Everlove: Rose

Everlove: Rose is a romance novel taking the form of an interactive mobile game. At first glance, the assumption is that Everlove: Rose was created for die-hard, heterosexual, female fans of romance novels and hopeless romantics. This may be true, but the game has a quality similar to a choose your own adventure style book.

Players will take on the role of Rose, a sleepless beauty who has recurring dreams of a frightful creature. Searching for answers, Rose seeks the help of Dr. Alys, who suggests guidance through hypnosis. While in her active trance, Rose transports to a past life, finding herself smack dab in the middle of a conflicted kingdom where castles, jousting and magical potions still exist. Meeting a handful of ruggedly attractive men, she begins to unravel the secrets behind her dreams. 

Much of Rose's interactions are based on sexually charged conversations between her and four men: Prince Warrick, Lord Blaxton, the woodsman Garret and the palace physician Thorodan. Players interact within these conversations with a touch of a finger, choosing one of a few responses and determining the eventual outcome of the game, and Rose's love life, or lack thereof. 

Between these influential conversations, Rose is regularly given the task of collecting plants and herbs, hidden objects for players to search for. Looking for the ingredients of an anti-headache potion players are presented with a forest setting. Hidden within the tangled woods are St. John's wort, peppermint, lavender and mysterious scraps of paper. Find the necessary pieces and the next step may be taking those scraps of paper, putting them together and revealing another piece of Rose's hidden past life.

Approximately half-way through the game, players are given a choice to follow one of four paths. Delve deeper into the background of the men in the game and assist or betray a kingdom. Complete this individual path and the game is near completion. After players complete the game, through one of four paths, players are able to go back and see the game unravel with the other characters.

The capability to change your decision makes for an excellent replay value. Everlove: Rose can be played a multitude of times depending on how much of the story one intends to untangle. Whether you're a sappy love fiend or have a heartless soul, Everlove: Rose makes it easy to fulfill your inner drive.

For those hopeless romantics, the games' imagery is enticing. Images of Rose and her suitor will make players feel comfortably uneasy with beautifully styled facial features and dialogue seeming to come from the best romance authors. For those with blackened hearts, entertainment will come from watching betrayal and deceit unfold. Hours of delight will be had either way.

Everlove: Rose is now available on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.com.

Megan Bethke, NoobFeed (@XboxBetty)