Poll: what dating sim should I play next?

[alias_sqbr]

So SLBP seems to have finally given up on running on my emulator at all, to which my reaction was like 30% sadness 70% I'M FREE. But I feel the YEARNING FOR DATING and have a huge backlog and decisions are hard. So! A poll!

I'll describe everything at the bottom but feel free to just follow your gut. And if you've played any of these and have opinions please let me know! If no genders are listed, it's the player's choice.

Anon comments are open if you don't have a dreamwidth account.

Poll #24335

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13

View Respondents

What should I play?

View Answers

Blind Men: m/m spy satire
4 (30.8%)

Yearning: A Gay Story: m/m college coming out/slice of life
1 (7.7%)

This World Unknown: f/m fantasy
1 (7.7%)

Akash: f/m fantasy.
2 (15.4%)

Dark Nights: f/m Dark supernatural.
1 (7.7%)

Enamored Risks: m/f, f/f college urban explorers.
2 (15.4%)

Highway Blossoms: f/f roadtrip.
1 (7.7%)

Dungeons and Lesbians: f/f friends group.
6 (46.2%)

Ladykiller in a Bind: twisty f/f with sexy lies.
4 (30.8%)

Dorakone: Fluffy f/f in a cafe
4 (30.8%)

Love Hues: soft diversity in college
2 (15.4%)

Speed Dating for Ghosts
2 (15.4%)

Arcade Spirits: set in a video arcade.
3 (23.1%)

When The Night Comes: Supernatural.
0 (0.0%)

Errant Kingdom: Fantasy
1 (7.7%)

first date/can't relate: short comedy about first dates
0 (0.0%)

Monster Prom: Date monsters in highschool
4 (30.8%)

Other
1 (7.7%)

Possibilities:

Blind Men: m/m spy satire

Yearning: A Gay Story: m/m college coming out/slice of life. I don't like the art but maybe I'd get used to it?

This World Unknown: f/m fantasy

Akash: f/m fantasy. I...think you can date a guy voiced by ProZD?? That would be odd.

Dark Nights: f/m Dark supernatural.

Enamored Risks: m/f, f/f college urban explorers.

Highway Blossoms: f/f roadtrip. I don't think this has any choices.

Dungeons and Lesbians: f/f friends group. Short and silly.

Ladykiller in a Bind: twisty f/f with sexy lies. Apparently good but doesn't seem super romantic so idk how far I'd get.

Dorakone: Fluffy f/f in a cafe

Love Hues: soft diversity in college

Speed Dating for Ghosts

Arcade Spirits: set in a video arcade.

When The Night Comes: Supernatural. No Autoplay >:(

Errant Kingdom: Fantasy. Incomplete.

first date/can't relate: short comedy about first dates

Monster Prom: Date monsters in highschool.

Don't feel like right now but am listing for completeness:

Later Daters Set in a retirement home. Seems a bit twee, and I'm not up for discussions of mortality right now.

Heaven Will Be Mine: f/f. Angsty lesbian spaceship pilots. It's well made and I'm not sure why it didn't grab me. No autoplay >:(

Blue Rose: Mediocre fantasy m/f. Demo didn't grab me.

The rest of Ozmafia: m/f that triggered me pretty badly and I still feel oogy when I think about trying the other paths even though I've been told they're safe.

The gen paths on the Code Realise DLC because gen! I want dating!!

Magical Otome Ciel: m/f fantasy. It was fine but slow and I got bored.

Black Closet: Dark procedural highschool f/f.

Hatoful Boyfriend Holiday Star: Sounds sad.

Gender Wrecked: Intense and weird.

Various Nami f/f games: Seem a bit too silly and fluffy.

Comments

[scytale]

I would recommend Monster Prom as a game (especially if you find other people to play with!), but I don't recommend it as a dating sim?

I play Monster Prom semi-regularly and it has a lot of fun, clever writing (and lots of secret endings, which are a lot of fun and come with nice CGs, but are pretty much randomly achieved).

It's fun and light, and much more focused on the humor than the romance .There's not really romance (it's competitive prom dating, essentially), and the characters are very shallow (but very very funny). And you kind of get a feel for the characters even in the course of one game (they're deliberately not particularly deep), so it's just replaying (hopefully with friends) to unlock the secret endings.

I find it more fun as a stats-raising party game with an achievement/hidden ending collection element. I think a lot more about my "went to the bathrooms every turn of the game" achievement than I do about the love interests.

I don't know much about any of the other games, but I voted for Dorakone because the summary makes it sound like the heroine is getting into dragon gacha.

[alias_sqbr]

nods I kinda want to play Monster Prom once by myself to avoid embarrassing myself by not understanding the mechanics (I am very self conscious in new social situations) but yeah get the impression it's best played in a group.

[scytale]

Ah, yeah! It just isn't a game where I would try to go for completionism solo.

If you want tips or suggestions for items to go for, let me know!

[alias_sqbr]

(Noting that a friend with no dreamwidth told me they voted for Dorakone)

[sylvaine]

Akash does indeed have a character voiced by ProZD, that's where I know it from. XD Monster Prom is fun, but I think it's more fun when played together with other people? A lot of the fun comes from it being something of a co-op/rivalry game with friends, imo.

[alias_sqbr]

nods Sounds like I gotta get around to playing it with other people!