characters. Choose your words carefully to express yourself as you discuss ongoing problems about life and romance with Sam, your in-game partner, over text messages, while also chatting with friends and strangers at your favorite local bar.
The combination of words you choose impacts the conversations you have, how genuinely you can connect with your partner, and whether your relationship can survive the night. It's up to you how you respond—depending on how you communicate, you'll see one of many possible endings.
Personalized Choices: Using the sentence spinner, make choices that connect with you. Countless options abound—be yourself, or role play someone you never thought you could be.
Unique Characters: Your night at the bar is more interesting thanks to all the unique people you encounter. Find your healthy balance between chatting with your friends and keeping up with the texts from your partner at home.
Different Paths: Your choices drastically affect the way folks respond to you, leading to one of many different paths in each conversation. Will you be accommodating, flirty, stand-offish, or somewhere in-between?
Multiple endings: Play again and again to find all 9 possible endings. Conclusions aren't based on a specific path or route the way many traditional narrative games branch, but instead the endings are based on the tone your responses express throughout the game. What do your relationships look like at the end of the night?
Realistic conversations: Experience the emotions that come with real conversations, whether it’s the the joy that comes with teasing a friend, the anxiety that comes with a heavy text message, or the frustration of navigating a touchy conversation with a creep. Express yourself as clearly as you can and hope that your conversational partner understands, though there's always a risk they might interpret your words differently than you intended.
The We should talk Team:
Kat Aguiar, Nobonita Bhowmik, Francesca Carletto-Leon, Jordan Jones-Brewster, Carol Mertz and Jack Schlesinger
Status | Released |
Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
Publisher | |
Release date | Jul 16, 2020 |
Rating | Rated 4.2 out of 5 stars (107 total ratings) |
Authors | We should talk., carolmertz, Dreams, cesca, Nobo B, Jordan Jones-Brewster |
Genre | Visual Novel, Simulation |
Made with | Blender, Adobe Photoshop, Unity, Substance Painter & designer, Maya, Adobe Illustrator |
Tags | Altgame, Atmospheric, lgbtq, Meaningful Choices, Multiple Endings, Narrative, relationship, Romance, Story Rich |
Asset license | Creative Commons Attribution_NonCommercial_NoDerivatives v4.0 International |
Average session | About a half-hour |
Languages | English |
Inputs | Keyboard, Xbox controller, Playstation controller |
Links | Steam, Homepage, Support, Steam, Twitter/X, Twitch, YouTube, Soundtrack |
Purchase
In order to download this conversation you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $6.99 USD. Your purchase comes with a Steam key. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- We should talk has officially launched!Jul 16, 2020
- We should talk now LIVE on Kickstarter!May 12, 2020
- Release Date Announcement!Mar 20, 2020
- Introducing Steph!Aug 22, 2019
- The bubbles!Jul 12, 2019
- A new "We should talk" is coming!Jun 28, 2019
Comments
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I really loved the dialogue options for the game! Also the art design was unique and speciel in it's own way :)
Fascinating game. Downright a fascinating game. I highly recommend you give it a shot! And I said that while still on my first playthrough. There is even an easy way of tracking which endings you get
got this game about a year ago in a bundle and just played earlier, it was okay surprisingly.. 5/5
The game is really sweet and short.
It also works beautifully on the steam deck. I wasn't able to figure out how to save, but it automatically saves as I exit the game.
This is really good. Having to build sentences out of a pool of fragments is a surprisingly engaging way of doing video game conversations. I had to think very seriously about each option in a way I probably wouldn't have if it was just a regular dialogue tree. Games about a relationship already in progress are rare so it's nice to play one written with great attention to detail. If I had to say one thing it's that I got the best ending on the first try so maybe it's a bit too easy? I'm not sure.
This was fun to try all the different scenarios and see what each conversation path would do to the ending. The way we chose our dialogue options was unique I haven't seen that in game play before and it was engaging. I felt like it mattered exactly how I structured the sentence. fantastic work on this game making all of the characters interesting enough to have me invested in the plot through and through!
actually a pretty good game!
i recommend it!
It was a bit odd, because it felt similar to just having a conversation where I was missing pieces of background and trying to fill in the blanks to know what the nicest, best things to say were. That's actually usually how I feel in regular conversation, but there aren't usually convenient spinny blocks that let me construct sentences better. The anxiety about what I said possibly being interpreted the wrong way was intense and also... usually how I feel in regular conversation. I even felt awkward when a stranger started flirting with me, but hey, we became friends! Pretty cool.
I just think it's safe to say you really nailed realism. I'm glad most videogames aren't this realistic with communication. I'd be too anxious to talk to anyone, haha!
It was a relief that staying together with 'my girlfriend' was easy though. I relate to her character way too much so I knew what I'd want to hear the most out of the options. Not too interested in alternate endings because this one feels like the 'good ending' and that's good enough for me :)
Thanks for the game!
Nice game about communication. The dialogue does feel real at times. I played through it twice and tbh I love Sam so much I don't know if I want to see the other paths.
i need to go to the toilet
This is a really cute and fun game. I have trouble getting different endings because some responses are so far off of things that I would normally say. But the art and music are great and it's overall pretty fun. I do wish there were more dialogue options but I'm excited to explore it a bit more.
Thank you so much for this.
I have difficulty communicating, and this game also made me realize how much my ex chooses his words to hurt.
The atmosphere, The characters and the stories are super cool.
it's a cute game. I played through twice, the second time mostly to see if staying together was even really an option, since I really wasn't sure what had happened the first time through and it seemed like it very suddenly pushes you towards breaking up with your girlfriend kind of out of nowhere, even if it was cordial. I didn't really make a whole lot of changes the second time through and it went from breaking up to "together forever." I think it's also a bit too short and blocky to be genuinely insightful or especially nuanced, which isn't necessarily a downside -- I played through twice in about 30 minutes, so it's good for what you can expect from such a concise game. all in all, it does feel like a fairly surface level test or experiment for what could certainly be a far more fully fleshed out game in the future, but definitely worth playing through at least once if you have the chance.
I agree. It's a cool game, but it definitely feels like it can suddenly shoehorn you into a specific path out of nowhere.
Choices don't matter when all of the choices are variations of "I don't want to be with you anymore, bye
This was a lot of fun, and it makes you think. I do feel like the way the conversation heads is a little bit random, though. On my first playthrough, I suddenly found myself with no other options than to break up with my partner without being certain how that happened.
Love the dialogue system! Short and sweet, makes you think about what you say.
It's a cute and unique game that's worth the price. The dialogue is well written and it addressed relevant social issues, but there is little replay value. I played through twice, but that was all I needed. But for the low cost, I recommend it.
The game is slow at the start but it really gets interesting after a few minutes of playing, i felt bad when i decided to break-up with her at the end tho :(
I've been playing through it, and really love the premise. I however ran into a situation where a combination of my choices lead to a huuuge leap in the script, where the game suddenly forces you in a direction you were definitely not aiming for. But good stuff regardless!
It was exactly what I'd hope it would be, and after two very different play-throughs, I came away feeling a strong mixture of emotions. I felt as though I was engaged in battle, and the words were my weapons. I have a great deal of remorse about how I broke up with my girlfriend, not the least of which is that I chose to do so over text. Yet the experience felt more real and impactful than 95% of the plethora of indies I've played lately. Nice work. Excited to see what you produce next!
I played the game once and I love it.
I'm glad that my own path leads to a good ending ^_^ it's reassuring ! It's a good way to see how communication works − or doesn't. Also, it makes me feel good and smile, thanks to Sam's lovely words.
Thank you for that game !
Great idea, the conversations felt really great. So excited to see more ideas like this.
Thank you so much!
Fun and Interesting game! I did a video on it and enjoyed the game. Looking forward to doing the other endings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDbbtx2WqC4
Thanks for playing, and sharing the video!