The Crush House Puts You into Shoes of Reality TV Producer

The year is 1999, and the hottest reality show on TV is The Crush House. You play as Jae, freshly hired to be the producer. Except it seems that your job is actually to sleep in a filthy room in the backstage and film everything that happens in the mansion. Well, you do also get to pick the cast and presumably put them in situations of high drama that the audience is going to eat up. The only limitation is that you must not, under any circumstances, talk to the talent. Like, it’s weird how much you absolutely mustn’t speak with them, ever.

The Crush House describes itself as a “thirst-person shooter,” and stupid puns like that are plenty enough to get me hooked. But that’s not all the game has to offer. It is, in fact, more of a combo of a life sim, a dating sim, and an adventure game. As I’ve said up top, our protagonist is Jae, and her job is to get eyes and sell ads. You have to choose the show’s cast of four out of twelve carefully, mixing and matching complementary interests and conflicting personalities for optimal drama and romance.

Then, you have to film as much as you can while keeping the audience satisfied. Well, audiences, because many different people tune in to The Crush House. They are divided into microaudiences, and you have to keep them all entertained. You won’t be able to please everyone at all times, of course, but you have to try your best to capture as many viewers as possible. Then, of course, you need to monetize your show by selling ads. This might lose you some eyeballs, but getting money lets you furnish the house further and make the show more interesting in general.

Last, but not least, there is a dark mystery to uncover. The show goes off-air at night, which gives you the chance to actually converse with the cast, as forbidden as it is. And, of course, there are aspects of the show and the house that are kept from you, and you’ll have to solve these mysteries yourself, making sure you don’t get caught. I absolutely love the whole concept. If you want to see the game in action, check out the trailer below, and if you end up liking it, you can wishlist The Crush House on Steam.