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Well wishes to you on “national S.A.D. day” also known as “singles awareness day.” Are you single and looking to mingle? Maybe just you enjoy ogling at some attractive people (or maybe something other than human??). Whatever you fancy, be it men, women, non-binaries, octagenarians, demons, pot-bellied pigs, or puzzle pieces, we’ve got the dating sims for you!
It can be a bit of extra fun when games add in a dating aspect to games such as the farming sims (Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, Stardew Valley), the recent Fire Emblem games, or in the well-praised Hades. But if you’ve already fought your way out of Hell, won some wars, or maybe you’re done with farming and just want to focus on your love life? Here’s a list of dating sim games that range from the typical dating-sim experience to some that combine with unexpected genres.
Arcade Spirits
Imagine that the 1983 video game marketing crash didn’t happen and arcades remained the dominant way to play video games to this day? Arcade Spirits is a visual novel set in this world and your character has just started a new job at Funplex, the popular local arcade with interesting staff and fun customers.
Your character is customizable both in looks and in personality. Are you Kindly, Quirky, Steady, Gusty, or Basically? Interact with characters as yourself or however you like, be that platonically or romantically.
Best Friend Forever
Everyone knows that being adjacent to a cute animal is a great way to attract cute people so it’s a surprise that Best Friend Forever is the first simulation game to combine pet care and dating. Train, pat, and play with your dog while also meeting the cast of Rainbow Bay’s singles.
My Secret Pets!
So you can attract dates using your pet, but what if your date was your pet? My Secret Pet is one of the more unusual dating sim games on this list. After breaking up with your boyfriend, you return home to find that your four pets, a cat, cockatoo, pot-bellied pig, and a rabbit, have transformed into handsome men! Your pets are very devoted to you and fight for your affection.
Personally, I prefer my pets to stay the way they are. If they suddenly were given the ability to talk, no doubt they would demand more food, more time outside, and complain that I leave the house too much.
Dream Daddy
Likely the most well-known game on this list, Dream Daddy is a dating sim where you and your daughter just moved to Maple Bay and meet other hot, single, datable Dads. The game includes seven datable Dads, multiple endings, mini-games, Dad puns, Dad character creator, and is voiced by Game Grumps.
Later Daters
So, there’s dating for dads, but what about grandpas? Later Daters is an octogenarian dating sim game where you “play as a sexy senior”, customize your own character, and choose your romantic history. You recently joined a retirement community and as you meet the rest of the cast, have intimate adventures that address mortality and vulnerability.
Care for a pet, flirt, date, and enjoy LGBTQ and poly inclusive romance options.
Monster Prom XXL
Every wish that high school prom was a little more…demonic? Monster Prom has you play as one of four monsters looking for a prom date just three weeks before prom. Like multiple games on this list, Monster Prom doesn’t take the dating sim genre too seriously and there is quite a bit of fun writing. Along with a great art style, over a thousand events, and weird items to use, the game is also a couch co-op competitive game. You can play alone or with up to three other friends as you fight for the affection of your chosen monster or sabotage your friends’ chances of asking out their favorite monster.
Monster Prom XXL contains all the DLC and seasonal content from the Monster Prom game.
Check out Nintendojo’s review, here.
Pixel Puzzle Makeout League
So maybe shapes are your thing! Even if not, in this “picross meets dating sim”, you play as Pixel Girl with the superpowers of puzzle-solving. She turns her problems into picross puzzles to solve. She can also date her four other members of her team included a giant puzzle piece. Yes, a giant yellow puzzle piece.
Other puzzle types include crossword, sudoku, chess, and jigsaw puzzles. A puzzle type for each team member! There are also various “exotic” date locations including a café, the library, mountain climbing, and the center of the earth.
Hopefully, this list of creative, unusual, and humorous dating sims at least brought you some amusement if not piqued your interest. Dating sims have become one of the most humorous game genres out there. If only I Love YOu, Colonel Sanders, Hatoful Boyfriend, and Attack Helicopter Dating Simulator were on Switch.
