News

Eek! Games CEO Discusses House Party With Tvgry

Recently, popular YouTuber tvgry, also known as @TenPanMateusz, posted his video game review talking House Party highlights and outrageous missions. He, of course, noticed a certain character on our settings page, describing him as “a bald guy just sitting there looking into nothingness” – you guessed right…it’s Frank.

As a preamble to his review, tvgry sent over some questions to our beloved Founder and CEO Bobby Ricci – we figured we’d share this interview-Esque dialogue for your reading pleasure. So, as @TenPanMateusz put it so eloquently, “grab your friends, put on something nice, grab some juice (yes I said juice) – you’ll find out why later.”

From your point of view – who should play the game? Who is your target audience?

BR:  Anybody over the age of 17, really! (The game is rated Mature 17+ by the ESRB).  House Party appeals to a large audience with its Sims-like gameplay mixed with free-roam sandbox, and the game’s main aim is to be a comedy first and foremost.  You can play as a male or female protagonist, and the game is very inclusive in its portrayal of sexuality.  We have found men and women between the ages of 17 and 35 are mostly enjoying the game, but we also have a significant amount of players over 35 as well!

Is it a dating sim/adult dating sim or house party tropes parody?

BR:  Both!  House Party’s main aim is to be funny, and there are hundreds of opportunities with thousands of branching storylines, a lot of which have nothing to do with dating or romance at all.  Though it’s possible to romance most of the characters in the game, that is more of a feature rather than a focus of the game.  Most of the storylines have endings and don’t always end in romance, depending on the choices you make.

How did it all start, and have you incorporated any of your real-life experiences?

BR:  House Party actually started as a character engine I was writing for Unity.  It started shaping up very well and was unique, so I figured I would try my hand at creating something with it before I tried to sell it on the Unity assets store.  I didn’t want to do another tired game with violence and/or gore, and I was always a fan of those old adventure-style games, so I decided to do something along those lines.  I also felt like I wanted to bring back that old style with a more modern feel, and the House Party concept was born!  There may or may not be real-life experiences mixed into the game, but I will leave that to the player’s imagination. 🙂

How the hell did you get Doja Cat to have a guest appearance?

BR:  Doja Cat doesn’t just have a guest appearance, she has her own DLC with hours of gameplay, and she will be voice-acting her character herself!  The player will be able to interact with her like most of the other characters in the game, and she will have a storyline where you can help her out with her goals and schemes for the night, or not.  As always with House Party, the choice is yours.

With the success and positive reception of adding the Game Grumps, we thought it would be a good idea to do it again, only this time going for a much bigger celebrity.  We talked to many, but Doja Cat just seemed like an awesome fit for our first DLC with the perfect mix of personality and her crazy and silly sense of humor.

What’s next on the list of updates after Doja Cat DLC?

BR:  I’m not at liberty to say yet, but let’s just say…if you think Doja Cat is big, we are having some conversations right now that will blow your mind!

Who’s your favorite character, and why?

BR:  Hands down, Frank.  He’s just the funniest to write for, and it’s always a treat having his voice actor, Bentley Michaels, bring him to life with new lines.

What can I do to be one of the guests? Just asking for a friend ;p

BR:  Super easy! Just become a Grammy award-winning Pop Star!  We’ll wait.

Ok, so maybe the award-winning pop star requirement is a bit over the top – but so is House Party! Our player-choice, free-roaming game will let you (and maybe even encourage you) to align and re-align that moral compass of yours.

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4 Ways You Can Destress Playing House Party

People are looking for one thing when they go to a house party – to destress and forgo responsibility for a little while. But what if you’re stressed on a Tuesday, with the weekend seemingly being so far out of reach? Here are 4 ways you can destress by playing House Party:

Find your Alter Ego

At a house party, everyone wants to make a good first impression so that they’re invited back.

At our House Party, you can forget about that.

As a player-choice game, you should be more concerned about finding the dumb to your dumber so that you can pull off your outrageous pranks while simultaneously testing your charm on whichever character strikes your fancy.

Avoid a drink actually being spilled in your face – or getting beat to a bloody pulp – by making sure you find allies that will have your back throughout the night. That’ll be a lifesaver when you inevitably piss off the wrong NPC!

Stimulate your Head

…the One Above your Shoulders.

With hundreds of stories, side-quests, and narratives – and the thousands of branching storylines – House Party is like a never-ending psychedelic trip. Consider it a mental vacation. 

No matter how many times you play, you’re bound to encounter new NPCs, new player-choice-driven storylines, and, most importantly, new opportunities for debauchery. 

Take a Dopamine Hit

The best medicine is laughter…with a side of vice. 

House Party is a hilariously designed, interactive video game that will have you doing double-takes throughout.

The games’ vibrant storylines featuring parodical personalities will make you feel like you’ve just entered the Twilight Zone – scary? Maybe. Unforgettably adventurous? Definitely. 

F*ck Around…It’s that Simple

House Party encourages you to adopt the ultimate stress-free attitude – consequences? Never heard of em’.

Free your inhibitions while meeting NPCs and playing through the thousands of storylines available. You can be the antagonist or instigator – it’s up to you.

 

Eek! Games’ House Party is here to keep you sane by letting you do the insane – stop stressing and start playing!

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Women in Gaming

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

This is a PSA for all badass gamer girls: House Party is officially out of Early Access today! The full launch featuring a playable female character is available now.

In honor of our new female playable character, let’s talk video gaming…stats. More specifically, let’s talk Women in Gaming. Contrary to popular opinion, gamer girls are on the rise and have continued to crush stereotypes and break barriers. That’s right, boys – we’re coming for ya! 

 

Women Taking the Lead in Gaming:

We’re busy taking over the market AND the number of gamers (Anderton, 2019) –  it’s safe to say we’re here to stay. Worldwide, the number of gamer girls is increasing exponentially, from France to Taiwan and back to the U.S. This is despite the male-dominated and male-centric field that video gaming has evolved into – but what else is new? So who exactly are these women? Well, they may be the ones that raised you – that’s right, they’re not like a regular mom; they’re a cool mom. Yeah, you heard us right the first time. Women between the ages of 50-65 are playing more video games than the average man at that age (Anderton, 2019).  

And the best part? They raised kickass daughters leading the charge in redefining a woman’s place in the video game industry, especially concerning sponsorships and Esports competitions. The OG sisters to break ground in the gaming industry are none other than Brady and Dalton, AKA the badass PMS Clan or Pandora’s Might Soldiers. The group gained traction after building relationships with other women over Xbox, which they describe as “Pure Awesomeness!” We couldn’t agree more. The two have recently received the ESports Lifetime Achievement Award (Ong, 2021). 

 

Female Representation in Gaming:

Twitch has long been a boys club, but they’re in for a rude awakening! The women of Twitch are here to tell you that the amount of clothing does not define the “realness” of a gamer. We’re all gamers, no matter how we look, so shouldn’t our playable female characters represent that?! Emma Pearl on Twitch says we need to change the perception of what women should do online (Strapagiel, 2021). 

Often, women are underrepresented as characters and protagonists in video games. Feminist Frequency advocates for online representation crunched the numbers for 126 games featured at the 2019 E3 conference. Out of the 126, only six centered exclusively on female protagonists, and 28 centered on men…yeah, 6 (Sarkeesian and Petit, 2019). 

 

Play with Us!

Here at Eek! Games, we’re proud to say that our ladies of House Party have the beauty to turn your head and the brains to keep you in check. Say hello to Amy, Ashley, Brittney, Katherine, Leah, Lety, Madison, Rachael, Stephanie, and Vickie Vixen. Eek! Games believes female representation in video games, especially concerning playable characters, is essential. We’re proud to say that House Party is now included in the rising percentage of video games with a playable female protagonist. 

 

Why is this important? Progress starts by making noise, and those equipped with the loudest voices (i.e., video game development companies) are responsible for changing the visual narrative gamers are exposed to daily. At our House Party, you can play the way you want to, however you want to – and maybe f*ck around while you’re at it. 

 

 

 

Sources:

Yokoi, T. Female Gamers Are On the Rise. Can the Gaming Industry Keep Up?. Forbes. (March 4, 2021). Retrieved June 28, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomokoyokoi/2021/03/04/female-gamers-are-on-the-rise-can-the-gaming-industry-catch-up/?sh=3e7ca877f9fe

Anderton, K. Women Over 50 Are Playing More Video Games Than Men. Forbes. (January 29, 2019). Retrieved June 28, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinanderton/2019/01/29/women-over-50-are-playing-more-video-games-than-men-infographic/?sh=7e6d383c1093

Ong, A. The PMS Clan Blazed a Trail for Women in Competitive Gaming. PC Gamer. (November 13, 2021). Retrieved June 29, 2022, from  https://www.pcgamer.com/remembering-the-origins-of-the-trailblazing-pms-clan/

Strapagiel, L. No One Wins When Women Are Pitted Against Each Other. BuzzfeedNews. (June 10, 2021). Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/laurenstrapagiel/women-on-twitch-are-done-with-being-stereotyped

Sarkeesian, A. and Carolyn P. Female Representation in Videogames Isn’t Getting Any Better. Wired. (June 14, 2019). Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://www.wired.com/story/e3-2019-female-representation-videogames/

 

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House Party 0.22.0 Stable Release

Controller Support, UI and QOL Improvements…and the First Look at House Party’s Female Player!

The female player’s first look is here, doods!

Since adding her is a huge task, and because we want as much feedback as possible, this update will be a little different than what we’ve done in the past. Here is how we’re doing that:

 

On Patreon: this will be released as a Stable update, with all its features. In order to get as much feedback from our Patrons as possible, and because we’ve been super busy and might’ve dropped the ball on delivering certain perks to them ( <3 !! ), this update will be made available to all Beta-tier Patrons and up.

 

On Steam: We’ll be offering two versions of this update: First, a “live” or “no branch” version, which will offer many controller support improvements, UI tweaks, bug and quality of life fixes. Steam users who just want access to this version need to ensure that they do not have a beta branch selected in the game’s properties (“None”). The second version is identical to the first, but will also include the female character first look. To access this, Steam users will need to:

  1. Click the gear icon on the House Party game’s landing page (or right-click House Party in their Steam Library) and click “Properties”
  2. Navigate to the “BETAS” tab
  3. Use the “Select the beta” drop-down menu to select the “testing – Testing Branch” option
  4. Close the Properties window

On GOG: enter into the game’s Configuration menu (next to the Play button) in the GOG Galaxy client. Select “Manage Installation”. Then “Configure”. Then in the “Beta channels” dropdown, select “Change private channel password” and input the password ‘testing’ to opt into the testing version.

On itch.io: there will be two downloads available for the product you purchased. One will have no subtitle or special labeling. The other will be marked “(Testing Build – Female Player…)“. That one. Download that one.

 

On all Other Distribution Sites/Platforms: unfortunately, these do not support branch/version switching as conveniently, and therefore will only be getting the controller support, UI, bug, and QOL-improvement version for now. Eventually we will roll out the female player to all sites/platforms as soon as it is more fleshed out, so please be patient! It’s coming! She’s c…yeah!

 

So, why treat the female player first look all special-like? In short, she ain’t done yet. But we also wanted to show as many customers as possible our progress (as opposed to waiting and waiting the entire time we worked on her!), and give them ample time to provide us with feedback. While her Original Story content is not done, those with access to the female first look can choose to Start a New Game of the Original Story with her on the Main Menu. In terms of content, we’ve done a thorough first pass through the existing story lines and made a bunch of tone, pronoun, and wording tweaks to make you feel at home in the party as the female player! Unfortunately, we have not had the time to get voiced lines for much of this alternate content or fully convert all intimacy sequences, but bear with us! We’re working on it, and will continue to do so up until (and if needed, after) we exit Early Access!

Controller support is also fully functional, and we added some general House Party polish and UI improvements to this update. You can play the game without any major hang-ups on all supported controllers and the Steam Deck. We still plan on adding some quality of life features and fixes in the future to fine-tune how everything feels, but, as it is now, it’s completely playable.

If you’re curious about the polish we added, some notable changes are that we adjusted the colors for most of the interactable UI elements so they’re easier to see and fixed some cutscene issues that could cause them to get stuck. We also added a garage cutscene and a Frank mini oral scene in the yard.

Leading up to our release from Early Access later this year, we’ll be adding some quality of life features to controller support, polishing and bug fixing the hell out of the base game, and adding a lot more Original Story content, voice acting, and intimacy-specific tweaks and fixes for the female player.

Thanks for being the coolest partiers ever and staying patient as we worked through the hurdle of uncensoring Lety’s content in our last update. We’re sorry for the delay, and we hope you have fun playing as a female! We’re excited to add more of her story as we get closer to House Party’s exit from Early Access!

-Eek! Team

CHANGE LOG:

https://housepartygame.com/release-notes

Note: Updates labeled as “Testing”, “Beta”, and/or “First Look” contain unfinished and untested content. Placeholders may be present for dialogue and various assets. Older save files may no longer be compatible. Custom stories may no longer function as intended. Translations may also be incomplete. Controller support is nearly finished, but if you do run into issues, you may need to temporarily use your keyboard/mouse to restore normal functionality.

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House Party 0.21.2 Stable Release

Lety’s Original Textures Are Back In The 0.21.2 Mini Stable Release Maintenance Update!

What’s up, totally cool-muy bueno-fellow party persons? We just wrapped up House Party version 0.21.2, which is a fairly small but much-needed maintenance update that brings the party closer to our ultimate goal of being…dope sickness…on fleek…lit…

Alright, we’ll keep it together and give you a quick rundown: We’re making good progress toward getting full controller support and an initial version of the female player beta ready for you guys to check out in our next big stable release, so it won’t be much longer until you can officially play as House Party’s female protagonist! We know you’re stoked to test the waters of muy caliente girl-on-girl love gameplay, so we’re working hard to get her into the party as soon as possible!

Speaking of hotness at the party, you may have realized your favorite sultry Spanish teacher has been looking a little…well, covered in black bars for the last couple of updates. Unfortunately, Steam updated the rules policy regarding depicting real people in video games, which raised some concerns about Lety’s content. To stay on the safe side and not risk having the game or any major part of it completely removed, we were forced to censor her for a short time while we got everything figured out and learned more about the new rules.

If you’ve read House Party’s title screen or any of our interviews, you already know we’re not fans of censorship. We weren’t happy to censor Lety’s content all of the sudden on you guys, so we prioritized getting this fixed as soon as we could. Thankfully, we were able to discuss the content directly with Steam’s team and made adjustments to get Lety uncensored again! In this update, she’s no longer restricted by those ugly black bars so, as long as you own the Explicit Content DLC, you can now see her again in all of her sexy cool kid extraordinaire glory with this update!

We also have some bonus good news on the anti-censorship side of things. Before this update, we had to censor everything body-wise, at all times, in the non-explicit version of the game. However, in this update, we’ll no longer have upper body mosaic censors on characters regardless of explicit DLC ownership or installation. This is a huge win for House Party!

We hope you’re looking forward to these changes and thanks for being patient while we fixed this, dudes. We know it was probably shocking and frustrating to have her content unexpectedly blacked out, and we weren’t expecting the rules to change on us like that. As a mature game we always have to tread carefully with our content, and as a small development team we appreciate you guys allowing us extra time to get it fixed.

Anyway, onward to the next update! We’re running a bit behind on our original timeline estimate, so we’ve gotta cruise. In the meantime, enjoy the maintenance changes and having your passionate times with Lety back to normal. Remember…no grabbing, guys, NO GRABBING!

Adiós for now, party animals.

– Eek! Team

CHANGE LOG:

https://housepartygame.com/release-notes/

Note: Older save files may no longer be compatible. Custom stories may no longer function as intended.
Note on Controller Support: Controller support is still not yet fully complete in its current state. If you run into significant trouble while using a controller, you may need to temporarily use your keyboard/mouse. Sorry for any inconveniences, doods!

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