Hey everyone!
I've been wanting to do another deep dive for a while now, but it's been surprisingly hard to figure out what I can actually talk about without spoiling anything.
M&M is very story-driven, and because the game is already fully written, a lot of the things I'm most excited for you guys to experience are things I absolutely cannot talk about yet. I can't really open up about what it was like making a specific case because, well, then you'd know what happens there.
And as tempting as it is to just write an entire dev log that's me going "trust me, guys, it's really good", I figured I should probably find a more conceptual approach that still allows me to share at least some insight with you.
So, today I wanted to talk about something that is obviously a huge part of the game:
Sex.
More specifically, how Murders & Mistresses approaches sex scenes.
Recently, I had the pleasure of playtesting a bunch of scenes beyond the demo. We're nearly halfway through production now and it's honestly been going amazingly. Not just because we're on schedule, but because some of the scenes are hitting so much harder with the final art behind them than I originally expected.
And I was already a fan of my own writing, lol.
The demo obviously only gave you a very small taste of the romantic and sexual side of M&M. That was intentional. The beginning of the game has a lot of work to do. It needs to introduce Morgan, the team, the first case, the deduction system, the tone, the world, and the kind of protagonist you're playing as.
So, while there was definitely some sex in the demo, it was only a tiny part of what the full game has to offer.
Not only did the demo only feature three sex scenes, those three scenes are also some of the shortest ones in the game.
The full game, by comparison, will feature over 40 sex scenes, often larger and denser than the demo ones, some significantly so.
Now, the entirety of CK, as well as some other larger adult games, do of course have more than 40 sex scenes. But when writing Murders & Mistresses, I very early on decided that I didn't want to make this game a content-factory first.
It was never meant to have the most gameplay time or the most sex scenes.
Instead, my goal was to create an adult game that felt like a prestige TV show — think Breaking Bad or The Mentalist — but with genuinely impactful choices.
And with that as a guiding principle, the sex scenes became much more interesting to write.
Because they weren't just about ticking checkboxes for any given love interest.
They had to come from the story.
Designing sexually charged situations
When I was writing M&M, the question was rarely just:
"How do I make this scene hot?"
Obviously, that still matters.
A lot.
But the more important question usually became:
"What is the situation that makes this scene hot?"
Is this comfort after something horrible happened?
Is this temptation?
Is this a bad decision?
Is this two people finally giving in to something they've been trying to ignore?
Is this a husband and wife exploring something new together?
Is this someone using sex to avoid dealing with what they actually feel?
Is this a scene where everyone involved knows this is probably a terrible idea, but that knowledge is also part of what makes it exciting?
Those were the things that lit me up.
Because M&M isn't about college students figuring themselves out for the first time. It's about adults. Adults with marriages, careers, secrets, baggage, regrets, fantasies, jealousy, power dynamics, and often, very questionable judgment.
And that changes the way the sex scenes feel.
A scene with your wife isn't just "wife sex." It can be loving. It can be playful. It can be comforting. It can be the two of you trying to feel normal after everything has gone to shit. Or, depending on your choices, it can become something much more adventurous.
A scene with a colleague isn't just "hot co-worker sex." It carries risk, tension, history, and the question of whether this is a genuine connection, an insanely unprofessional decision, or both.
And a scene with someone connected to a case is obviously a terrible idea.
So naturally, the game lets you pursue it.
Marriage changes things
One of the biggest reasons M&M's sex scenes feel different is Morgan.
Very early on in the game, you decide what kind of marriage you and Morgan have.
You can be exclusive and faithful.
You can have a relationship where Morgan is involved in you exploring other women.
You can have a fully open marriage where both of you are allowed to experiment.
Or, you can tell Morgan one thing and then do something completely different behind her back.
That choice doesn't just change the kind of sex you get to experience with Morgan, it also changes the emotional experience of scenes without her present.
Sometimes sex is romance.
Sometimes it's escape, power, comfort, curiosity, self-destruction.
And sometimes, the decisions in your sex life can have just as far-reaching consequences as the ones in your professional life.
Characters don't stop being themselves
One thing I cared a lot about was making sure the characters didn't suddenly become generic the second a sex scene started.
Morgan is still Morgan.
Bree is still Bree.
Victoria is still Victoria.
Kaylah is still Kaylah.
Lou is still Lou.
Their personalities, insecurities, jokes, confidence, awkwardness, softness, arrogance, chaos, all of that still matters.
If anything, sex scenes are often where those things become even clearer.
The way someone flirts says something about them.
The way someone reacts to being wanted says something about them.
The way someone handles jealousy says something about them.
The way someone behaves when they finally get what they wanted says something about them.
That's why I don't really think of the sex scenes as separate from the character writing.
They are character writing.
Just, you know, with significantly less clothing.
Making every scene feel different
One of the rules I had while writing M&M was that I didn't want two sex scenes to feel the same.
Now, obviously, when you write over 40 sex scenes, that is easier said than done.
At a certain point, you do find yourself staring at the screen at 2am going, "Okay, how many ways can I describe someone taking their clothes off before I lose my mind?"
But that's exactly why the setup matters so much.
The scene can't just be "sex with X." It has to be a situation.
A husband and wife pushing each other into something new.
A fantasy that finally becomes real.
A bad decision made in the heat of the moment.
A character trying to prove something.
A character trying to forget something.
I don't think there are two sex scenes with the same relational and emotional experience in the game.And I'm very proud of that.
There are scenes with your wife, colleagues, suspects, friends.
Scenes where Morgan is involved and ones where she's very much not.
Scenes that are romantic, chaotic, playful, dark.
Scenes built around trust and temptation
And ones built around the thought, "this is an unbelievably bad idea", followed immediately by doing it anyway.
And to me, that's what makes the full game so exciting.
The fantasy of M&M isn't just that you get to have sex with a lot of beautiful women.
It's that you're this brilliant, arrogant, morally-flexible police consultant surrounded by danger, desire, secrets, temptation, and consequences.
The sex is part of that world.
It doesn't sit outside the story.
It grows out of it.
Why the demo was only a taste
I know a lot of you enjoyed the demo, which has been absolutely amazing to see, but in terms of the sexual and romantic content, it really was only the beginning.
The full game gets to let loose a lot more.
There are more romance paths, more dates, more optional scenes, more marriage-specific scenes, more fantasies, more bad ideas, more temptation, and a lot more sexual variety.
Some of you will probably play as a devoted husband who only wants Morgan.
Some of you will build a marriage where Morgan is your partner in crime.
Some of you will explore the open marriage route.
Some of you will try to sleep with every woman the game allows.
And some of you will make choices so morally questionable that I already feel sorry for Morgan.
But that's part of the fun.
M&M gives you a lot of freedom in how you approach love, sex, and desire, but it also makes those choices part of who you are.
Are you loyal? Curious? Reckless? Honest? Manipulative? Trying to build something real?
Or just chasing whatever feels good in the moment and hoping the consequences never catch up with you?
I think different players will answer those questions in very different ways.
And that's exactly what the game is designed for.
Outro
Playtesting these later scenes has made me incredibly excited for you guys to experience the full game.
The demo showed the foundation: the tone, the first case, the deduction system, the marriage, the ambiguity, the darkness, and the kind of choices M&M is going to ask you to make.
But the full game opens up so much more.
More romance.
More sex.
More danger.
More consequences.
More moments where you will hopefully sit there thinking, "I absolutely should not do this", right before clicking the option anyway.
That, to me, is very much what Murders & Mistresses is.
A game about murder, marriage, lust, judgment, temptation, and the uncomfortable little space between what you want and what you know you probably shouldn't do.
I can't wait for you to play more of it this summer!
Much love,Steve