LOVE CAN ONLY GO UP
A Visual Novel About the Stock Market
A visual novel for Windows PC about romance & the stock market. Invest and trade to save the failing company. Oh, and maybe find love on the way?
Campaign on Kickstarter is now LIVE. Let’s hit those ungodly targets!
What a mess! That’s all you could mutter when your boss informed you of your new position as the head of investments. He was quite straightforward: “You’re our best shot and, frankly, the only shot we’ve got.” As it turned out, things in your investment fund didn’t look great.
Or, to be more precise – it’s a dumpster fire.
The business is drowning, and the only way to save it is to scrape together a team, hit some ungodly targets, and make 100 million in three months.
You have ninety days to turn the company around. You’ll do what you can to save the failing business by trading, connecting, and striking deals. Your eclectic (read: dubious) team of misfits should help you out with this endeavor if you herd them right. Three months to make the investment fund profitable, or they’ll make you a plausible scapegoat.
Damn, It’s gonna be a wild ride.
Love Can Only Go Up is an upcoming visual novel for Windows PC.
If you haven’t played any visual novels, here’s a short introduction to this genre. Visual novels are a distinctive kind of video games that deliver a unique adventure, allowing you to influence the plot’s direction through your choices.
These games are often centered around romance and frequently contain adult elements. This genre is especially popular in Japan and the most successful as Steins;Gate are later adapted into manga, anime, and books (light novels).
Love Can Only Go Up is a visual novel set in modern times that tells the story of young professionals working in the finance industry. As the unnamed male protagonist, you will try to prevent the collapse of the ailing investment fund through shrewd investments and decision-making. The game tells the story of three months of struggles and challenges, leading to success or catastrophic failure.
But money is not all that matters. Love might just be the unexpected ROI. The protagonist will have a chance to not only strike deals but also to find someone to share his life with. Will this lead to a sweet and caring love, or maybe an intense and ferocious but fleeting romance? Find the answer and see where your pursuit of money and companionship will lead you!
Emily might have a point, but time is a luxury you can’t afford to squander! As the clock is ticking, every deal must be a high-stakes, high-yield, short-term investment. With only three months to meet the goal, there will be a lot of pressure to save the company before the time runs out. The game spans these three intense months, divided into weekly trading sessions where you’ll have to decide how to invest to achieve your target of $100 million.
The main game loop is a visual novel revolving around the characters’ adventures and interactions in their workplace – and beyond. However, the game also features a trading system, prompting the player to make financial decisions that can make or break the company’s future.
The trading system in LCOU is designed to be user-friendly, providing clear explanations for financial terms used in the game, mostly through the opinions and suggestions of your team members. As a visual novel, it‘s not intended to be a complex trading simulator, and you won’t have to follow complex charts or track technical indicators.
The player will have to make the best decisions based on a pool of 100+ random trading events, several presented each week, ensuring each playthrough is unique.
The market reacts to news and external factors, requiring players to guess and adapt in each weekly session. Examples of market events include:
- Government regulatory changes, resulting in opportunities for a particular industry, prompting the player to buy stocks from this sector,
- Sharp interest rate change, allowing to bank on currency volatility, suggesting to buy or sell foreign currency, depending on the change direction,
- Or a buildup of conflict somewhere in the Middle East, prompting the purchase of oil futures.
As mentioned, the trading system will be accessible for beginners, ensuring that even if you’re not well-versed in financial jargon, you will quickly pick it up and surely learn a lot. Investing doesn’t have to be convoluted if you apply a bit of knowledge and common sense. And if you have actual experience in real-world trading through apps – that’s even better!
Your team members have their preferences, and they may offer advice or insights. But it doesn’t mean they’re always right! You’ll have to make weekly investment decisions – and you’re the only one responsible for the ultimate result and saving the company.
