This is just a fun dating game... right?
Perfect Match is one of the Choices: Stories You Play visual novels.
Your character (given name Kai) at the influence of their cousin Nadia tries out a futuristic dating service, Eros, which claims to have the perfect match for most people. You try it out and begin dating Hayden, who seems perfect in every way.
Then things get complicated.
A duology, the series ended in December 2018.
Not to be mistaken for the Netflix series, Perfect Match.
These Tropes are just... Indescribable:
- Achievement Mockery: You get the option to flirt with nearly everyone, and the achievements will call you out on it in Book 2's final chapter.
- Asking to make out with Cecile results in the achievement "Unquenchable Thirst" with the description "Seriously, Kai?"
- If you saved Harley's life, you can ask for a Hayden-Harley sandwich, resulting in the achievement "Can't Be Tamed" with the description "You're still into Harley, despite everything!"
- Androids Are People, Too: A recurring theme of the series, where the matches exhibit human traits like emotions and free will while remaining robots in nature.
- At the Opera Tonight: Hayden takes Kai to an opera one night, where they watch the show, talk, and possibly hook up in a dressing room.
- Arc Words: "Indescribable" - the word of choice whenever a robot encounter an abstract concept like art. It was used repeatedly by Steve and Hayden throughout the book before and after their Robotic Reveal as well as at the very end with Damien's own Robotic Reveal. Pixelberry ends the book with this word..
- Atrocious Alias: One of Khaan's aliases was Richard Cummings.Kai: Do you think his friends call him Dick?
- Black and Nerdy: Sloane is African American and super interested in astronomy and programming.
- Blind Date: Eros's specialty.
- The Cameo: In Book 2 Chapter 11, Priya Lacroix and Blaire Hall make appearances as options to guess on who Winona's mystery guest is.
- Character Shilling: Nadia spends a few chapters telling us how good Winona is as a journalist, that she's all about the truth and not about cheap tricks for ratings. Once she is met, however, she pulls the stunt of having Rowan as a surprise guest, deflates pretty quickly when asked questions, and has such lax security, Keegan is able to sneak on the set and get both Hayden and Kai assaulted. Fortunately, the player is able to blame her for being stupid.
- Covers Always Lie: The cover in Book 1 shows Hayden uncovering a puzzle piece on Kai's chest, revealing circuitry inside Kai, implying a Tomato in the Mirror situation for the main character. In the series proper, the roles are swapped.
- Cynic–Idealist Duo: When it comes to Eros, Damien thinks something is definitely up while Nadia is very happy with them due to Steve.
- Dating Service Disaster: An offline version, but still an up to eleven one. Matchmaking company Eros turns out to be making robots and having devious plans, and the gang is forced to run away and eventually takes them down.
- Disney Villain Death: In Book 2's final chapter, Harley tackles Rowan off the roof of a skyscraper. You get to save one or neither.
- Double Standard: Rape, Sci-Fi: If you choose a Premium choice to have sex with Dames (who were unknowingly impersonating Damien at the time) and choose a Premium choice with Dames in Book 2, Chapter 1, the whole thing is brushed off like some kind of misunderstanding and not a serious Bed Trick.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: In the final chapter, even though Rowan and Cecile have been defeated, Eros can't be shut down because it would put many employees who had nothing to do with them out of work. Instead, Sloane and Khaan are put in charge of watching over Eros and all employees who were involved with the creation of the Matches are relocated to a different department.
- Evil Knockoff: Eros did three:
- Eros used Hayden's file to recreate a knockoff of him/her named Harley that were used to deceive and study Kai when they were held captive by Eros.
- A Match is also made of Damien, which your gang names Dames.
- One is also made of Kai in Book 2, named Keegan. Keegan can turn to your side if you listen to their side of the story.
- Foreshadowing: There are multiple instances that imply Hayden and Steve aren't human.
- Fugitive Arc: After your gang realizes what Eros is up to, they go on the run.
- Genre Shift: What starts as a slightly futuristic romance morphs into a Endless Summer type drama with robots, dangerous companies, and showdowns.
- The Glasses Gotta Go: During scenes where Sloane has to become sexier, her glasses are removed.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]:
- The main character has the default name of Kai, but the player can choose whatever name they want.
- Hayden decides to change their name after realizing Eros gave it to them. Kai can choose a new name for them, or allow it to stay Hayden.
- Hot Librarian: Sloane has this appearance.
- Interspecies Romance: Kai and Hayden, Nadia and Steve, and all other Eros matches are human/robot.
- Loss of Identity: Dames faced a massive identity crisis after discovering he is an android sent by Eros to spy on the heroes. He laments that being Damien is all he knows before the rescue operation.
- Meet the In-Laws: The gang takes a trip to see Steve's father, who turns out to actually be his handler.
- Omniglot: One of the traits Kai can select for Hayden is to be fluent in multiple languages, including Spanish, Mandarin and Russian.
- Player Personality Quiz: To figure out what their perfect match would be like, Eros gives the player one in the first chapter, with 16 different possibilites. It's loosely based on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator
(the basic structure is the same, though the specific details are different.) - Polyamory: Kai has the opportunity to date Damien, Sloane, and Hayden (and eventually Alana and Khaan) all at once.
- Precious Puppy: If you choose to date an animal lover, Hayden will own a dog named Dipper who will follow the group around.
- Private Detective: Damien works as one. It's how Kai and Nadia met him, as they found her Stalker with a Crush.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Eros's matches are pretty indistinguishable from humans on the outside, and even possess human thoughts and emotions. Their one flaw is that they can't draw emotions from abstract things such as art.
- Robosexual: They don't know it until later, but Kai and Nadia date and sleep with robots. Everyone dating a match, including the President is one too.
- Robotic Reveal: The Eros matches are robots.It looked like Damien was revealed to be a robot in the final chapter of Book One, but it turned out he was replaced by a Match.
- Robot Me: Damien was revealed to be captured and replaced by a Match. He defected to the hero's side after found out the truth and renamed himself Dames.
- Sadistic Choice: In the penultimate chapter, Harley tackles Rowan off of the roof. You can only save one. The third option is to let them both fall.
- Sixth Ranger Traitor: Damien's old friend Alana, who joins the five of you, betrays your gang to Rowan.
- They Just Dont Get It: In Book 2, Chapter 6, Hayden has an emotional outburst that causes them to angrily lash out at Kai, Sloane, Damien, and Khaan. The reasoning being that being around Hamza caused them to realize that they are basically immortal and will outlive everyone they love, they never had a childhood, and they can never have kids of their own. They yell at Kai that they can't understand what they're going through because they're not the same species, and yell at Sloane for showing them off as a science experiment instead of treating them like a living being.
- Tomato in the Mirror: The matches have no idea they're robots, having been programmed by default to think they're humans.
- Wham Episode:
- Chapter 9. It's finally confirmed that Hayden is a robot.
- Chapter 16. Damien is revealed to be a robot.
- Book 2, Chapter 11 has several of them. Harley attacks and injures Emmett, Winona Johnson's assistant. It is implied that they had previously attacked Hayden and stolen their phone. Kai sees a duplicate of themselves on Winona's show wearing an outfit very similar to Harley's.
- Book 2, Chapter 12. Eros is plotting to assassinate the president.
- Wham Line: During Chapter 16. While at the Louvre, Kai asks Damien how one of the paintings make him feel, to which he responds with indescribable. The Matches can't interpret abstract concepts such as art, so Damien's inability to describe the painting meant he at some point became a robot.
- Working with the Ex: Damien ends up seeing old partner Alana at the hideout, and she joins them. It gets uncomfortable at times. Pops up again with Dames, who has Damien's emotional memories when the heroes rescue Damien.
