Hi fellow structures, it's 2026 (happy belated new years)!
In case you missed it, I made a gameplay trailer that is meant to clarify what exactly the game's about. (Feel free to skip this if you want to go in blind)
Anyways, it's been a minute since the last update and I wanted to write a little Dev Update to:
share how I got started on Building Relationships
give progress updates (yes it's still coming out this year)
First Off, Thank You for a Wonderful 2025
Making this game has been a truly life-changing experience. I've been able to travel to so many places to share the game and talk about the design behind it. I'm so glad that this silly concept has found its way to so many people. I appreciate each and every comment, review, and coverage (across the Steam demo, YouTube videos, streams on Twitch, articles written, etc).
I can't wait to show the rest of the game to y'all!
So How did the Game Come Together?
The most common question I got when I first announced the game was "What was the devon when they made this?" Well, I'm here to tell you all about it (spoiler: I was sober throughout)
Back in 2016...
I started my undergrad in Game Design and Development in Rochester, NY and in my first year, I did a bunch of 4-hr game jams. One of them had the theme of "Construction/Destruction" where I was debating between a game about "Buildings" or about "Relationships"... Next thing I knew I made this:
I barely knew how to program, the game was mainly a bunch of if-else statements. But, it's where the concept (including the names "Billding" and "Cementha") came to be.
I was inspired by absurd dating sims (like Hatoful Boyfriend) that enraptured gaming YouTube back then. I tried to explore what this game could be like as a visual novel dating sim on RenPy, but it never went anywhere. The reality is that I did not play enough VNs or dating sims, and I could not bring this concept to life in a genre I'm unfamiliar with.
And so I shelved Building Relationships to focus on my studies and work on projects that I thought would help me land a job in the industry.
Cut to 2020: I had graduated and I couldn't find a job in the industry
Turns out, most people who finish a games degree do not end up with a job in games (there simply isn't enough jobs for all the students). I found a role in tech, I took it easy. And when lockdown happened, I found the time to pursue something creative again (outside of working hours).
The Building Relationships Prototype
I joined this jam called "Unexpected Jam" and thought that it was the perfect time to bring back Building Relationships. At the time, I had just played "A Short Hike" and I wanted to play with exploration as the main mechanic.
Fun fact: all these assets came from various free asset packs and I just took the pieces, put them together and kept building on what had emerged.
The design philosophy was incredibly silly. I added a dog you could pet because of the twitter account "Can you pet the dog?"
I added fishing into the game because of the old adage "all good games require a fishing minigame". But I used cars instead of fish because (1) it fit the brief of "unexpected" (2) I found free assets for vehicles (3) it just felt silly and right for the game.
All of it was made in a month, and so the results were pretty bare. I remember that the game didn't win anything in the jam and I was (and still am) very bitter about it.
But I understood why. I didn't know how to write. The "dates" didn't feel like dates at all. And it really didn't feel like there was a lot of weight behind the game. But still, I would randomly see small creators covering the game or folks in the industry saying nice things, including a blog about how the game felt oddly sad behind the whimsical facade.
This version of the game I still up on itch, if you're curious about how far it had come.
Then in 2023 I wanted a job in the industry
I was sick and tired of working in tech. I was interviewing for programming roles in games, but nothing panned out. I knew I had the skills for a mid-level role, but the job market was rough due to all the layoffs. Plus, I hadn't shipped a single game. Recruiters would just ignored applicants like me and proceed with those with more relevant experience.
And so, I decided to bring Building Relationships from itch to Steam. I thought it was going to be a quick, month-long project. Something I can manage outside my working hours. But I kept looking at the game and going... let me redo the this, redo that... Next thing I knew, I was making a whole different game.
(Here's an early key art I made for the game)
The Building Relationships Identity
A lot of the random, silliness was laid out in the 2020 prototype. But the game really found its identity when I started writing some straight-up nasty dialogue. Building Relationships is the first game I've ever written, and the advice that first-time writers often get is "to write what they know". Back then, all I knew how to write were emails and Grindr messages, and that's how the game ended up like this.
I also took a lot of comedic inspiration from shows on Dropout, particularly from the world-building across various seasons of Dimension 20 and the general level of thirstiness across Dropout cast members.
At some point, I came across Gina's work on the music for Mail Time. I invited her to a picnic jam where we played my arrangement of the driving song from "Parappa The Rapper" (she didn't know it but I was testing the vibes). And now her compositions are bringing so much life to Building Relationships.
And the work continues...
So yeah, I'm still working on the game. Turns out, writing an ending is difficult. (I hereby retroactively retract any criticism I had ever given about the ending of TV show, movie, game, etc.) I'm really happy with what I've written up for Building Relationships -- I just need to put it all in game and test how it all flows together.
I'm not adding non-stop scope-creep features. I've committed to the amount of content, and right now I'm just focused on making sure it all makes sense.
So yeah, sorry to be cryptic, but I'm not showing anymore real stuff due to spoilers. But I will leave you with Mint in a pinstripe suit!
Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a comment or join the Discord if you have any follow-up questions!