Melanin Friendly Games – ‘PAIRS’

Thanks to my mom I’m a casual Trekkie, and I have fond memories of watching a handful of episodes with her during marathons when I was younger. I’ve even gone on to watch through the original series on Netflix and Next Generation whenever I can catch a marathon. There is just something about exploring new worlds and interacting with alien life and learning about their cultures that I find fascinating. And Star Trek was one of the first sci-fi series (that I know of) to embrace diversity in a time where seeing folks from different racial and ethnic backgrounds just wasn’t a thing. Nichelle Nichols’s portrayal of Uhura on the original series was and still is one of the most culturally significant Black roles ever! Fast-forward today and it’s not uncommon to see a few characters of color woven in to most mainstream series. Just look at Star Trek: Discovery, Sonequa Martin-Green stars as Michael Burnham, the first Black female lead in Star Trek series—which is absolutely monumental!

So, when I came across the 2017 NaNoRenO title, PAIRS—a sci-fi romance that not only embraces diversity, but also had not one but TWO Black female leads… I knew I had add it to my game library. PAIRS follows two unique couples—Carmelita and Ricardo, two heroes in training and James, Kitten Pink (Noiya), a human baker and an alien warrior princess— in the midst of an ongoing alien war between Earth and the invading Naian people.

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Romance Woes Amidst an Alien Invasions – PAIRS Review

Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes in the sci-fi fantasy visual novel, Pairs. Originally submitted for NaNoRenO 2017, Pairs follows the romantic ups and downs of two couples in the midst of an ongoing alien war between Earth and the invading Naian people. However, this game is unique in that it allows players to experience both perspectives of each of the two main pairings.  Like most NaNoRenO games, the team had a month to complete the game, so Pairs is a little on the short side.

A visual novel about walking a mile in another man’s shoes. On Earth. During an alien invasion.

An alien with sketchy morals craves a human’s heart.
A young man schemes to get his parents back from death.
A mutant tries to figure out where her heart lies with her childhood friend.
An illusionist struggles with his motivations for becoming a hero. 

Four stories. Four people. A chance to understand them all.

-Synopsis

Game Basics


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