How to be Happy (2013)

A game I made with my dear friend Loren Hernandez for the Pulse-Pounding Heart-Stopping Game Jam. We call it a “physics-based dating sim.” It was important to me that we toss the idea of what’s typically considered a “dating sim” by the wayside; I didn’t want a lot of text with multiple endings and torrid affairs. I wanted to make something that accurately portrayed the feeling of dating— the frustration of trying to find someone who fits with you, the twitchy anticipation of trying to read social cues on a first date when you don’t even know what to look for, the process of finding out how you and your partner are both different people than you assumed. I hope that comes across.

• Release Date: December 31, 2013
• Developer: Elizabeth Sampat