Reality shows taught us that anyone, regardless of talent, can be a star, but streaming platforms like Twitch showed us how hard it is to keep a live audience happy. These two systems collide in The Crush House, a ‘thirst-person shooter’ where you’re the producer and camera operator of a reality show that crams four sexy singles into a tacky McMansion in Malibu.
But just because you’re running the show doesn’t mean you’re in charge. Thanks to a rundown from creative director Nicole He on the PC Gaming Show today, we got a close at all the juggling you’ll have to do in The Crush House to make your sexy dating show a success.
The contestants will chat, flirt, fight, and gab on their own, and it’s your job to film them, hoping to capture the most interesting and eventful moments. But the people watching your show live are just as temperamental as your stars, and to raise viewership you’ll need to appeal to a broad number of interests. The divorced dads demographic want to see flourishing bromances and steaks being cooked on a barbeque. Film students will rate your show highly if you get artistic with a Dutch angle every now and then, a staple of reality show camerawork. And then there are the “butt guys.” They just want to see some cake.
How do you please all of these viewers at once? Well, when two dudes grilling steaks go in for a bro hug, widen the zoom a bit so you can see their asses, then tilt the camera to a 45 degree angle. Now you’re making everyone happy. As you reach new types of viewers, the difficulty will increase, and you’ll find yourself trying to please such diverse groups as drama queens, fish freaks, foodies, girls who like girls, landscaping lovers, and even libertarians. Think you can make them all happy in a single shot?
As we learned back in April when The Crush House was announced, there’s more to the show than just filming hot people smooching and slap-fighting. After hours you’ll need to use your commercial earnings to buy new decorations for the mansion, and investigate what is really going on behind the scenes of the show. And remember the golden rule: never talk to the talent. That’s gonna be tricky when they want to talk to you.
The Crush House is being cooked up by Nerial, makers of Reigns and Card Shark, and launches on August 9. There’s a demo available on Steam right now if you just can’t wait that long. Good luck keeping the butt guys happy!