Scarlet Hollow’s romances aren’t all about you
Scarlet Hollow, a horror RPG-slash-visual novel in development by Black Tabby Games, is challenging a fundamental design convention in modern RPGs: the tendency to center all relationships and player interactions around the protagonist. According to developers Abby Howard and Tony Howard-Arias, traditional RPGs like Mass Effect create what they call a “solipsist structure,” where players feel like the only genuine person in the game world, and other characters exist primarily to serve player goals through mechanical rewards or romantic outcomes based on dialogue choices.
The developers argue this design philosophy undermines narrative authenticity. In conventional RPGs, relationships follow predictable patterns: help someone and receive a reward, convince someone to change to match player preferences, or romance characters by selecting the “correct” dialogue options. This reward-based approach, the team contends, makes friendships and romances feel hollow and transactional rather than genuinely human.
For Scarlet Hollow, Black Tabby Games is attempting to create relationships with greater reciprocity and agency. The goal is for characters to feel like individuals with lives, goals, and development arcs that exist independent of the player’s involvement. This design approach reflects a growing interest in indie game development to move beyond traditional player-power fantasies in favor of systems that prioritize character depth, emotional authenticity, and non-linear social dynamics. The shift suggests potential for broader evolution in how RPGs approach player agency without sacrificing narrative coherence.