...and then we held hands...

...and then we held hands... is a two-player co-operative game about a couple and their failing relationship. To win they must synergistically move around their psyche and reach a center of balance within them and between them. The players' reality changes according to the perspective they choose to look through and their location of the board. Changing perspectives is key to providing more options for navigating the board and each player's move has an impact on what the other player can do next.The players take turns trying to fulfill the current common emotional objective by discarding colored cards to move from node to node. They must do this without verbal communication empathizing and always considering each other's situation when making a move. They can use their own cards or their partner's but if their move causes their partner to be unable to move the players break up and the game ends. While traveling from node to node they must keep their own self balanced between positive and negative emotions. Each node they visit manipulates their balance depending on the emotion and if one player goes too far out of balance the players break up. Upon completing a set of emotional goals the players move closer to each other the inner circles of their relationship are unlocked and new goals are dealt.The game features a card-splaying mechanism in which players change their "perspective" to reveal a new set of colors (emotions). Depending on their location on the board they splay cards left or right to reveal a new set of colors on the other side. Looking at the situation from a different perspective is key to opening up options in tight situations and ultimately saving the relationship.The players win by meeting in the central "heart node" in a balanced state of self and within one turn of each other thus reconciling the relationship.