Friendship Test
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
What's the story?
Friendship Test is a game about a robot (or Program) who goes on a journey travelling a mysterious laboratory, where they'll meet different programs in need of help (and friendship). FriendProgram was built to be a perfect friend, but is that what they want to be? Is it wrong to not want to?
What's the gameplay?
Friendship Test is a RPG Maker game without any typical RPG fights. The game does include 'battles', but they only require you to figure out what to say to your adversary, to convince them not to kill you. How nice of them.
The game includes very few puzzles too, it is a heavily story focused game, if you are looking for a more gameplay-focused videogame this might not the one for you. Thanks for reading anyway, friend!
What's the game about?
Friendship Test explores different relationships and how it affects different people. The difficulties, challenges and complexities of connections.
However as the story develops, Friendship Test primarely focuses on the topic of lovelessness.
-There are multiple characters in the aro spectrum: from romance repulsed to romance favorable, from parterning aros to aros that prefer to not have any partner, among many others. The game focuses on many other aspec identities like asexuality, aplatonicism, etc.
-Other LGBTQIA+ characters are included in the story as well.
-While aspec themes are a big part of the story, neurodivergency plays an important part on the narrative and characters as well.
Is the game fun even if I don't know much about a-spec stuff or the concept of lovelessness?
I hope my game is fun overall! But yes, you do not need to have in-depth knowledge about the topics discussed in the game, as the story keeps in mind there are people that might have never heard/don't know much about these identities. Hopefully my game can even help more people find out or understand different aspec identities better!
"I have played the demo recently, do I have to start the game from the beginning again?"
The game allows you to skip the Prologue and Act 1 and start directly after the events of the demo. Replaying the beginning of the game is not necessary and nothing new has been added, only a couple of songs have been changed.
How long is the game?
10+/20+ hours long.
Visual Warnings:
-Interacting with the game with your mouse creates flashing boxes when you click on a character, object or tile. It's adviced to play with your keyboard or controller if you wish to avoid this.
-When navigating through the menu or choosing a dialogue, there is a flickering light that highlights which text you are currently positioned in. Should not cause too much trouble, but a warning just in case doesn't hurt.
-There is an issue on characters with multiple text box sprites, as they flicker for a second on occasions.
-There is a running option, so it can show some fast movements on the screen.
-Numerous scenes include a shakey camera effect.
-There are some scenes with dark backgrounds and brighter colors to make objects and characters pop up more, which may cause eyestrain for some.
Overall Content Warnings:
The game deals with some heavy topics from time to time, warnings will be provided in-game and it's meant to be handled as tactfully as possible, nothing too triggering will be shown on screen.
Here is a list of all the possible triggers:
-Death and murder
-Ableism
-Aphobia
-Emotional abuse and implied physical abuse
-Animal experimentation and animal abuse
-Unreality, dissociation, derealization and depersonalization
-Disturbing imagery
-Eye contact
-Moments of tension, life threatening situations
-Discussions of OCD
-One scene can be perceived as self-harm, even if that is not the intention. The scene is cut off and the character is not harmed, but there is a moment where they
try to press a specific button in their armor
with a sharp pointy object.
-Self harming behaviour is a recurring theme of one character in particular
-Suicide
The topic of suicide is heavily implied in one event of a character's past, and it's implied later on the character (and another one) still suffers from suicidal thoughts. However, it is kept very brief. The story does not show a suicide on-screen and does not discuss suicide on-depth.
Viewer discretion is adviced. The game let's you skip dialogue and fast forward scenes if you hold down the (X) key on your keyboard or hold left click on your mouse.
Music
This is a project made out of fun and passion. While I am able to draw (maybe not great, but I draw) and I was able to program a videogame (maybe not great, but it's playable), one talent I lack is making music.
The game includes free-to-use music made by many talented people. I know this is not ideal for many, but it is what it is.
Compatibility
I have only been able to fully test the game in Windows, so there could be problems with the game in other platforms. I wanted to at least upload the files, but again, they might have problems. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience.
If you're not able to play, you can watch a full playthrough of the game in the official Friendship Test youtube channel.
Other issues
English is not my first language, while I believe to have a good level, it might be noticeable sometimes that this was written by someone whose first language isn't English.
While the game has been playtested a great amount of times, it's always possible there can be a couple of typos, as I am only one person (+ a friend of mine when she was able to playtest) working on this game. Don't be shy to let me know about any typo or error, it will be fixed as soon as possible.
Controls
-For keyboard:
Move around with arrows.
“Z” or “Enter” to interact with objects or characters.
“X” to open your menu and to fastforward conversations and scenes.
-For mouse:
Click left to interact with objects or characters. Holding left allows you to fastforward conversations and scenes.
Click right to open your menu.
-The game also works with controllers!
But most important of all...
I hope you enjoy the game! Thanks for reading!
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Find Friendship Test in other platforms!
https://www.youtube.com/@Friendship-Test/videos
https://friendship-test.tumblr.com/
https://bsky.app/profile/friendshiptest.bsky.social
Download
Install instructions
For Windows: Extract the files and open 'friendship test.exe' to start playing.
For other platforms, the game executable file is NOT named 'friendship test demo.exe'
Comments
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I've already sang my praises about this game on other platforms but since I made an actual itch.io account, I figured I should say something here too.
Truly this game is one of a kind, and it's completely rewired my brain in the best way. It's given me another perspective to understand relationships from, and made me think a lot about what I personally value in a relationship. I work in a group home for disabled adults while being neurodivergent myself; something that's very emotionally intensive and I've gotta say... the idea of not having to feel the pressure to love everything is... kind of nice, actually? (Which could mean nothing. I do love in other contexts - sometimes to the point it hurts - but that's beside the point.)
Also, the game explores other topics such as abuse and OCD from an angle that I really don't see explored much in media - *especially* when it comes to its depiction of OCD.
All the characters are memorable and the writing in general is phenomenal; even on repeat playthroughs there's so many details that only become apparent or meaningful after knowing the whole story. That being said, there's nothing like playing through the game blind and I'm glad I got to experience Friendship Test that way.
In the interest of leaving things spoiler-safe I will just simply say: 'BadFriend' is everything to me and I would do anything for them.
This game means a whole lot to me ngl. I always had a very strong hunch that I was aplatonic but was like never FULLY sure. This game not only confirmed that I was aplatonic, but also loveless. I'm very glad I eventually got around to playing it. Not only did it make me feel more comfortable with my lovelessness, it gave me perspectives on aplatonicism that I might've never otherwise considered. The game is wonderful, and the story reaaally hit home. Thank you for making this game it is truly the game ever :33 (I had a lot to say about this game AAA its so good!!!)
Me and someone I know are very Friendprogram and Waterbottle coded. If you're reading this you know who you are /SILLY
Aw thank you so much! :D I'm glad it left such a big impact on you and that it helped you!
Thanks for playing and heheh awesome FriendProgram pfp :)
Oh hey I wonder who this is :))))))))))
Hi Zilly lol
Fun fact: This is how somebody I know and care for found out both what aplatonicism is and that they were, in fact, aplatonic, I'll be downloading a copy when I get the chance (on data as of writing) but thanks for creating this, hope to see more out of ya in the future!
P.S: How do you get the android version working? Not quite sure how to approach that one.
aw that's great to hear! :)
I know there are tutorials to make rpg maker work on android, i haven't watched them myself but there are a few! I hope that can help
Finished the game in a few night marathon and I have thoroughly enjoyed this
I also now see why said person compared me to Waterbottle so much lol
Heheh thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
I stumbled across this game while complaining about the lack of a-spec (much less for aplatonic characters/discussion!) media and I haven't finished Act 2 yet, but I wanted to leave a comment anyway because I'm really enjoying it so far and, my god, I am so glad this exists. I think I'll be replaying it a while after I finish. Wonderful game
Also, the game tends to freeze mid-dialogue (only during dialogue, it seems) and I have to force close and open it again, is this regular? Thankfully, I save very often, haha
oh that's strange... i haven't seen anyone with this problem. Are you playing on windows? The game works fine on windows but might have problems in other platforms, that might be the issue
I'm playing on Windows, yeah, I thought it might be a problem with my computer itself because it gets extra laggy some days but honestly the game was running smoothly save for just that problem, either way it's only happened maybe three or four times two hours or so into the game
oh that's strange... i'm very sorry!
aw thank you!! hope you enjoy the rest of the game! :)
hello!! i have no idea how to begin this comment because i truly do not have the words to express how much this game meant to me, haha. <3
exactly how the story articulates the theme, i have never seen anyone like me in something like this (and especially never anyone intentionally written to be that way) — but watching friendprogram felt like someone had taken my heart and written right from it. it was indescribably surreal, in the absolute most positive way, to see my experiences so thoughtfully portrayed, in an incredibly creative world but with a heart-wrenching, precise realism. i can say without a doubt that i have never connected with a protagonist more. (i don't want to include spoilers in this comment of course, but in vague words: yellow also happens to be my favorite color, and the scene preceding that moment had me in many tears.) <3
the art style of this game was a constant joy — the character designs are so fun, i adored the art of the talksprites and CGs and the feelings they evoked — as was the humor (the aplatonic and loveless jokes friendprogram would make to themself in their head always had me smiling, and their banter with waterbottle was everything). the gameplay complemented and enhanced the themes perfectly, and i was so excited about how the elements of it changed over time and were used to fit specific unique scenes (the friendship battles, friendprograms' functions to repair others' relationships, etc.). there was such a wonderful harmony of art, writing, and game design, and i enjoyed every second.
i hope this rambling isn't a bother, i'll just end it with this, haha: :') this story has really changed how much hope i have had for my own life. thank you for making this, and for showing that people like us aren't alone in this. i will be thinking about this game for a long time. 💛
Thank you so so much I don't know where to begin, this comment left me with a big smile :D I'm so happy my game meant this much to you. Everything you said was exactly what I wanted to accomplish! I'm glad you saw yourself in this story and in FriendProgram, and that you enjoyed the gameplay and art as well! (I'm always worried about those two cause I don't think they're very good but everyone has been very nice hahah). Long comments are never a bother, they make my day better and give me hope. It's great to see more people like me! I hope you have a wonderful day too, thanks again! :)
hello!!
YOUR GAME IS ABSOLUTE CINEMA, 5/5!!! really enjoyed playing your game!! I even cried at the end, the game is too peak q(≧▽≦q)
really thank you for making it🙏
aw thank you so much!! :) I'm glad you enjoyed it!
hello!!! i just started playing this game (along w/ a friend spectating me), i think it's already got a really nice story and characters!! i will comment once more once i've finished it!!
thank you!! :) I hope you enjoy it!
does mac version even work? i installed it and tried opening the game but all it said was "The application "Game" can't be opened." i wanna play thouughh,,
The game seems to have a lot of trouble working on mac. i'm really sorry!
hi! few months late but i'm a mac player too and i found a way to make it work? you have to download the windows version and follow this reddit post https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGMaker/comments/186fmuh/guide_how_to_play_windows_rpg...
unfortunately i don't think save files work properly so you'll probably have to keep the tab open (haven't played much yet so idrk) idk if you're looking for a response but just wanted to share in case!!
edit: been playing around for a bit and i think i found how to make save files work: open developer tools on the browser you're using (f12) and find local storage (for firefox it was under storage), then copy the long text under the key "RPG file 1" (or whatever number) and you can paste it in again when you reopen the tab
you're a lifesaver, thank you so much for the info, hope it works out for mac players!
np!! hopefully it works because i really haven't gotten to play much yet haha
in the linux version jester.png isnt able to be found... plays great otherwise on steamOS!
oh man... so sorry! thanks for letting me know!
oh I didnt know the full game was out! exciting!!!
Hello, I'm here to make known that the game keeps crashing/quitting for no apparent reason after launching it, specifically when I try to start the third act. I'm on MacIOS by the way.
Oh no I'm so sorry. There have been multiple problems with the Mac versions of the game, it seems to have trouble working there. i'm super sorry but thanks for letting me know
Hey, I'm just here to let you know... I left after getting to... pretty much late in the game? Within the school, to be precise, and... my progress got wiped. is that normal, or is the save located somewhere I didn't see? I REALLY liked this game and to have it all wiped REALLY sucks.
ooh what? no, that's not supposed to happen. i'm really sorry. You mean that you weren't able to save or that you saved and it got deleted? I have no idea how that could have happened, I'm so sorry. I could send you a copy of the game that teleports you to wherever you left the game if it's necessary.
Ok so actually I figured it out, but thanks for your concern. I basically had to start the game, rename the file, and then go in. the equivalent of giving the game a fake id and it being like "Oh sorry sir, go right ahead!"
However there is another bug I noticed in the final (?) area after the fight with the person I will be non descript about for spoiler reasons, but when you get to a point with a bunch of tube looking things, I went to the left of the area, got given a "wait you wanna keep looking? Alright." And then the game froze. Clicked buttons, tapped mouse, stuff like that, didn't do anything. Happened twice, I'll probably test on an alternate save so I can see if it's consistent, but wanted to let ya know! Love your game so far, and I hope you feel proud of the art you brought to the stage of the world
Ok so, just finished the game.
Peak/Peak, 10/10, I have reccomended this game to at minimum 5 friends, after one of mine reccomended it to me. I can safely say that after school, a tornado warning, and several inconveniences, I will treasure the memory of going into this game blind and experiencing all it had to offer. I don't often go into games blind, and that's my flaw. But for this?
I'm glad I did. Thank you for making it.
Aw thank you so much! This means a lot, sorry you went through all of that but I'm happy you enjoyed the game! Thank you for playing it, have a nice day!
Aah I'm glad you got to keep playing! Thanks for pointing out possible bugs, it helps a lot! I'll check it out and see if I have to fix anything, thanks and sorry!
Ah im so excited i'm going to tell all my friends hahah this sounds like a ad on tv haha , I need to get home to install it on my computer omg I'm so excited
Hahah thanks! :) Enjoy the game!
Thank you , also would it be ok to play to post a gameplay on youtube? (It would be very crappy since i don't have any special equipment) I understand if you'd rather I don't do it .
P.s I haven't played yet and I'm still very excited
Of course it's okay!