Thirsty Suitors

Thirsty Suitors (2023) is a narrative action game where you play Jala, back in her home town of Timber Hills to confront mistakes, make up with exes and reconcile cultural differences with her parents. Play involves talking to your parents and old friends, taking on rhythm challenges to beat suitors as well as skating and cooking. Running through this bombastic mix of action is a story about the pressures of parental expectation, the pain of romantic mistakes and the complexity of expressing who you really are.

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"You've been reckless with other people's hearts for so long, it was only a matter of time before you wrecked your own," your mother says. "You annoyed your exes so much, they organised against you," adds your grandma. You work through the story by speaking to friends and family before confronting your ex-lovers in cinematic battles. Here you pick moves and attacks but must then press buttons in time with the rhythm to land your verbal right hooks.

As you progress you learn how to discern their emotional needs and vulnerabilities to use special skills to get under their skin. To do well you need to pay attention to what they are saying as much as which attack does the most damage. There's no holding back, but winning the fight is a chance to reconcile rather than bury these bygone lovers.

The battles are complemented by skateboarding and cooking challenges. For skateboarding you skate, grind, and wall-run to pull off intricate moves and combos. For cooking you try to impress your mom and repair your relationship by making a rich menu of delicious South Asian-inspired dishes.

The result is a frank and funny look at growing up, facing teenage mistakes and understanding yourself. It shines a light on underrepresented culture and themes to tell a specific story that feels genuine and believable.

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Our examiner, Jo Robertson, first checked Thirsty Suitors 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 3 weeks ago.