Dream Daddy

This game knows exactly what it is, and I’m absolutely here for it. I adore the cast of characters and how they’re each made to appear as classic dating simulator archetypes only to be revealed as actual, three-dimensional people with multiple interests and identities. The player-character’s relationship with his daughter, Amanda, is beautiful and I really love the effort the writers put into making her three-dimensional, too— it’s rare for teenagers in games like this to be written having a healthy, wholesome relationship with their parent(s) and I appreciate the portrayal of her character. The game could in some ways be considered a borderline satire; the writers were clearly self-aware and the characters are extremely over-the-top upon first glance. That alone is a difficult brand of comedy to pull off, but hiding layers of depth and meaning beneath the irony and humor is another level of impressive. The character designs are awesome, and the option to make the player-character trans is really nice. The art is spectacular and the representation is really well-done. Kudos to everyone who worked on this, it was one of the best games I played in 2023.

So good things first! This game is really pretty. The art style is beautiful, the mini games are tough enough to keep you engaged, and the game is... what’s this... actually relatable? I found myself laughing along with the jokes, finding myself attached to characters, story line, and game in general. At first, I thought this game was going to be very problematic. I got it as a joke, and was constantly sending screenshots to my friends. But then I saw I could customize my character, or that the dads were funny, and that the dad tips actually made me smile. By the end, I realized that I’d actually recommend the game dream daddy. It’s the... most engaging game I’ve gotten in a while. NOW. Let’s talk about why I can’t give this game 5 stars. First off, the storage space this game takes up. My god it’s so much. Next up! The cost. You start off with three “messages” which is basically currency for dates. The problem is, to fully romance one person, you have to use all of your free messages on them. Now the thing that’s annoying about that is that I’m someone who wanted to run through the game and get every. Single. Ending. Granted, if you go through one round of the game you get one free additional message. The cost of additional messages is unholy, and while I understand the need to make money from a game this good, I feel like there could’ve been alternatives or just a cheaper price. I’d honestly recommend the game. To me, the pros out weigh the cons, and you can get one full play through with any love interest that you choose for free. Past that, I don’t see any viable replay ability. Unless you completely delete the app and it’s backup from your phone which, I definitely haven’t done before, totally not. Anyways, get it, have fun, be an awkward dad, and please don’t sexualize parental terms.

This is such a witty gem of a game! I see a lot of negative comments about the price of the game, which I find to be more than a little silly. $15 for the whole game. No hoops to jump through. No timers. No gems, gold, tickets, trinkets, bits, or baubles to waste time with- just a really good game. The writing is absolutely spot on, and each of the dads are very charming! I romanced each one, going from favorite to least favorite. I thought “might as well” and I’m really glad I did! Even if they werent my favorite dad, each one of their story lines was engaging and interesting! I also really appreciate that this is a game geared towards actual adults- humor, situations, nostalgia- it has all of them in spades. The dad builder was a lot of fun to play with, and I really appreciated how easy it was to use. The fast forward function worked perfectly and saved a lot of time through re-reads. Very smartly designed. It was also really cool to be able to replay a date right away if it didn’t go so well... Final thoughts: great value for the content, and Goth Dad is best dad.