Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator

Genre: Visual Novel

Players: 1

.

Review:

Dream Daddy is an “otome”-style Visual Novel game released on PC in 2017, ported to PlayStation 4 in 2018, and then ported to Nintendo Switch in 2019. This game puts players in the role of a widower and single father who moves with his daughter to a new neighborhood where he meets with and potentially romances one of the seven other available dads in the neighborhood (well, six plus one in an increasingly failing marriage).

I feel like I need to stop right there to discuss this game’s topic matter. In my time reviewing Nintendo Switch games, I have reviewed quite a lot of “otome”-style games. I have reviewed typical otome games with a female protagonist surrounded by male suitors, “harem”-style dating games with a guy surrounded by objectified women, and even a few entries in the genre with a diverse cast of potential suitors of various genders, orientations, and even alternative relationship dynamics. And in all of these, regardless of my own personal dating preferences, I try to review these games while bearing in mind the game’s target audience.

Even so, I feel like Dream Daddy targets an especially niche audience that, even more than other entries in the genre, is not likely to appeal to everyone. In this game, players take the role of a single father who is dating one of seven other single fathers (okay, again, technically six single fathers plus one who’s headed for splitsville).

If you’re not into gay romance, this game isn’t for you. If you’re looking for a “dating” game with platonic options, this game isn’t for you (the game plays at potential for friendships, but you’re pretty much railroaded into relationships here). If you find the thought of looking after unruly children and moody teenagers to be antithetical to romance and sexual tension, this game isn’t for you. And if you’re immediately turned off by dad jokes, this game definitely isn’t for you. So many dad jokes…

To its credit, within its narrow focus, Dream Daddy fares reasonably well. The characters here are fairly well-crafted and diverse, there’s good interactions with all the characters (both adults and children) to give the game’s setting a good feeling of community. And the game’s choice to split the narrative between socializing with dating prospects and spending quality time with your teenage daughter seems fitting, given the topic matter.

I do think there are a few issues here, apart from the niche nature of the game. One issue is that the dialogue options you’re given often don’t match up with your actual actions once you select them. As an extreme example, in one interaction with the married man’s wife, I chose to respond to her suspicious barbs by saying innocently (I thought) that I just wanted to support her husband. In choosing that option, the game decided to append on to my response something along the lines of “because he clearly isn’t getting support from his wife!”

Um… yikes.

Another problem with this game is that occasionally the player will find themselves playing a minigame, and these minigames… well, they’re pretty bad, and they often don’t even properly indicate how you’re even supposed to play them. I really wanted to warm up to these attempts to add variety, but it seems these minigames couldn’t even adjust the thermostat.

At the very least, the presentation is generally pretty solid, with some really good artwork for the game’s characters, and some nice, colorful backgrounds. This is joined by brief snippets of voice for these various characters, often little more than grunts and other non-words, making it all the more jarring when one of them actually gets a brief snippet of speech (though I definitely appreciate the game’s simulated DadBook instant messenger announcing “You’ve Got Dads!”, that’s just delightfully silly).

All of this is backed up by a mostly-forgettable synthesized soundtrack that fits the tone of the game, though I will point to one extremely-memorable exception – the Menu Theme is an absolutely joyous celebration of just how strongly this game intends to celebrate its central theme, and the thought put into this is very a-parent. Seriously, no notes on this one, musician Baths (AKA Will Wiesenfeld) knocked this out of the park.

In the end, as I said, Dream Daddy is a pretty niche game that will not appeal to everyone. Unless you’re looking for a game about a single dad romantically dating other dads, this won’t be for you. And even if you are that sort of person, there are a few flaws here that hold this game back a bit. Still, I give this game credit for its dedication to its theme, and players who are down for that will likely find that this game puts a smile on their face.

Just remember that the gameplay here will be strongest on Saturdays and Sundays, because the other days are all weekdays.

I’ll… let myself out…

tl;dr – Dream Daddy is a “Dating Simulation”-style Visual Novel that puts you in the role of a single father who is both taking care of his teenage daughter and dating one of seven available dads in the area. This is an extremely niche game that will not appeal to everyone, and even those who like the concept will still find a few flaws here and there. However, if you’re delighted by that concept, then hi, Delighted By That Concept, I’m dad! And if you actually laughed at that just now, maybe this game is for you.

Grade: C+

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Ilya Zverev, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Francis Obst, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Jared Wark, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}