Not much going on in your dating life? Or perhaps you’ve given up on the dating world and would rather let 2D characters flirt their way into your heart? Have you considered the weird, wacky, and sometimes the fulfilling world of Dating Sims?
We’ve got an interesting lineup of dating sims for you to experience and swoon over. Just be sure to note that we titled these dating sims as “quirky” for a reason.
From bird and monster dating to dungeon crawling and single dad dating, there’s probably something for everyone, and maybe even a surprisingly fun experience you probably never expected to experience.
Here are our 12 favorite quirky dating sims.
Hatoful Boyfriend
Not sure whether I am sorry to be starting with this, but Hatoful Boyfriend is a bird dating sim. Yes, you heard that right. Birds, dating, yes. It started as an April Fool’s joke and turned into a well-made viral sensation that became one of the most downloaded games of 2011.
How does it work? Well, your available bachelors are comprised of a variety of sentient birds and you will end up with one of them. It’s strange, but you’re a human studying in an elite avian school with eight different birds as your potential love interest.
Each of the birds has its own unique personalities and your choice in the visual novel affects who you will end up with. There will be plot twists and weirdly enough, Hatoful Boyfriend proves to be a rather interesting dating sim experience.
Dream Daddy
Having cultivated their very own fandom, Dream Daddy was a success when the word ‘Daddy’ was making its rounds as a viral phenomenon on the internet. To tell you the truth, the game isn’t necessarily raunchy, it’s actually pretty cutesy.
You’re a dad that moves into a new neighborhood with your daughter, and now you’re acquainted with the seven dads in your area. Some of them are single, most of them are with kids, and one is in a troubled marriage – but nothing stops you from dating any of them. Saucy, saucy.
Either way, you get to compare dad advice, dad jokes, dad golf, and more dad stuff in this dad dating sim. It’s a very adorable setting, and all of your choices affect the outcome and how much you end up progressing with each dad. You even get a dad score at the end of your dates.
Mystic Messenger
In case you need some more spice in your life, here’s a little spice for your mobile phones so you can bring it everywhere you go. In the game, you accidentally download an app called Mystic Messenger and start receiving strange messages from random people.
As you play, you’re connected to a group of men that you can continue to romance by solving mysteries. There are all sorts of paths and endings for you to unlock for each character that it will take a while for you to properly finish the game.
The best feature is that the game operates in real-time, so each conversation is only available after a certain amount of time has passed in the real world. Each route lasts for 11 days, and there are 7 routes with 7 different characters for you to explore.
Monster Prom
You’re a monster in high school and you need to find a date for Prom. Ahhh, the terror, the nightmare, the awkwardness! At least this time, you can relive Prom and navigate it on your own terms. For many of us, it can be hard to find a date in three weeks, but with a little bit of confidence, anything can happen!
Monster Prom definitely takes the cake when it comes to re-living high school dating life. The game has a ton of funny moments, wholesome hearts, and cool monsters to date. One unique feature that Monster Prom employs that most dating sims don’t is a multiplayer option. Up to four gamers can fight to find a date, and the first one to secure a date wins!
Anyways, even if you fly solo, you’re definitely going to replay this game over and over again to date each of its characters in turn. The six options presented to you each have their own sweet charms that will make you regret your choice if you don’t come back for more.
Doki Doki Literature Club
Okay, Doki Doki Literature Club actually ventures into more of a psychological horror game, but it starts off as an innocent dating sim. Just one more reason why dating sounds like a tiresome and scary thing to experience. Also note that if you don’t like horror or gore or anything that could psychologically torment you, you might want to skip this one.
Oh, the twists this game will take you on! Just be warned, it has been known to scar innumerable players.
Basically, you are forced to join the high school literature club and flirt your way to dating 3 out of 4 of the girls in the club. As usual, there are multiple endings and paths for you to venture on, as well as some unlockable cutscenes with each girl. Enjoy it while it lasts!
Max Gentlemen Sexy Business
Are you interested in some Victorian-era business tycoons looking for love? Well, you’re getting it! It’s an odd mix, but honestly, you never know what you’re into until you try it, and we’ve definitely seen weirder dating sims, *cough* Hatoful Boyfriend *cough.*
The gist of the game is that you’re running a business while simultaneously courting any eligible bachelors and bachelorettes for affection. You can choose to run your business however you like, as long as it stays afloat.
You’ll be making decisions for professional and personal gain here, each relationship has its purpose. Make sure to make the right decision for your heart and business alike! You can also turn off any sensitive content since this is an adult game after all.
Tears of Themis
Another one for the mobile gang, Tears of Themis is an adventure dating sim released in 2021 by miHoYo. You play as a lawyer roped into a private organization created to solve mystery cases with four other men each with their respective roles and codenames.
As you continue playing the game, you’ll uncover the motivations and backgrounds of each of the men you’re working with as you help them understand and discover different sides of themselves that they didn’t know existed.
Tears of Themis features a turn-based debate mechanic where you upgrade your character cards and use them in debates. There are three main attributes to each card and you fight your debates based on these attributes. The game has nonstop ongoing events, so even if you finish the mainline stories, there’s more for you to uncover.
Arcade Spirits
A dating sim that brings back the love of arcade games. Arcade Spirits imagines a world where arcade games were still a popular thing at large, and as an employee of the arcade, you get to try to romance some of your interesting customers and even your roommate and colleagues.
A lot of the game is customizable, even conversation choices and your character’s personality. Your choices of romance will not only affect your future but perhaps even the future of the arcade itself. You’ve got eight characters that you can choose to make a move on romantically or platonically.
The game plays like a visual novel dating sim, and each dialogue or interaction can be unlocked or triggered if you fulfill the criteria of a certain trait that the character is attracted to. Either way, just be yourself and find your true match!
Boyfriend Dungeon
It’s an unconventional way to find a boyfriend, but the whole ‘fight for me’ thing is taken very seriously in Boyfriend Dungeon. Whoever you decide to partner up with will transform into a sentient weapon that you can use to fight through dungeons. Sounds metal as heck, right?
As the main character, you are tasked with keeping your city safe by fighting monsters in dungeons. You date your weapons to increase their power in battle, and each of the weapons you come across has its very own personality type based on what kind of weapon they are.
The mix of dungeon crawler and dating sim is definitely unique, Currently, you have 7 weapons to date, but as the game continues to expand and grow, more characters/weapons will be added for you to date and conquer the dungeon once and for all!
Speed Dating for Ghosts
Who says you can’t find love even when you’re dead? Speed Dating For Ghosts takes the dating sim to the world of the undead as you try to find a partner to spend eternity with. This comedy-horror foray into the dating sim world will leave you questioning what it will be like when you’re dead and gone.
You play as yourself as you decide to attend a speed dating event for ghosts. This is where you meet up with some interesting and quirky ghosts, trying to find their own partners for the afterlife. There are in total 13 different ghosts for you to try to flirt with and court as you continue along.
Some of these ghosts are harder to encounter and romance, so when you get to meet them and if you are interested in them, be sure to give it your all right out of the gate. You’ll never know when you’ll see them again. As usual, you’ll get to find out each ghosts’ motivation and backstories, some of their personal stories are rather tragic.
I Love You Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator
Again, what started out as a joke, or perhaps a marketing gimmick, was made real. I Love You Colonel Sanders! is a dating sim where you get to romance the silver fox Colonel Sanders himself. .
This game turns your favorite grandpa into a silver fox hottie, and suddenly it’s not weird to find him… hot. The game is quite short and sweet, taking place over the course of three days in a fictional cooking school. Colonel Sanders is your cooking classmate, and you are both trying to graduate as chefs.
There are other characters in the story, of course – rather eccentric ones too. You’ve got a dog as a professor and a robot classmate amongst others. As a dating game, a small part of us wishes that there are a few more options besides Colonel Sanders, but it is a marketing tactic, so we can’t really say much.
Perhaps they’ll come up with a sequel with all the fast-food chains’ mascots and founders as potential dates.
Longstory
Most of the dating sims mentioned above are rather queer-friendly, but Longstory outright states that it is an LGBTQ+ friendly dating sim, catering to those who are searching for it. And truthfully, there is a lack of openly queer dating sims out there, so we’re glad it exists!
It’s also a preteen dating sim, so everyone is in high school. In a way, Longstory could serve as a game that could help those struggling with their identities and romance in their most confusing yet influential age – their teenage years.
Basically, you build your character however you like – pronouns, genders and all, then get to searching for a date. It’s more focused on educating players on how to navigate relationships and having tough conversations that most people would not think to have with teens. There are five dateable characters in the game for you to choose from in the end as well.
Final Thoughts
If you’re a generally shy person or you’ve just given up on the dating scene, these dating sims will let you explore the many facets of relationships and experience all sorts of personality types. Video games can help educate you too!
