Love, pain, and hotties: Game devs talk about what makes digital dating tick

destructoid.com:

Dating sims have proven to be pretty resilient over the years. As genres have come and gone, virtual romance has certainly waxed and waned too; but it’s never fully disappeared, and in 2023, feels stronger than ever.

Appealing art, compelling narrative, and social gameplay elements are all compelling aspects of a game in their own right, so it should be little surprise that developers would eventually think to mash all of them together into a collage of electronic love. From early halcyon days at Tokimeki Memorial to Dream Daddy and Boyfriend Dungeon, developers have created a variety of romance stories in virtual landscapes over the years.

Even other games are starting to pick up dating and romantic elements. Much like how RPG elements have seeped into broader game design, pieces of the social sim genre have seeped into games like Hades , Mass Effect , and Persona .

So when given the chance to chat with the panelists behind a LudoNarraCon talk about this topic , I wanted to find out: how do you make a dateable video game character? How do you make romance compelling in a fictional, virtual environment? And how have those drives evolved as time has gone on?

For Amanda Gardner, narrative director of Romancelvania , dating sims tap into a core fantasy of cultivating relationships through choices.

“Romance novels and shipping characters on TV is entertaining, but the idea that you can control that couple? Super satisfying and empowering,” says Gardner. “I prefer a lot of nuance in my dating games—can I flirt lightly with this person, or should I go full seduction with my dialogue choices? I think that taps into the need to make the experience your own.”

That’s echoed by Dani LaLonders, producer on