Out of necessity and forcing myself to think small, it won't be my only focus this weekend. So starting with very simple ideas.

Going well so far. Got a strong theme, strong idea of what to make, and most of the building blocks programmed.

Idea:

Trying to make a (heavy) mechanical abstraction of personal + interpersonal life through the lens of introversion + extroversion.

Theme comes in as sacrifices made balancing time, maintaining relationships, pursuing goals. Sounds more complicated than it is. I'm just big on high-level concepts. The simplicity comes in with the-

Mechanics:

(Final level of art abstraction uncertain, for now you're a circle.) Circles represent people with varying levels of introversion or extroversion which determine if they gain energy from being apart from or close to other people. Player controls one person, while the rest will run on basic AI trying to seek out or avoid others to maintain their energy.

Both running out of energy, and having too much will be bad and can lead to a fail state.

A fulfillment score will be gained by physically reaching goals that are placed in the world. Goals, especially valuable ones may move with time.

Additional Mechanics as Stretch Goals or Future Development:

If there is time I will implement an interpersonal attachment system. Once a character has been close to the player for a while it will form an attachment, and attempt to follow the player over greater distances to 'maintain the relationship'. And in return the player's fulfillment may be boosted by maintaining these friends.

Some type of randomized personality system. Mechanically it just means a random positive or negative score representing compatibility between yourself and other characters that affects fulfillment when they're near. This is to create variety so that not all relationships are equal, and possibly change with time.

Design Intent:

The AI characters should create a dynamic field of obstacles and short-term objectives that slow down pursuing goals, but are necessary to navigate to survive that long. The player will have to choose a balance to strike between personal well-being, pursuing goals, and maintaining relationships. Along the way, sacrifices must be made.