Proud out Loud

Dating Sims

Moving away from books and over to video games for a second, I'm going to talk about dating sims.

If for some reason you are unfamiliar with the concept, a dating sim/simulator is a game where your character progresses through a story and has the option of dating a number of other characters. Typically, these games are formated as a visual novel story where the choices you make decide which character you end up with romantically.

While romance is always the main focus of these games, it is not unusual for there to be an underlying story as well and there are certain titles in the genre that are actually quite well written.

Most of the time, these games tend to have a fixed protagonist who has the option of dating several characters of the opposite gender. Sometimes, however, there is a bit more freedom in who you are and who you get to date. I am here to talk about those times.

Dream Daddy, a Dad Dating Simulator (DDADDS) (TW: Alcoholism - mild, Infidetility/Neglect - implied)
I briefly mentioned this one during the lightning round last year but it fits the description so I'm mentioning it again. It was created by the Game Grumps and, as the name suggests, you are a single dad, dating other dads. The game begins with you and your daughter Amanda, moving into a new neighbourhood where, coincidentally, all the dads are very single and very gay. (Well, except for Joseph. But shh...).

During the game, you get to go on dates with the other dads and after three dates with one dad, you end the game and unlock their ending. It is a lot of fun with various mini-games and excellent writing.

The only thing here is that you must be a man dating other men. However, in the character customization section, you are allowed to be FTM trans and wear a binder. You may also choose to be bi/pan instead of gay as you are given the choice as to whether Amanda's other parent was a man or a woman.

This game costs money and is available on Steam.

Amorous (TW: Sex scenes - very censored)
Alright, I'm not gonna beat around the bush, this one involves furries. But wait! Wait! Hear me out, okay? I don't think you should be too quick to dismiss.

So the general premise of this game is that you've been single for some time now, and so your adoptive brother decides to bring you to his favourite club, where you are given the option to talk to a large variety of other characters. Male, female and somewhere in between. If you can get someone's number, you'll be allowed to ask them on a date the next day and after three dates, you'll unlock their ending.

Even if furries aren't exactly your thing, the writing in this game is genuinely pretty good, the art is fun and colourful, and best of all. It's free. Plus, there's the character customization.

I am not in the slightest exaggerating when I say that I have never seen any other game come anywhere close to being this customizable, at least in terms of your gender. Let me walk you through it.

After deciding what you want to look like, which could be anything from a bird to a dinosaur, you are asked a series of questions about yourself. First, whether you identify as male, female or "something else" which then goes on to give you the options of completely non-binary, intersex, male-leaning androgynous or female-leaning androgynous.

Assuming you chose "something else", you will also be asked whether or not you are comfortable with the game describing your body. The options for this are, don't mention anything "top-side", don't mention anything "below the belt", don't mention my body, or pronouns are important but I'm not worried about my body.

If instead, you chose female or male, you will be asked whether you are cis or trans. If you say trans, you will be asked whether or not you are okay with the game describing your body.

And all of this actually gets factored into the dialogue you are given. Both in terms of pronouns, and how much detail the more intimate scenes do or don't go into. It's pretty amazing all things considered.

Oh, and yes, there are more intimate scenes. And each of the character's endings contains a largely censored sex scene. So consider yourself warned but it's nothing too graphic. They are still cartoony anthropomorphic animals after all.

This game is free and available on Steam.

The Arcana (TW: Suicide - technically, Death - non-permanent)
Here we have our first and only mobile game, one that I myself am still working through. I have, however, finished one route and can say that it is phenomenal.

This game contains the most story out of the four I'm discussing today but that is certainly not a bad thing. Apprentice to a powerful mage named Asra, you are called upon by the empress Nadia to investigate the murder of count Lucio and track down the number one suspect, a plague doctor named Julian. You also befriend Nadia's servant, Portia, and a mysterious figure who would rather be left alone named Muriel.

Things are, of course, not as straight forward as they may first seem.

This game is, as of now, still incomplete. Asra, Nadia and Julian's routes are fully written but Portia, Lucio and Muriel's routes are still being periodically updated.

I have only played through Julian's route as of now, but here's what I can tell you about the game. 1) Every character has a "good" and "bad" ending, although morality is not often so clearly defined. 2) There are options only unlockable via in-game currency but they will not affect which endings you can get. You simply get to be a bit more intimate with the character you are pursuing. Nothing too explicit though.

The reason it belongs on this list is two-fold. 1) You can choose your own pronouns, she/her, he/him or they/them. 2) Many of the characters are implied to have had past relationships with each other and some routes allow the characters not currently being courted to date each other at the end, effectively making everyone pansexual.

It's a fun game, the art is gorgeous and I'm a sucker for fantasy so this gets 5 stars from me. No ads either if you'll believe it, and you can still more or less get the full experience without spending a penny. You will have to wait a bit as chapters require keys to unlock and those replenish slowly over time. It's also very slow, earning in-game currency without paying, but not impossible. And all in all, these things don't take away from the experience so much that you can't enjoy the game anymore so I think it's worth it.

This game is free but contains in-game purchases and is available on the Google Play Store for both Apple and Android I'd assume.

Monster Prom
Finally, Monster Prom. This one is, a bit different from the others. For starters, it's a multiplayer game. That's right, a competitive dating sim, interesting right?

The premise is simple and this game has arguably the least story out of the four. You go to a high school for monsters and prom is coming up but, oh no, you don't have a date. Can you get the attention of a fellow student in time for prom, which is but a week away?

You can, of course, play single player, in which case you just work on saying the right things to the right people as you go about your school day in order to win the affection of your chosen love interest.

The more interesting version is playing with friends. Here, you compete to see who can win the monster of their dreams, all while attempting to sabotage the other players by spreading rumours and ruining their dates.

There's a DLC that's out now with more datable characters (which I own) as well as a sequel that takes place during summer vacation, I believe (which I don't own). Oh and JackSepticEye voices one of the DLC characters, so there you go.

The gay part, as you may have expected, comes from the fact that you can choose your pronouns, she/her, he/him or they/them, making every character essentially pansexual, once again.

This game costs money and is available on Steam.

Now I'm sure there are others out there that fit the bill, but these are just the four that come to mind and that I have personally played so I feel comfortable recommending.