Kiana Liko and Manu Nakeli.
Shipwrecked is one of the many stories under Pixelberry's Choices: Stories You Play collection. The first two chapters were made available for VIP players on August 27, 2021, with chapters being released weekly for VIP players only, until the book was released for all players on October 22, 2021. This is the first book to be released under the new VIP plan, where the general release starts in the middle of the VIP phase.
In this book, a scientist and their guide are off to Moku Island for a scientific expedition, but with the boat destroyed in a shipwreck, how will they survive the island?
Shipwrecked includes examples of:
- Alliterative Name: Halani Hale.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Doctor Hale has no qualms about torturing and abusing animals to further her research, including injecting them with malaria and keeping them in cramped conditions. During a premium scene in Chapter 12, Liko and Manu free a bunch of animals from captivity and suffering, and Hale vows revenge against the pair for "ruining years of [her] research".
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Manu and Liko initially due to Manu’s understandable trust issues and their contrasting strengths, their relationship improves as the survival bond improves.
- Big Bad: Doctor Halani Hale, with Tak Yakone as her Dragon.
- Book Dumb: Downplayed, but while Manu is definitely an intelligent person they’re not nearly as academically inclined as Liko which causes Doctor Hale to look down on them in favor of Liko.
- Character Customization: Both the main character and the captain are customizable, their appearances, names and genders can be selected at the start of the story.
- Chekhov's Volcano: Mount Moku (which is frequently mentioned and even appears on the front cover of the book) erupts in the final chapter.
- Content Warnings: The book starts with warning about sexual content and then warns about violent content starting in Chapter 8.
- Dawn of an Era: This is the first Choices book to be released under the new VIP scheme; all new books are VIP, but they are released for everyone a couple of months later (instead of a much longer time, sometimes up to a year after the end of the VIP release).
- Evil Counterpart:
- Doctor Halani Hale is one to Liko. Both of them are scientists who came to Moku to further their research, and both are determined to get results. However, while Liko wants to study science for ethical reasons, Hale is cruel and inhumane, not caring about who she hurts, as long as she gets the results she wants.
- Tak Yakone is one to Manu. Both of them are boat captains with gruff exteriors, and both of them disapprove of Liko travelling to Moku. However, Manu is a Defrosting Ice King (or queen) who grows closer to Liko over time, while Tak is a violent bully who betrayed Manu and willingly aligns themself with Doctor Hale.
- For Science!:
- Liko wanted to travel to Moku to study rare and exotic species for this reason.
- Doctor Hale's motives are a much darker version of this trope, weaponizing diseases and trapping animals in the name of "scientific research".
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]:
- The main character's default name is Kai (if male) or Kiana (if female), but you can name him/her as you wish and default last name is Liko, but you wish can name him/her as you wish.
- The captain's name is also customizable, their default name is Manu (regardless of gender) and your default last name is Nakeli and you can can change as you wish.
- Join or Die: Hale and Tak issue this ultimatum to Liko and Manu at the end of Chapter 12, saying the former pair will kill the latter pair if they don't agree with Hale's methods.
- Minimalist Cast: Moreso than any other Choices story. The only named characters are Liko (the protagonist), Manu (the captain and sole love interest), Halani (the Big Bad), and Tak (The Dragon), with a parrot (default name: Polly) you can potentially adopt as a pet. None of the other characters appear onscreen for long enough to have their own character page on the wiki.
- A Molten Date with Death: How Doctor Hale meets her demise in the final chapter, due to getting caught in a trap amidst the volcano eruption.
- Relationship Values: The story features a "Bond" mechanic, where making the correct choices allows the main character and the captain to grow closer over the course of the story. Having a high enough bond at the end of the story will allow them both to escape the island safety.
- Robinsonade: The main character and their captain end up shipwrecked on the remote island Moku after a freak lightning storm destroys the captain's boat.
