It’s the most romantic time of the year, which means it’s the perfect time to try out a dating simulator. One of the most saturated genres of gaming, there are countless dating sims–mostly in the form of visual novels–available online, but most end up feeling more or less the same with cookie cutter characters and romances.
For anyone looking to spice up their Valentine’s Day with a taste of virtual romance, these dating sims, which range from cute and quirky to intense and horrifying, will do the trick.
Date Everything!
Date Everything! is a game that completely lives up to its name. Rather than being limited to a handful of romanceable characters, Date Everything! allows players to chat up 100 characters, which range from common household objects like fridges and vacuum cleaners to the concept of existential dread and nightmares.
The one major drawback of Date Everything! is that, unlike less-comedic dating sims, none of the characters seem to know or care that the player is flirting with every towel or keyboard that happens to pass by. Other dating sims have more consequences for pursuing romance with multiple characters at once, whereas Date Everything! embraces allowing players to two-time their oven.
Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Dream Daddy is a game probably best known for being created by the YouTube duo Game Grumps (and being featured on their gaming-inspired comedy album The Tryforce). Taking the role of a dad that recently moved to a new town with his daughter, Dream Daddy introduces a cast of local daddies to romance.
Dream Daddy stands out in the genre for its premise, which comes with a healthy dose of dad jokes at every opportunity, and its colorful art style. The game also comes with a fair amount of fun minigames and sidequests, which helps break up the “talking simulator” feeling that comes with most dating sims.
Doki Doki Literature Club
At the outset, it’s important to know that Doki Doki Literature Club is not a standard dating simulator and that it comes with some surprisingly heavy psychological horror, which is what makes it such a stand-out title since it came out in 2017.
With a standard set-up, Doki Doki follows a high school student as he joins his school’s literature club and meets the four girls in it. Each of them fulfills a traditional dating sim trope, like the childhood friend or the shy bookworm, but Doki Doki is far from traditional once players delve deeper into the game.
Monster Prom
Prom is coming in three weeks and you don’t have a date. Thankfully, there’s a whole cast of classmates to romance before the big dance, with just one little note; they’re all monsters. Thankfully, you’re a monster too, but still a single one.
With a time limit and the potential of being rejected, Monster Prom is a fun dating sim with real stakes (pardon to any vampires in the room). One standout feature to Monster Prom is that it’s multiplayer, which allows up to four players to compete for the monstrous affections of their classmates.
A Date with Death
Romance the Grim Reaper in A Date with Death, a free-to-play dating/chat simulator that gives players one week to save their soul by seducing Death himself. A Date with Death has a heavy focus on texting, as the Grim Reaper communicates over an instant message program and players must decide how to best respond.
A Date with Death is small in scale, but its intimate story draws players in, and with multiple endings, it has great replayability.
Speed Dating for Ghosts
Like A Date with Death, Speed Dating for Ghosts puts a supernatural twist on the dating sim genre. Unlike the more light-hearted, romantic tone of A Date with Death, Speed Dating for Ghosts is much more willing to dive into darker topics. Some of the ghosts and spirits players meet aren’t happy characters and will discuss their tragic endings, but others are more jovial, so the game isn’t entirely depressing.
For players seeking a sweeping romance, this might not be the game for you, but for anyone looking for interesting conversations with some spirits beyond the veil, this might just be the perfect match.
Boyfriend Dungeon
Any players bored of clicking through endless dialogue trees may find just what they need in Boyfriend Dungeon. Part dungeon crawler, part dating simulator, Boyfriend Dungeon introduces nine weapons that happen to transform into attractive singles (and one that transforms into a cat). As players fight through dungeons full of enemies, they can take a break to go on dates with their favorite weapon, which in turn increases the effectiveness of the weapon.
Boyfriend Dungeon is one of the more unique dating sims of recent years, and one that will certainly entertain anyone looking for romance this Valentine’s Day.
