Costa Sul

Costa Sul isn't a place you find on a "Top 10 Hidden Gems" travel magazine, and the locals would very much like to keep it that way. Born and raised here, you knew every shortcut, the spots with the best waves, and every hidden temple ruin that made your coastal town even more dreamy. You also couldn't go anywhere without someone recognizing you, which you had made peace with sometime around age nine. You were essentially part of the town's historic site at this point.

Then came college and you told everyone you'd be back every other weekend, which was a bold statement for someone who had not yet checked train prices. Five hours away seemed perfectly fine, on paper, until you met your first Friday deadline and found out the ticket cost (forty euros!). Suddenly, "I'll be home for the weekend" turned into a series of apologetic FaceTime calls to your mom.

Two years later a storm hits the town, and you suddenly find yourself back in Costa Sul, more specifically, in the middle of the kitchen, awkwardly staring at your former group of friends. It seemed like no time had passed, except that no one is making eye contact after two years of ghosting each other and the big ass crater on the roof of the beach house.

Surprisingly, the storm was the least of the town’s problems. Word has reached the docks that a journalist is on the way to write a post-mortem on Costa Sul's newly wrecked image. The town needs someone to show The Vulture around and make it look like paradise. Someone local. Someone who is currently unable to leave because they spent their emergency fund on a last-minute train ticket. Ring any bells?

TL;DR: You have a house to fix, a mother's stress-cooking to stop, awkward friendship tensions to deal with, and a journalist to babysit. All without accidentally drilling a hole through your own foot. Welcome home, guppy.

COSTA SUL is an 18+ slice-of-life interactive fiction, for explicit language, explicit sexual themes, alcohol use, discussions of grief and more.

• Customise your MC: gender, pronouns, appearance, clothing style and personality.
• Romance one of five official love interests, keep it casual, make it messy, or stay happily single!
• Choose your companion: your loyal childhood dog, the town's feline mayor, or a tiny feathered friend.
• Babysit a notorious hit-piece journalist. Bribe, flatter, or threaten (whatever works) and show them the beauty of Costa Sul so they don't nuke the place with an ill-worded blog post.
• Channel your inner Bob the Builder and completely transform Ida’s beach house, the place where you and your friends were raised.
• Face (or not) the awkwardness of two years of distance with your old friend group.
• Soak up the sun, ride some waves, and make every single second count. It's time to have the best summer of your life!

Matthew 'Matt' Deveraux / Madeleine 'Maddie' Deveraux (M/F) – If you’re looking for someone to help you hide a body, M is the only call worth making. They’d show up at your door without raising a single question, though they’d refuse to start the car until you had your seatbelt fastened. Safety first, felony second. While everyone else was out there competing for scraps of M's attention, M was buying two of your favorite snacks because they knew you'd want more later, and there's nothing sadder than running out.

M was the person you called when nothing happened. Not bad news, not good news, just ‘I'm driving home, and I wanted to talk’. And they always picked up. You didn't know how rare that was until the first time you checked your phone and realized you had no one else to call. Now, their name is a taboo topic, and people regret bringing it up the moment you give them the look.

You had your finest cold shoulder locked in for M’s inevitable return. Or so you thought. One look into those tired, gorgeous eyes and your tear ducts are working like rent is due. Your dignity would like a word, please.

You can play as M’s former platonic soulmate or the ex they can’t stop thinking about. Either way, M is happy you’re in their life again, even if begrudgingly so.

Daniel 'Dani' Reyes / Daniela 'Dani' Reyes (M/F) – D is a certified music nerd who will spin you until you’re dizzy, catching you with a grin that screams they know exactly how good they look in that moment. Just don’t suggest slow dancing unless you want them to break into a cold sweat; after all, they’ve spent their entire life treating commitment like a pop-up ad: something to be closed as quickly as humanly possible. In fact, your friendship's second anniversary officially marks the longest relationship D has ever honored.

All of this makes their latest stunt even more baffling. In a moment of pure panic (or perhaps just a poorly timed joke), D stood before the circle of their incredibly nosy tias in the eye and announced that the two of you were a couple.

Suddenly, D sees themselves with a one-way ticket to Hand-Holding Hell. And all because they wanted five minutes of peace at the family brunch. And, naturally, they’ve dragged you along. At least their tias are delighted.

You can play D as either your incorrigible best friend or the "fake" partner you can't get enough of. Either way, you’re going to need a lot more coffee.

Julian 'Jules' Park / Julia 'Jules' Park (M/F) – Your moms are soul sister, which, in a fairytale world, would have made you inseparable. Instead, before either of you had learnt how to talk, it was established that anything between you could, and would, be turned into a competition.

Two years of distance should have detoxed you from J. You did yoga, read mindfulness books, did the whole shabang. You thought you’d outgrown the nonsense, leaving that childish rivalry in the past.

Now you cross paths again, and there they are: quiet, intense, and wearing that oh-so-punchable face, dragging you right back to high school. They don't even have to say a word; the second they notice your jaw clenching in frustration, a slow, mocking smile spreads across their face. It’s the same look they gave you when you finally got your braces off a week after they did. And just like that, every second of mindfulness practice was just useless silence.

J is your frenemy. You two are physically incapable of being anything else. At least you can decide if you're putting up with them for the plot, or because you like being close enough to count their eyelashes while you argue.

Teodoro 'Theo' Lima / Talita 'Talia' Lima (M/F) – T has been a professional hopeless romantic since first grade. While other kids were busy trading Pokémon cards or eating dirt, T was planning a playground wedding with a stranger they’d met by the swings two hours prior.

Since that first "I do," T has existed exclusively as half of a package deal, complete with matching pairs of underwear and a level of saccharine cringe you assumed would last a lifetime. Now, you’re sitting on your bathroom floor for the third time today, patting T’s back through their latest post-breakup existential crisis.

But beneath all the snot and the melodrama, you’re secretly proud; for the first time ever, T is finally becoming their own person. That is, until that one wet, beautiful laugh escapes them. If your heart suddenly develops a violent arrhythmia, just keep praying they didn't notice your breath catching... or go to the ER, I guess.

You can either guide T towards a fresh start or be the leading interest in a rebound plot. May the odds be in your favor, soldier.

Percival 'Percy' Mendes / Priscila 'Percy' Mendes (M/F) – You’ve always had a soft spot for the youngest member of your group, P. Despite being only six months older, you acted as if you’d personally witnessed the founding days of Costa Sul, and P happily indulged you. Everyone teased them about their not-so-subtle crush on you, but you kept things platonic, mostly by ruffling their hair in a way that said 'treasured friend' instead of 'future spouse.'

However, the person you reunite with after two years of distance has clearly decided none of that ever happened. P greets you with the kind of politeness one offers to a distant cousin’s new spouse, the one whose name you can never quite remember.

Their coldness would make you question if you hallucinated the entire previous decade, if it weren’t for the quick, "screw you in particular" irritation that flashes across their face every time you open your mouth.

You can play P as either the friend who finally got over you, or the friend who is just faking it really well. Will you try to break their unbothered act, or will you play along

Momㆍshe/her – Without her, Costa Sul would just be a pretty coastal town with nice weather and a decent fish market. With her, it's home. You give your mom a free pass to interfere in your life because you’re a total pushover for her. Plus, she’s usually right.

Adelaida ‘Ida’ de la Cruzㆍshe/her – Your nanny, who became a grandmother figure. Her door was always open, her kitchen always smelled amazing, and she certainly didn't take advantage of a minor storm to trap your old friend group under one roof to force you to fix your issues. Don't be ludicrous.

V – There's a rumor going around town, but you've been gone two years, so you'd be the last one to know.  

R – A blog post is loading, and your internet is doing its best... Which isn't great.

I’m always hanging out on Tumblr, sharing updates and answering questions about our lovely cast and the game! Come say hi!