UNF***ABLE
an interactive fiction game based on my experience trying to use dating apps across my 20s before i found my self-confidence.
📑 there are still a few bugs and issues, along with some performance problems. I've tried to come back to this project a few times across 2023 to fix them, but never found the capacity to "finish" it. I'm deciding to release it as-is, and maybe I'll come back to it in the future. (If you run into a bug that prevents you from finishing and want to finish reading, see the Script PDF below)
if you played this, thanks. I hope it's helped in some way. 💙
you can read some further thoughts in a medium story I wrote here
- Canvas
c 2023
With chats written by Stanley Baxton, Cailín Grace Brown, Ellis Devereux.
Main story edited by Ellis Devereux
Additional profile art by UltraDynaMika
Made with Unity, DoTween, 'Louis George Cafe' font
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Comments
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Thank you for making this game! I resonated a lot with it. I think mostly for me it's the deep feeling of being 'wanted' as a human being that I really resonated with, and the constant feeling of having to "trial test" what parts of your personality you should keep or throw away, while not realizing you have to be an interesting person in order for people to want to know you.
I've spent a lot of my time on social media, and have recently had to re-learn that in order for people to interact with the art and things I make, I need to actually reach out to others and have conversations. It's not the same as seeing everyone as a person to date, but I was seeing people as a venue to get attention and validation, which wasn't the healthiest.
I'll take what you said to heart, and try to explore, build, and love myself and stop pinning my self worth to numbers on a platform.
Also wanted to say that I really liked that the further you went into the game, the more activities you could do. It's nice
stumbled on your game. after reading the premise "an story of a young man thinking on suicide because he never had a girlfriend when he was 20" has discouraged me of playing it.
Look, im in my mid 40's and i've never had a girlfriend nor a simple date. never something as basic as a simple kiss in the mouth.
And i dont think on suicide. life sucks; and with the pass of the years only gets worse.
I've used several dating apps. none worked. i was not ugly, i was tall (above 6 feet), nice person, big dick, you name it, i had all the supposed things needed. I was not rich though.
In my country, when i was on my mid 20's, we had an unemployment rate of 25%. I did a career, there were no jobs, so i kept studying, Now ive got 3 majors, 2 masters and a doctorate degree. Got a job since my late 30's.
Studying is overrated. A doctorate degree, without contacts or social skills, is useless.
My advice:
your life matters. Learn to live it by yourself. If you dont belong to that 1 to 5% or you belong to a group that is trendy, youll be invisible for women. be nice, do your things, and accept that fact. if there is a girl ever interested in you, she will, maybe, make it you to know. That wont happen anyways. meanwhile.. just live your life.
learn skills, learn stuff. you may not get rich, but if you can have a good enough life, thats fine.
Dont judge others. And dont apply the judgements existing about the characters on the plots of tv series and movies into real life. the goal of tv is selling advertisiments to the audience for making profit, entertain the audience to do it, and sell role models that wont fit in your real life. so dont translated those models to your life/moral standards.
Example: on tv series/movies you have heard trilions of times "oh, he still lives with his mother" as an example of be a loser. Ok, 1st: that tv show is not aware that if you are studying, you cant afford a house on the real state world. 2nd: if a show says that someone who doesnt owns a house in his mid 20's is a loser only shows the classism of the writers of the show; classism and stupidity in general. Adulthood is more serious and complicated, and owning or not owning a house doesnt make you a loser. Some people play the life game in hard mode.
just be nice to people, be fair and dont let no one to step over you, a tv show writer either.
this game isn't about you
I don’t even know what to say: It was just such an emotional rollercoaster and this game found me at the right time of my life (I’m struggling to be more open, socialize more, and focus on my hobbies... Used to be a bit of a shut-in, etc. But I know this is itch.io, not Youtube music comments, so I won’t say any much more). But this really did touch on a lot of things I’ve been thinking recently, and I want to say thank you for putting together such an amazing experience? It really does encapsulate a lot of the things that... Nevermind. Thank you, though. Thank you so much!
It was a very strange experience, I don't think I liked it much... but I'm glad you did the game and showed to players materials to think on. I liked reading, but gosh, I'm so frustrating about app dating and spending time routine part. It's just... doesn't work, idk. Still good work, though.
This game... This game is one of the best experiences I have ever had online, and I'm not even that exaggerating... I'm much younger than you, but in a way feel a lot of similar emotions as you described in the game. I have always strived for women just to be with them. Not as friends, but romantically. I felt, so touched by this experience. I really thank you for making this. I don't know how to express such liking of something.
The simplicity of the concept and the storytelling elements are just... wow. I really do love it. I might just try talking to people instead of trying to date everybody. It is weird to say this, because I didn't really see my interactions that way until know. Or rather I saw them as such, but I've never really put much thought into that.
With all sincerity I can say, that this is one of, if not, the best game I've ever encountered. Thank you very much.
Beautiful work!!
Thank you for sharing your journey. I'm glad you came out the other side of all this!