Roommates is a Ren'Py-based Dating Sim from Winter Wolves, playable on both PC and smartphones. Players may choose to be one of two incoming freshmen to Latin House: either the shy, bookish Anne or rockstar-wannabe Max. After settling in, it's a year's worth of deciding schedules and keeping up with crazy roommates in hopes of getting together over spring break.
Has nothing to do with the webcomic Roommates, despite having an identical name.
Tropes in Roommates the game:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: If Anne goes for Max. She describes him as being the kind of guy her parents warned her about, despite the fact that there were no guys like him within miles of her hometown.
- Another Side, Another Story: Max and Anne are both playable and available as a romance option for the other character, presenting the same relationship from two different perspectives.
- Beta Couple: Unless you're playing as Max and are pursuing her Sally hooks up with Max's bandmate Memphis.
- Body Paint: Rakesh tends to end up covered in paint. Sometimes it's just an unintended side effect of an enthusiastic creative endeavor, but others it's entirely intentional.
- Brainy Brunette: Anne, almost the only person in the house focused on work.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Marvin, and maybe Tara too, during Prof. Tasque's pair-assignment. Because of Marvin being a whiner about Tara betraying him, the main characters get to go to the beach for spring break.
- Cloudcuckoo Lander: Rakesh thinks just about anything can be a good excuse for art... or a good place for art... or a good medium or tool for art... Ultimately downplayed, as he's rather lucid (if slightly kooky and a bit of a Funny Foreigner) when he's not struck by an insane muse.
- Closet Key: Depending on player choice Rakesh can be this for Max while Isabella can do the same for Anne.
- Cool Big Sis: Anne's relationship with both Sally and Isabella has shades of this at first, as she's the shy country girl and both of them have a little more life experience than her.
- Country Mouse: Anne is from a small town and is quite shy and sheltered at first.
- Covert Pervert: While Dominic is normally straight-laced and condemns both Max and Isabella, if Anne chooses to peep on him in the bathroom, it raises his affection for her.
- And Carmen at the end. In one ending, she dances with Rakesh and is unceremoniously gripping his rear.
- Crack Ship: In-universe. Max has a dream where Professor Tasque tries to romantically kiss him in front of the class, and the player can choose for Max to reciprocate the feelings. Anne gets this scene as well.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Rakesh's hair and eyes are both dark grey.
- Cute Bookworm: Anne is shy, quiet, and loves reading. She brought at least fifty of her favorite books to read just for fun.
- Emotionless Girl: Roxanne, more or less. This seems to be by choice though, as she plays the acts of a tsundere just fine during the Halloween event.
- Expy: Isabella greatly resembles a certain Rivaini pirate and, for all intents and purposes, could be seen as a modern-day college equivalent. Rakesh may put people in mind of another quirky Indian fellow with a one-letter difference in his name.note
- Fanservice: Absolutely full of it, for both genders. Dominic and Max are in incredible shape, while Rakesh is slender, the female characters are thin and buxom, and everyone ends up in all the various states of undress throughout the story. A recent update even lets you turn on an option to actually see the spicy stuff.
- The Fool: Rakesh, when the muse takes him (which is most of the time).
- Form-Fitting Wardrobe: While it's somewhat believable that everyone's light summer clothes are form-fitting, their heavy winter coats and sweaters are just as tight.
- Friendly Enemy: Max and Dominic don't get along in the beginning, but Max has the ability to get closer to him. At one point, when Isabella steals Dominic's clothes, Max helps him prank her back with a can of shaving cream.
- Funny Foreigner: Rakesh is from India and has tried to work on becoming more Westernized, but still struggles with Blunt Metaphors Trauma on occasion. However, much of his funny comes not from cultural misunderstandings, but from being a Cloudcuckoolander artist who thinks nothing of hacking through the kitchen wall because it's too plain and needs life!
- Gay Option: Max can pursue a relationship with Rakesh, and Anne can pursue a relationship with Isabella. For reference, their respective straight options are Anne, Sally, and Isabella for Max, and Max, Dominic, and Rakesh for Anne.
- The Generic Guy: Marvin, even more so than the other secondary characters.
Word of God says that he's not an actual character, just a generic filler student. Apparently, there's a Creator In-Joke saying that all the people Max and Anne work with at jobs are his brother. - Genre Shift: Played for Laughs. At one point near the end of the game Professor Tasque can suddenly booby trap the PC and Rozanne's chairs with dynamite, demanding they return the Jade Monkey, leading to a kung-fu battle or a gun fight depending on player choice...only for the PC to wake up, having fallen asleep in class.
- Golden Ending: In order to keep the couple together the player must have a combined 600 points in the stats their chosen Love Interest likes. Otherwise even if you get the final romance scene they split up sometime after college.
- Good Bad Girl: Isabella Really Gets Around, but it's mostly due to the fact that she thinks college is the place to get wild and crazy. Most of the guys treat her as harmless fun, though Sally obviously doesn't approve of her endless numbers of dates.
- Granola Girl: Sally, a meditating vegan.
- Hair Color Dissonance: Rakesh's hair is a moderately-dark grey color. Since he's Indian, it's likely that his hair is actually intended to be black but simply colored lighter so that the strands and shadows show up better.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Both Sally and Dominic are blond and nice, with Dominic being more concerned with following the rules and not getting anyone in trouble, and Sally being more of a Friend to All Living Things.
- Handsome Lech: Max is a shameless flirt.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Isabella has been drinking since she was sixteen and can more than hold her liquor. Sally is also one, but downplayed in favor of her other quirks. Anne can become one.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Sally eventually ends up rescuing a small white puppy and smuggles him into the house. No one else seems to mind when Dominic finds out, and he relents and allows it.
- Hidden Depths: Isabella is a Hard-Drinking Party Girl, she's hot and she knows it, and she has no qualms taking boys back home with her. She is, however, strictly monogamous, and while she does have a lot of flings with guys and girls, she'll take her relationship much more seriously if it's with a partner she respects.
- Similarly, she finds men's Girl on Girl Is Hot mentality annoying, and while she's not above using her sexuality to tease men, she is above using it to indulge their fantasies. If she pursues a girl, it's because she's legitimately into them.
- Max plays very much into the slacker, bad boy persona but is actually very sweet and considerate. Also while he never stops stating how little he cares about studying with a little encouragement (most likely from Anne) he can end up getting a double major.
- Hollywood Thin: All three of the girls in the Latin House have extremely slim waists, slim-to-moderately-curvy hips, and enormous breasts.
- Lampshaded by Professor Meriweather who notes (while using her for an anatomy lesson) that puberty has been very kind to Anne.
- Hot for Student: Carmen teases Anne that Professor Tasque has a crush on her.
- This is also part of a nightmare just after Spring Break, when Professor Tasque acts out a kiss in front of the class. Anne and Max both get it.
- Hotter and Sexier: After a couple of years came v. 1.05, which adds optional nudity during the love scenes along the lines of the similar feature from Loren: The Amazon Princess. Some of these changes are a little silly though, like where Anne's no longer wearing her swimsuit in one scene but her torso is entirely covered by Max lying on top of her, and there's still nothing to see.
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Ho Yay: Max flirts with all the girls and sometimes Dominic (in order to get a rise out of him). Max gets a lot of actual Ho Yay with Rakesh if a route with him is started, and in that case, it's more realistically awkward for Max. - The Ingenue: Anne, being sweet natured, polite, well-behaved and (as she admits in a couple of routes) a virgin.
- Insecure Love Interest: Anne is convinced she's dull and less attractive then the rest of Latin House's residents. It takes her a while to realise that Max and Dominic are actually fighting over her rather than just butting heads generally and Isabella's flirting is intended seriously.
- Intoxication Ensues: Being college kids, alcohol will come up more than once. Several drinking games are played, and oftentimes, someone has to be carried into bed. Usually Max or Sally.
- Jerk Jock: Chad, Isabella's hulking boyfriend. Throws his weight around, insults her friends and disrespects Isabella herself. It's a wonder it takes her as long as it does to give him the boot.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
- Max is probably the biggest example. He's an unrepentant slacker and trouble-maker, usually just so he can annoy Dominic, but he can eventually come around to taking his classes more seriously and becomes good friends with all of his roommates.
- He's also careful not to push people past where they're comfortable. He's a shameless flirt but, while he'll go all out with Isabella (who enjoys it), he restrains himself to the odd "cutie" with the shy Anne.
- Dominic is a more downplayed example. While he can be a bit of a Control Freak and is a real stickler about following the rules, he clearly has everyone's best interests in mind and has moments of being Not So Above It All.
- Max is probably the biggest example. He's an unrepentant slacker and trouble-maker, usually just so he can annoy Dominic, but he can eventually come around to taking his classes more seriously and becomes good friends with all of his roommates.
- Kissing Under the Influence: While playing a drinking game, it's possible for one of your housemates to dare you to kiss someone: Dominic is often singled out for Anne, and Rakesh for Max.
- Lethal Chef: Sally is a vegan, so the others hate when she cooks and consider her to be one, though it's mostly just that they don't like meatless burgers. She gets better over the course of the story.
- Literal-Minded: When Isabella discovers Anne or Max covering Rakesh in mayo, she teases that Anne "wants to eat him up". Anne or Max immediately protests that it's Not What It Looks Like, but Rakesh takes it a little too literally and says that's a very bad idea.
- Let's Wait a While: On Max's route with Anne. During the Winter Break visit to her parents house Anne overreaches a bit with the flirting and ends up straddling Max on the bed, not actually ready to go further at this point but afraid to back down. Max picks up on this and says they should wait as he isn't ready, defusing the situation with no hurt feelings.
- Living Prop: Butch/Terrence and Carmen, with the rarer Roxanne and even-rarer Marvin as lesser examples.
- Mad Artist: Rakesh is one of the milder, less dangerous examples; his muse simply knows no bounds.
- The Mad Hatter: When he's not in the middle of an inspiration-fueled bout of creative insanity, he understands that others perceive him as being odd, but wouldn't trade it for the world because it means he gets to see beauty in everything.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Isabella and Rakesh. Despite the group setting aside a bedroom specifically for hook-ups during the Spring Break trip if you're on Isabella's route (with either character) she'll have sex with the PC on the beach while on his route Rakesh will lose his virginity to the PC in the garage. In addition to this several routes feature the PC and their Love Interest hooking up at work.
- Meaningful Appearance: Sally and Isabella both have green eyes. Sally's are to go along with her eco-chic mentality, while Isabella's are to mark her as a wild child.
- No Bisexuals: Played With, instead this time there's No Homosexuals: Isabella is pan, Rakesh is bi, and based on player choices Max and Anne can become bi-curious.
- Played Straight if you pursue Isabella with Anne. In the epilogue, she (Anne) explicitly states that men are not for her.
- Never Trust A Name: With a name like Butch, one would expect a burly football player... but no, he's the short guy with the swirly glasses. No wonder he tries to go by his middle name...
- If you want to be picky the characters are technically housemates, not roommates.
- Noodle Incident: Multiple.
- Max has apparently stolen a mannequin at least once.
- Rakesh's incident of how he learned to draw caricatures involves a carnival worker, a hospital and salamanders.
- Obliviously Beautiful: Anne thinks she's out of place in Latin House, which she describes as being full of beautiful people and feels plain in comparison. She also convinces herself that the reason Dominic and Max throw themselves at her and compete for her attention is just out of the rivalry between the two of them, not because she's attractive. If she romances either of them, she grows out of it.
- Operation: Jealousy: During Isabella's route either Max or Anne can end up following Isabella and Chad on a date. Sally spots this and suggests they pretend to be on a date in order to make Isabella jealous. If the offer is accepted it works and points are gained with Isabella. If you're playing as Max and have gained enough points with Sally by this stage Max can instead tell Sally he'd rather just spend time with her, leaving Sally flustered and providing the largest relationship points gain in the entire game.
- One Game for the Price of Two: You can play the first month of either character's story for free, but to complete the year, you'll have to buy Anne and Max separately. Thankfully, they're fairly cheap at $15 each, meaning the full experience costs less than your average boxed game for PC; if you're playing on a smartphone, though, the price seems astronomical in comparison to most apps.
- This only applies for the phone version; the Steam version is all in a single purchase (with free 18+ DLC available as well).
- Only Sane Man: Dominic believes himself to be this. Sometimes Anne feels the same.
- Not So Above It All: Though Anne goes out with Isabella and Max often, and Dominic cuts loose with drinking games from time to time.
- Please Put Some Clothes On: When Isabella prances downstairs in a Modesty Towel, Dominic scolds her to go get dressed before waltzing around the house. When she steals his clothes, he'll beg Anne or Max to pass him a towel. Anne can peek on him (raising his affection).
- Plot-Driven Breakdown: Roxanne, Jared, and the rest of the crew can't come with the main characters to the beach house because of a convenient lack of transportation. So the roommates have the place to themselves.
- Pretty in Mink: Isabella's winter outfit includes a heavy coat with leopard-print collar and cuffs that highly resembles Pimp Duds.
- Prisoner's Dilemma: Professor Tasque puts several of his students through an academic version for his own amusement. This gets him in trouble, to the main characters' benefit.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Anne's winter outfit adds a pair of tights under her miniskirt for some added warmth, though one questions why she doesn't buy a longer skirt or some sweatpants instead.
- Proud Beauty: Isabella knows boys (and occasionally girls) think she's hot and sees nothing wrong with using this to her advantage. Her pride can get hurt though when someone ignores her in flirt mode.
- Punny Name: Professor Tasque assigns tasks.
- The Rock Star: Max aspires to be one.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Max and Anne are an inversion of this. Anne is usually very calm and slightly socially awkward, while Max is much more outgoing and wild.
- School Uniforms are the New Black: Anne's classmates Carmen and Roxanne all wear outfits identical to Anne's everyday one, which would imply that it is a uniform of some kind. Butch and Marvin wear a male equivalent of the outfit. But no one ever mentions it or why none of your other housemates are ever seen in anything resembling a uniform.
- Screw The Rules, I Have Tenure: Professor Tasque has tenure, and he takes advantage of that to occasionally be an ass to his students and the dean.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Isabella is normally seen in a very tiny top and shorts, both of which are barely enough to count as "clothes" by most standards, and she has no problems walking around in a Modesty Towel, either. As long as she's technically not naked, she's not in danger of being arrested for public indecency and that's all that matters.
- Shirtless Scene: All the guys will end up in various states of undress at some point or another.
- Shower of Awkward: Naturally, given this is a co-ed house with six roommates and only one bathroom.
- In one scene, Rakesh decides to cover himself in oil-based paint in order to use his chest as a paintbrush on his bedroom walls. Anne or Max points out that the paint might be toxic, and he immediately runs to take a shower. She or he attempts to help, but the paint is stuck. Anne looks online for a way to remove it and discovers (and Max already knows thanks to a family member) that mayonnaise might work. Neither of them thought anything of this until Isabella walks in and points out how kinky covering someone in mayonnaise is; Anne or Max insists it is Not What It Looks Like and the shower immediately turns awkward.
- In another, Dominic's clothes are stolen by Isabella while he's in the shower. If Anne politely hands him a towel from behind the door, the next time he sees her (while chasing down Isabella) results in him being extremely embarrassed despite the fact that she didn't see him naked.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: If Anne pursues either Dominic or Rakesh, though for different reasons. Dominic is stable and mature, while Rakesh is more of a romantic dreamer.
- The Slacker: Max starts out this way, acting academically unmotivated and simply wanting to breeze through college. This can be subverted if he actually goes to classes and keeps up his grades.
- The Smart Guy:
- Dominic, though he's drawn with a physique and hair color that would more suggest him to be the Dumb Jock; he's extremely keen on studying and keeping grades up, as well as ensuring that the others do the same. He's also quite the gamer nerd.
- Possibly Butch, with his stereotypical nerd look.
- Spicy Latina: Isabella is this and doesn't she just know it...
- Street Musician: Max accidentally ends up being one when he takes his guitar out on the campus commons and starts playing. He left his case open, so people walking by naturally started dropping money.
- Their First Time: Anne and Rakesh. Not the case for any other pairing, as they are the only two virgins in the cast.
- Uptight Loves Wild: If Anne pursues either Max or Isabella, they're definitely this trope. Max pursuing Sally could also be a form of it, though Sally isn't quite as uptight as the uptight half of a couple usually is; she's just not as wild as Max.
- The Vamp: Isabella. Her Halloween costume plays with this by making her a vampire. Rakesh being a werewolf may also play with this, as he's the only character who could be a potential romantic rival whether the player is male or female.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Max insults his best friend Memphis more than he does Dominic, the guy who he actually hates at first. Memphis dishes the verbal abuse on Max just as much. If their relationship improves, Max becomes this to Dominic.
- Waiting for a Break: Max intends to work odd jobs and bum through college until he's famous enough to drop out and start his own band full-time.
- World of Buxom: Every girl is at least a C and probably closer to a DD or larger.
