For Anders Howard, proposing to his girlfriend (now fiancee) via a video game he designed may have been the geekiest marriage proposal in the history of all proposals. It could also qualify as one of the most awesome. "I was sitting on the bus wishing that I could do something more memorable than proposing over dinner," Howard explains to Asylum. "Being a game designer by day, I hatched the plan to make a [video] game."
After whipping up a few friends and fellow video game gurus (Jeff Aydelotte, programmer; Thomas Bennet Jobling, animation; Justin Fong, character rig; Ian Buczkowski, sound), they set out to design a food-based video game created specifically for Howard's leading lady.
Click here to read how Howard planned the proposal and to watch the actual footage.
A few weeks later, the video game was complete. In front of a group of friends, Howard asked his Stephanie to test the game. ( See the video at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e3YHJcGAmY )
"I was really nervous about was whether or not the game would be playable from beginning to end," he told us. "It could have broken, or worse, she might not have been able to figure out how to get to the end by herself since she's not really a gamer."
Despite all that worrying, Stephanie managed to get to the end without any bumps. And, fortunately for Howard, she agreed to the whole marriage thing and didn't leave him stuttering / crying uncontrollably in front of all the family and friends who attended the event. "She says she was surprised that I went to such great lengths to come up with a proposal, so I think that means she was impressed," he tells us.
If this whole proposal thing wasn't awesome enough, you can actually play the game here. If you do, you'll get a sneak peak into the relationship of the happy couple.
It only takes about five minutes to beat (seriously) and involves a character who looks like Howard's fiancee walking around a cartoon city collecting food and booze. As the game progresses, a character resembling Howard helps collect food so the two can work more quickly. If that's not sickeningly sweet enough for you, get this: During the game, the girlfriend look-a-like gets a bouquet of flowers, love letters professing a deepening love and, of course, a cartoon ring.
P.S. Thanks a lot, Anders. Now our girlfriends are gonna be even more unimpressed when we propose on the Jumbotron.
