I gasped, I blushed, I groaned, and I laughed out loud.Building Relationshipsis the weirdest, funniest game I’ve played in a while, and I need more right now.
While the dating sim didn’t have its own booth atGamescom Asia, I met Building Relationship’s sole developer Tanat Boozayaangool after a panel I’d given about expanding global media attention for Southeast Asian games where I’d talked for several minutes about how much I love well-formatted cold emails with proper press kits. He sent me a message saying “hello how do I cold email you irl (tanat).”
Later, at an afterparty, he gave me a sticker sheet that had text like “Can I feel your load-bearing walls?” and “will you use my back door” superimposed over various building structures. You can extrapolate Building Relationship’s entire vibe from this information. Yes, it’s wild. I went home and played the demo that weekend, which was available as part of Steam Next Fest.
I’m not really into dating sims unless they’re weird in some major way, and Building Relationships is exactly that. For one, you’re not a person, but a house, and you’re trying to date other houses, or Bachelorx Pads. The demo has you rolling around (you don’t have legs, you’re a house) an island full of other houses who might be here with their partners, or are single and very down to mingle.
You’ll find other houses scattered around the island. Some may be Bachelorx Pads, who will hit on youveryaggressively – I’m no prude, but I found myself blushing at their forwardness, then laughing at the extended tight shots of each building that somehow, incredibly, demonstrated sexual tension between two inanimate objects. Some may be Chesters, chests that conduct community surveys. One asked me if I was a top or a bottom, which made me bury my face in my hands despite the fact that nobody was around to see my answer. Another, hiding in a field, bemoaned being burnt out, and honestly, aren’t we all?
Still more structures will offer you gifts that give you new skills. I received two satellite dishes, allowing me to jump and double-jump, and I was very pleased to discover that each leap was punctuated with a little ‘honk’ sound that at times harmonised with the game’s chirpy background music. Another gift allowed me to dash, which meant I could jump off the edge of a cliff and fling my house violently across the map. What a treat.
There are some light platforming elements to the game in that you may collect coins around the island, and some may be in places that are tricky to reach without some precise jumping.
I even got a fishing rod, because absurdly, you can fish in Building Relationships. Except you’re not actually catching fish, but underwater cars. It’s so stupid. I love it.
It would be so easy for Building Relationships to stray into the realm of the gratuitous or irony-pilled, but the humour feels spot on in its absurdity. From the bizarre puns hinting at sexual innuendo to the hilariously relatable dialogue, it all just works. One house said they didn’t know how to tell their partner that they “HATE bouldering”, which I definitely get. And I laughed out loud when my pal Mint said they’d cleared a path for me, and when I asked how, responded, “Haha I shot it with a gun.”
Perhaps my favourite thing about the demo was how it closed. I went to a picnic to meet the other Bachelorx Pads, but bumped into Mint at the entrance where they told me that we needed food, and I’d have to cook some with the ingredients they had. These ingredients turned out to be parts of a table, and cooking meant building the furniture. I love building Ikea furniture, because I’m a sicko, so referring to the instructions and flopping the components around with the game’s janky physics was a treat.
I love Building Relationships. I want to build more relationships, and also more Ikea furniture. You canwishlist it now on Steam.
Building Relationships
WHERE TO PLAY
As the new arrival to the island, you’re here to meet eligiblebachelorx padsand find the love of your life! Enjoy a one-of-a-kind story as you navigate a bizarre dating adventure amongst a unique set of structures.Uncover hidden secrets!A variety of biomes across an island, jam-packed with goodies! Search through a somber forest, climb up a snowy mountain, or just lay in a flowery field.Realistic building movement!We always thought “theonething missing from dating sims is the ability towave-dash”. So we added it!Go on a date!Looking to shack up? Meet structures like Millie (a windmill who might step on you if you ask nicely) or Tenet (who’s just a himbo tent).Or go fishing instead?They say there’s plenty of fish in the sea… but you won’t find any around here. We replaced all the fish with cars because it just made more sense.
