A free dating simulator on Steam has almost only positive reviews. MeinMMO author Johanna Heuck tried out the game for you and noticed: There’s a lot more to it than initially thought.
What kind of game is this? It’s the game PockeDate! – Pocket Dating Simulator, a text-based game in pixel graphics. You’re dating the anime girl Akari, who thinks you’re great right from the start and will forgive even your strange answers.
There are a number of different dates you can go on with her: including the beach, the mall, or an ice cream parlor. The dates can go in four different ways: bad, satisfactory, good or perfect, depending on the answers you choose.
The trailer gives you a first impression of the game:
PockeDate! takes you on a strange dating adventure
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How popular is the game? The game is still a hidden insider tip on Steam. As of now, the game has very few reviews, but they are mostly positive: 98% of the reviews are positive (via Steam).
PockeDate! turns into psychological horror
How does PocketDate work? The goal is simple: win Akari’s heart until she invites you to her home. To do this, you have to choose the right answers on the dates and fill up the heart bar next to her.
The first round, which will go smoothly if you only choose the good answers, is still quite harmonious. Only now and then does the game reveal that there is more to it.
Once you’ve made it home to Akira and won her as a friend, the dates will start over and most of the dialogue will repeat itself. You’re caught in an endless loop of dates.
What is special about PockeDate? If you give the wrong answers or just play long enough, other dialog boxes will pop up from time to time.
In this way, the endless loop turns the game into a psychological horror. Akira’s facade falls apart more and more and the inconspicuous dating simulator quickly turns into a horror game.
But you can break out of it and unlock different endings, all of which reveal a piece of the truth. Despite the fact that the game is free and has a simple design, it offers depth and a lot of content.
So if you want a free game and you like tricky story games, we can give you PockeDate! just recommend it. Click here for PockeDates on Steam!
Do you have PockeDate! Have you already played it or are you planning to? Write it to us in the comments! Dating simulators don’t always have to include people, as this game on Steam proves: In a new crazy game for €7 on Steam, you pair up the monsters that devastated the earth in Pacific Rim