meet the CEO

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.