{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/point-and-click--family-16","type":"mechanic","id":"point-and-click--family-16","lang":"en","title":"Relationships and social simulation","summary":"Relationships change after actions and shape characters' later responses.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/point-and-click--family-16/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/point-and-click--family-16.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/point-and-click--family-16.md","aliases":["Character relationships"],"tags":["Point-and-click adventures","Information, reasoning and social interaction"],"sourceIds":["source-e5eae42862eabd10","source-66b8bba810f83fc8"],"sources":[{"id":"source-e5eae42862eabd10","title":"Overboard!: inkle overview","url":"https://www.inklestudios.com/overboard/","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-66b8bba810f83fc8","title":"Storyteller","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1624540/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Relationships change after actions and shape characters' later responses."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants\n\n<a id=\"family-16-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Trust and liking: affect NPC willingness to share, help and grant access. <a id=\"family-16-variant-1\"></a>\n- Reputation and affiliation: use group, organization, family or community relationships. <a id=\"family-16-variant-2\"></a>\n- Action memory: account for witnessed actions, information and treatment. <a id=\"family-16-variant-3\"></a>\n- Distributed knowledge: manage who knows secrets, suspects lies or understands events. <a id=\"family-16-variant-4\"></a>\n- Mediation: relay messages, reconcile, introduce or arrange meetings. <a id=\"family-16-variant-5\"></a>\n- NPC relationships: create alliances, conflict, jealousy, distrust or favors. <a id=\"family-16-variant-6\"></a>\n- Witnesses: act publicly before selected people or conceal from observers. <a id=\"family-16-variant-7\"></a>\n- Obligations: account for promises, debts, betrayal, secrets and later reactions. <a id=\"family-16-variant-8\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"A working classification with 44 families and 355 variants. Families overlap: one puzzle can combine items, dialogue, deduction and a character schedule. Core actions, progression architecture and assistance are separate layers. Sources identify examples from neighboring adventure genres."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"point-and-click","id":"family-16","title":"Point-and-click adventures","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/point-and-click/#family-16","categoryIds":["section-2"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Character relationships","description":"Relationships change after actions and shape characters' later responses.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/adventure-storyteller-00.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"Storyteller","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1624540/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1624540/ss_5f99d37b23fc3d4469c40dfc78a69cd3a51d4f26.1920x1080.jpg?t=1729098997","credit":"Daniel Benmergui / Annapurna Interactive","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"Love established earlier changes the encounter with a ghost","alt":"Love established earlier changes the encounter with a ghost","markers":[{"x":20,"y":36,"label":"Established relationship between characters"},{"x":78,"y":55,"label":"The reaction accounts for that relationship"}]},"tips":["Carry earlier actions into characters’ later reactions."],"examples":[{"title":"Storyteller","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1624540/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/point-and-click"}}