#Starcolt

[letsgosparkles]

So many thoughts on this game. One day I’ll write a review but for now my screenshots will have to do.

[kiwimadegames]

'Best Friend Forever' (2020) By: Starcolt (Wellington) For: PC, Mac, Switch Step off the bus at Rainbow Bay and start a new life with your furever friend! Adopt a dog, find true love and more! Links: - Steam: https://bit.ly/3udpNrg - Switch: https://bit.ly/336pSBh - itch: https://starcolt.itch.io/bff

[petnews2day]

“Best Friend Forever” is the dating sim for dog people

New Post has been published on https://petn.ws/hZaZ9

“Best Friend Forever” is the dating sim for dog people

(Photo courtesy of: Nintendo Life) “NPC’s dogs crowd the screen while a player character runs in the background.” Riley FontanaConnector Editor “Best Friend Forever” is an indie dating sim created by New Zealand-based developer Starcolt. It was released on August 27, 2020, and is currently Starcolts only game. The game follows a self-insert player character […]

See full article at https://petn.ws/hZaZ9 #DogNews

[gaming]

Indie Game Spotlight:  Best Friend Forever

This week’s Indie Game Spotlight is too doggone cute. Best Friend Forever is the world’s first simulation game to combine pet care and dating (just not necessarily at the same time – we need to be real clear about that). Adopt and pet the pups, date and pet the humans. What’s not to love?

We spoke with Calliope Ryder, game runner and marketing human at Starcolt. In her hybrid creative/production/marketing role, some days she is storyboarding and directing trailers, and others she’s considering whether it’s okay for our dog-themed socks to have buttholes on them. Let’s jump into it!

How does the game balance taking care of a dog with the dating sim aspect?

BFF is a different type of dating sim—instead of raising the stats of yourself or a date, you’re raising the stats of your adopted Best Friend, so the ‘upskilling’ revolves around your dog. The game is split between dates and Dog Quality Time (DQT), where you train, care for, and schedule activities with your pup to change those stats. 

Your dog also comes along to whatever dates you go on and hangs out in the corner (we’ve lovingly called that our Dogagotchi). Not picking up a poop, for example, will result in a rather unimpressed date, whereas a well-behaved pup is a great wing-dog. The main star of the show is really your puppy, whereas the story is influenced by connections with humans.

Who are some characters we can expect to romance?

A favourite of mine has gotta be Anders because he’s handsome, flirty, and has commitment issues. Astrid is a competitive dancer and ice skater with some serious Ariana Grande vibes, up to and including the Big Ponytail. She’s secretly into occult stuff, too. The team had come up with an amazing cast of diverse characters before I even joined Starcolt, and they’re all incredible and extremely datable. 

From a charge nurse who moonlights as a gaming streamer to a giant-dork-wanna-be-P.I. who listens to way too much true crime, we’re confident there’ll be someone for everyone!

What did the team enjoy creating the most? 

We’re a bunch of children, so it’s got to be the ‘Dogagotchi’—whether it’s farting, pooping, or doing a happy dance because you petted it, having a tiny mischievous animated dog is a delight. We certainly didn’t expect to be designing poop mechanics when we got into games, but here we are. In the poop.

Are there any dogs in the game that were inspired by a team member's furry friend?

Inspired by our dream pets! The game is made for people like us—millennials who can’t own real-life dogs (renting, am I right?) and want to pour all that love into a virtual best friend. However, we have based some dogs on famous Extremely Good IRL boys and girls, so look out for them as you’re playing through!

Want to find your new BFF? You’ll be able to pat your dog all day on Nintendo Switch, or through Steam and Itch.io on PC, and because we’re all romantics at heart, it’s releasing on Valentine’s Day 2020 (that’s the 14th of February, folks)!

[geekcavepodcast]

Best Friend Forever Announcement Trailer 

Starcolt’s debut game is a combination pet care game and dating sim titled Best Friend Forever. Play and raise your pooch and maybe meet some of the other residents of Rainbow Bay.

Best Friend Forever will release to Nintendo Switch, itch.io, and PC via Steam on Valentine’s Day 2020.

[interact-if]

Hello, do you know of any IFs where the MC raises a creature/animal?

Hi Anon,

You can raise an animal in these IFs! If anyone else has further suggestions, feel free to reply below where we will add those that fit in the list.

Completed:

Best Friend Forever (VN) by starcolt

His Yellow Eyes by sinceremercy

My Magpie (VN) by itsNemo

Runt of the Litter by Kelly Sandoval

Demos:

OFNA by @ofna

Supernatural in New York by @llamagirl28

No Demo:

One shot by @oneshot-if

[videogamesincolor]

best friend forever by starcolt studios has player characters, love interests (it's a dating sim), and minor npcs of color who are all played by voice actors of color!

SH: What messages have you wished you could receive from games and other media in the past?

LM: I think we've proven that diversity in media isn't difficult to implement, and it's also a wonderful way for everyone to relate and feel included. Representation matters because it shapes our minds and our expectations. Seeing more than one specific "idealized" woman body in games growing up would have had a much healthier impact on our own expectations of ourselves. And the response to BFF's characters have been amazing—everyone we've spoken to at games trade shows like PAX has commented on how much they loved the characters and their differences, and almost everyone has a "favorite" instantly because they see something of themselves there. [source]

I had to do a double check, because I was like, “wait, that dog simulator?” It looks fun at least.

[blerdyotome]

Best Friends Forever Game Review - Love, Laughs, and Cute Doggos

Looking for a super cute game to kick off the new year? Look no further than Best Friends Forever, the dating sim from Starcolt Studios-- where navigating the complexities of modern dating is made fun with the help of your very own furever friend!

[nvgotd]

Best Friend Forever

[ PC, Mac, Switch / 2020 / Starcolt ]

Best Friend Forever is a combination of a pet simulator and dating game. Players take on the role of someone who has just moved to the fictional Rainbow Bay, and to ensure they're not too lonely, they've adopted a dog. Your task is to care for the dog, train it well enough to pass the tests at Paws Academy, and generally develop a bond with your four-legged friend. Around this, you'll meet many other characters, including a diverse range of potential love interests. Guide the narrative through branching conversations to develop your relationship with these people, and enjoy how the dog interacts both with them and changes to the storyline.

Best Friend Forever launches today, and you can find out more here.

[soloragoldsun]

Pride Month Recommendations- Day 22

Today’s recommendation is a game that’s still in production, but holds a great deal of promise: Best Friend Forever by Starcolt.

Your character has just moved to Rainbow Bay, the most dog-friendly city in the country. It’s also home to a large number of diverse, fun, dog-loving single people! What could be better?

I played the free demo, which released just a few days ago on Steam, and was impressed with what I’ve seen so far. The game is largely about taking care of the dog you adopt at the beginning, with the human dates and encounters happening as you choose them. There’s an MP or Motivation Points system which decides how many encounters, dates, training sessions, etc. you can have during the given week.

You can choose your pronouns, which I’m always a fan of. The one character who has a date scene is Sascha, who is a transman (with an adorable greyhound, might I add). The cast, as I’ve said, is very diverse with various races, sexualities, and gender identities. One of the romanceable characters, Anders, is blind.

Best of all, your dog is a constant fixture throughout the game, allowing you to pet it at any time and interact depending on the scenario. I chose the German Shepherd mutt and named him Dogmeat, after the best video game dog of all time.

I look forward to the release of the full game, and will definitely be having a lot of fun with Dogmeat when that time comes!

[indiehangover]

PAX West Spotlight: Best Friend Forever

We liked what we played of @bffgame by @starcolthq at PAX West 2019, but felt like there should have been more to it

Best Friend Forever is a dating sim and dog raising hybrid game being developed by Starcolt and published by Alliance. We got the chance to try it out for the first time at PAX West 2019, although what we played offered just a small taste of what’s to come.

Best Friend Foreverstarts off by asking the player a number of questions so that a profile can be created for the “woofr” dating app. But…

[letsgosparkles]

[kiwimadegames]

'Best Friend Forever' (2020) By: Starcolt (Wellington) For: PC, Mac, Switch Step off the bus at Rainbow Bay and start a new life with your furever friend! Adopt a dog, find true love and more! Links: - Steam: https://bit.ly/3udpNrg - Switch: https://bit.ly/336pSBh - itch: https://starcolt.itch.io/bff

[hermanwatts]

Kiss puppies and people in Best Friend Forever, a dog-and-dating sim

Image: Starcolt/Alliance

Woof

Continue reading…

Kiss puppies and people in Best Friend Forever, a dog-and-dating sim published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[therealtwinfinite]

Best Friend Forever Interview: Starcolt’s Calliope Ryder on Dating Sims and Doggos http://dlvr.it/RNrpcJ http://dlvr.it/RNrpcJ

[robknivz2312]

Best Friends Forever is an upcoming dating simulator and visual novel with an emphasis on dog training and dog handling. In the game, players are a new resident to New Zealand and are introduced to new people. One of the first activities is adopting a dog at the local Vet. The game introduces you to various potential dating interests, but how you train your dog will affect the outcome of who you are dating. The game features various sexual orientations as well, so if you are Gay, Bi, and so on, you can choose those options for your character. This was me at #paxwest in September. As you can see, they had dog seats to sit in. I really like what the team art NZ based Starcolt is doing here. They are crafting a solid series of stories here. Also, a character will have a service animal. The creative director hopes to use the game to educate others aboit service animals. Best Friends Forever comes out Valentine's Day 2020. Right now, it is headed for #NintendoSwitch and I believe #Steam . (at Washington State Convention Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3DXHUHAyPD/?igshid=51fbmwhgu6kw