Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator

Dream Daddy turns the traditional conventions of the dating game genre on their head by putting you in the role of a single father looking to find love with a diverse selection of different fathers. It's a spin on the genre that doesn't take itself too seriously but still manages to pack a lot of heart into its presentation. In large part, that's because of the huge amount of personality that's invested in the characters and the cleverness of the script. But this is also a game that finds a meaningful through-line through its perception of fatherhood. Your daughter plays a major role in the story, and her growing up, branching out, and leaving the home is one of the strongest beats in the game. While dating other dads is at the core of the experience, your relationship with your daughter and coming to terms with her moving on to leave for college and live her own life is both resonant and well written.

But the core gameplay is still about dating daddies, and the developers have created a truly compelling and diverse cast of suitors. You'll meet archetypes ranging from a lovable bear to a buff fitness daddy, from a gruff bad boy to a closeted youth pastor. And while these characters may seem like broad stereotypes to start with, the characterization is surprisingly deft and opens up to whimsically explore a wide variety of different sub-genres. The choices you make can have dramatic effects on the story, resulting in a story where you end up hunting cryptoids or explore around the edges of a dangerous cult. It's an incredibly genre savvy game, and it's one that subverts your expectations of how dating works. Being too forward and answering in a way that's designed to please your potential suitors won't always produce the best results, and sometimes the most interesting storylines are those where you don't succeed.

The game plays out across a bright and colorful map of your new town, and while it follows the established virtual novel style of traditional dating games, it's a pretty open ended experience. Your days are split up into blocks, and where you choose to go and who you choose to meet can dramatically change the options available to you. If you really want to experience everything the game has to offer, you'll need to play the game through multiple times. And it's a treat to do so, many of the experiences with your fellow daddies are broken down into mini-games that resemble popular games like Pokemon. They're small diversions but immensely entertaining at the same time. And finding the right balance between spending time with your daughter and courting your potential partners is a tricky tightrope to walk. But this game is exceptional in that it provides you with a compelling experience no matter how many missteps you take along the way.