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First impressions: Demi Lovato's choose your own adventure mobile game is out now

I hung out with Demi Lovato backstage last night. We talked about outfits, my best friend Bonnie was there, and I gave Demi a link to my YouTube channel, after which she said she loved my music.

Oh, sorry, none of that actually happened. I was playing Demi Lovato: Path to Fame, a choose your own adventure-style mobile game written in conjunction with the Dallas-raised singer. It's part of the existing mobile app Episode, which is a story/game platform where users can experience (or write) various stories that ... well, let's be honest. Most of them revolve around young romance.

Demi Lovato's game is not much different in that regard. One of the first things that happens in Path to Fame is that you, a young woman , run into your ex-boyfriend, after which drama potentially ensues (there is no option to be anything other than a straight woman. This guy Sam is your ex, whether you think he's attractive or not.).

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Path to Fame isn't just about awkward teen love, though. As the game's press release says, you can:

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Or with:

  • Dress like a star and customize your character's look to create your style from hundreds of options.

  • Earn bonus stories based on your choices: go on romantic dates, attend exclusive parties and join in tour escapades.

  • Experience stories that have been designed by Demi, including exclusive trivia and anecdotes.

  • Visit amazing cities where you'll perform shows with Demi and build a dedicated fan base.

  • Hang out with Demi's band, manager and friends!

  • Listen to Demi's songs as the soundtrack to your story, and perform them on-stage alongside Demi herself.

Naturally, as a straight dude in my 20's who has no real knowledge of or affinity for Lovato's song catalog, I just had to play the game for myself.

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It started with me creating myself. As a woman. But I look pretty hot, if I do say so myself.

Left: Before I customized my character. Right: After
Left: Before I customized my character. Right: After

A cartoonish version of Lovato herself then showed up to give me a rundown of how things were going to go in Path to Fame. As the story progresses, the player is presented with several different choices with what to do and how to respond to people. Each can lead in a different direction, opening up new paths and sometimes new customization options. Some choices will lead to more fame, others to more love, etc.

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So just like Telltale's The Walking Dead series, only less murder-y. So far, anyway.

I also got to pick my outfit pretty early on, which led seeing my first instance of how Path to Fame plans to make money: By charging you for fake stuff.

When dressing to go to a Demi Lovato concert (naturally), I had two free clothing options. But then, if I wanted to spend gems (an in-game currency that you can purchase with real money) I could dress like a "Lovatic," which I gather is a hardcore Lovato fan. That, presumably, would impress Lovato whenever I inevitably met her (because who else would go to a Demi Lovato concert dressed like a Demi Lovato fan? That takes dedication).

As I played, more options like this opened up (one, for example, let me use gems in order to essentially buy my way backstage at the concert), each leading to potential opportunities to spend money. The other catch to the game, which is free to download, is that you need to use a pass for each "chapter" of Path to Fame you want to play. So if you really want to binge-play the entire thing in one sitting, you'll probably have to spend money for that privilege. 

The version of the game I played had been given plenty of free gems from the game's developer, but I thought the Lovatic outfit seemed kind of dumb, so I didn't go for it.

The story is very cheesy in a Disney Channel-esque way. There's lots of talk about celebrities and boys and YouTube and all that fun stuff that parents of teenagers love to roll their eyes at.

The game also asked for my best friend's name, as she is my partner in crime (which I mean kind of literally, based on how my road to fame has gone so far) on the adventure. I entered my wife's name, Bonnie, which made for an... awkward conversation as the characters discussed what I should do about my character's ex-boyfriend. I got to customize Bonnie's look a little bit as well. She was wearing a cat shirt and often framed her responses to me in terms of food. That's so Bonnie.

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I also bumped into Kris. Kris seems cool.

Look, I'm clearly not the market for this game, and not just because I'm not a young woman. On more than one occasion I was asked (once by Demi herself) what my favorite Demi Lovato song was, and I was presented with three options. Honestly, they could have made all three song titles up and I would have had no idea.

But as a way to tell a story, I think Episode, and this Demi Lovato story in particular, is oddly fascinating. Yeah, it's cheesy and childish. Yeah, most of the plot (even in as little as I've played) is utterly unrealistic. Yeah, the dialogue is dumb. Yeah, it's gonna try to squeeze money out of you in some interesting ways.

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But as a "choose your own adventure" of the future, there might be something here. Demi's biggest fans will probably get a kick out of hanging out with a virtual version of their hero.

The game can be downloaded on iTunes or Google Play.