Have you ever played a Dating Sim?

[ZedClampet]

A dating sim is a game where the main goal is to get into a relationship with woman, man, pigeon, psycho AI, tank, etc. Most of them seem to be anime games for heterosexual males, though.

I'll play just about anything, but this isn't really my thing. I've played Crush Crush, that pigeon dating game, Doki Doki (not sure that counts) and an FMV game called Five Dates, which I gave up on because I didn't like any of my options (and it made me realize that if my wife divorces me, I'll be single for the rest of my life).

I started a thread before about romance in RPG's and how I didn't really like it, so why I tried dating sims is a mystery (that they were either free or cheap helped), but I actually enjoyed Crush, Crush because of the writing and voice acting. Plus it was my first idle game, and I found progression fascinating. The other games I tried were okay, but they didn't inspire me to keep trying more dating sims. Plus, now that Steam allows cartoon porn, all the games seem to be headed in that direction, which doesn't really do anything for me. I'm not anti-porn. I'm just not a fan of it being in my games.

So how about you? Like/dislike/never tried?

 

[Brian Boru]

Crush, Crush

Weird, when I went to check that out, I have it in my Steam library—with no recollection of getting it. No wonder my TBP pile is teetering!

Doki Doki

I played an hour or two of that, but it didn't appeal—too little going on if I recall correctly.

I've added Crush Crush to my 'Play these' list, so we'll see.

 

[Johnway]

Unless we consider stuff like dragons age, Mass effect or baldurs gate rpgs then the only one i played was Doki doki the free edition and even then its a stretch. Whilst steins;gate had a sort of romance element, technically it was more visual novel and you would stumble to each ending with minimal input.

 

[ZedClampet]

Weird, when I went to check that out, I have it in my Steam library—with no recollection of getting it. No wonder my TBP pile is teetering!


I played an hour or two of that, but it didn't appeal—too little going on if I recall correctly.

I've added Crush Crush to my 'Play these' list, so we'll see.

Doki Doki has a rough beginning if you don't like dating sims, but then the game completely changes. I bounced off it the first time, as well. It's not actually a dating sim, tbh.

Crush Crush is like Cookie Clicker. If you don't like that type of game, you can probably just skip it.

 

[ZedClampet]

Whilst steins;gate had a sort of romance element, technically it was more visual novel and you would stumble to each ending with minimal input.

Yeah, none of those are technically dating sims. Steins; gate has minimal input even for a visual novel. I gave up on it at about the 15 hour mark, and I had never made any choices at all.

 

[Zloth]

I watched Danny from GameSpot go through Hatoful Boyfriend and just about busted a gut laughing, but that's it.

 

[Zloth]

<Shrug> What's the point of defeating imaginary dragons and demons? It's all in the game.

 

[Itelix]

Doki Doki, Everlast Summer is nice, about new one Sinful soul is coming soon on Steam. Saw it in Doki Doki relevant games

 

[SWard]

No but oh my god, I was doing a playthrough of DOS2 last night and I'm chatting to this bloke in the driftwood tarvern who tells me Lizards make the best lovers... any way after a bit of back and fourth, I end up upstairs "entangled" with a lizard. I wake up the next day and my character has zero clothes on and it turns out it was a set-up and they mugged my character! I couldn't fight them by myself without dying so I had to reload from a previous save.

It's safe to say, I'm not touching any romance options in games for a while.

 

[mainer]

Never tried, and I've never had a gaming interest in dating sims, anime games, or pigeons. No disrespect to anyone who enjoys them, it just isn't something I'm interested in. I have pursued, and enjoyed romantic side quests in games like the Dragon Age & Mass Effect games (as @Johnway mentioned), but that's completely different and also optional.

No but oh my god, I was doing a playthrough of DOS2 last night and I'm chatting to this bloke in the driftwood tarvern who tells me Lizards make the best lovers... any way after a bit of back and fourth, I end up upstairs "entangled" with a lizard. I wake up the next day and my character has zero clothes on and it turns out it was a set-up and they mugged my character! I couldn't fight them by myself without dying so I had to reload from a previous save.

It's been a few years since I've played DOS2, but I remember that quest, and there is a way out of that situation, even after that "entanglement", that allows you to get your equipment back and your companions to help in the fight. I can't remember the details, but I do remember that it matters who has the "key" to the room, and that you have to switch which character you control, from the one in the room to the others waiting. There are multiple outcomes & conversation choices, including becoming "entangled" again if you want.

 

[Shodan_]

Not since the days of flash games on Newgrounds but they're huge and there's definitely something for everyone and every species out there.

Not into them myself but I can see how they can be cool.