Ahh, dating sims... Made popular by various moe shows relating to the otaku culture. Dating sims and visual novels are often mistaken due to its similarities. However, not all dating sims are visual novels in nature but most of them are! Often in such games, you are presented with a choice of multiple characters. Each of them has their own personality and different appearances. It is up to your own choice to pursue one of them through various interactions and actions.

In a typical dating sim, you are presented with multiple characters. After going through a thorough introduction phase which is mainly reading, you will start to be presented with choices. These choices directly impact the storyline. Each option carries a certain amount of points that is calculated by the game's internal engine on deciding on a character route. Once you have stacked up enough points, you will be set on that character's route until the end. The game doesn't end with one heroine however, you can backtrack to the beginning and start anew with another character. Complete all the routes to unlock the True End where you will then have truly completed the game. Fail to meet the prerequisites or you just are just indecisive and keep switching around between the characters and you might very well end up with a Bad End. Now let's take a closer look at one of these dating sims!

On Christmas Eve, Junichi Tachibana was stood up by a girl and was heart-broken. It was perhaps the worst thing you can do to someone who had just entered high school. Now, as he enters his second year in high school, he still remembers that fateful day. Junichi dislikes Christmas and completely lost faith in love, often shutting himself in his closet planetarium that he made himself. However, his life was about to change due to the appearance of six girls. It is now time for Junichi to give love a second chance.

Amagami SS is also a very well-received anime that is based off this original game. Even the anime emulates how it's like to progress through each of the 6 different paths in the game so if you can't dedicate that much time, do give the anime a try to experience what it's like to play a visual novel! So the structure of dating sims applies in Amagami SS - first you get an introduction phase that has the setting, the introduction of the characters and their personality.

It isn't usually until early mid-game that you will start to be presented with choices that will affect which path you are about to take on a heroine. For example, two of the girls might have asked you to do a task and choosing one over the other will give 'points' in their favour of their route, meaning to say you have chosen one heroine over another. Once you have met the requisites on a particular route, the storyline will be constant with that heroine until the very end until you reached your first end! Thereafter, you will have to replay it from the first choice and finish all the other routes in order to truly finish the game. Certain visual novels even have True Ends which only appears once you complete all the other routes.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Dating Sims often takes up a lot of time. Amagami, for example, can take up to 50 hours to complete! The journey is well worth it, however, and we recommend you to try it!

Kinetic Novels VNs that do not present the player with options. Essentially, it's like reading a book except with visuals and sound effects. Just visualise a really cool book with its own sound effects and images. Comparing it with conventional visual novels, that would mean that Kinetic Novels only have one end and one route. It's like a lite edition of a visual novel. Needless to say, the time needed to complete Kinetic Novels is also significantly shorter than VNs due to it only having one route.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the remnants of humanity has been reduced to scavenging. They are known as junkers. One such junker happened to make his way to an abandoned building. Here, he finds a planetarium on the top floor of the building. He found Yumemi Hoshino, an extremely talkative gynoid. Yumemi wants to showcase her special commemorative projection but the projector was damaged. giving in the nameless protagonist decides to repair it only to have it die once again due to a lack of power. What lies at the end of the projection?

Planetarian is a relatively short VN, befitting that of a kinetic novel. The whole game generally lasts not more than 10 hours. It has a linear storyline, meaning that there is no alternative routes nor options in-game. Planetarian is simply a stunning electronic book that is packed full with emotions and stunning visuals. The company that made Planetarian also happened to be Key, a notable VN developer that emphasises on simple storylines. It's publisher, Kinetic Novel is a company that releases well-known kinetic novels. If you would like a taste of kinetic novels, then as a starter, we would recommend looking up this company!

A portmanteau of ero and game and contrary to the stereotypical views of eroges, not all eroges are actually games that are only devoted to the purpose of sexual content. A true and good eroge contains extremely deep and meaningful character development. More often than not, eroticism is used as a plot-developing tool to develop the relationship between two characters. When used correctly, the end result is an immensely satisfying story, one that brings the character to life, emulating reality. Eroges is perhaps the largest sub-genre in the VN world. If you just want a game that is purely focused on the sexual content, we'd recommend checking the term 'nukige'. If you are looking for something more plot-driven, we will be looking 'nakige'. Let's take a look at one of the most famous Eroges of all time - the Fate Series.

Fate/Stay Night is set in the city of Fuyuki City, Japan. The Holy Grail war is an all out battle royale between summoned servants and their masters. These servants are mythical heroes of the past and can come from any legend. Their prize, the Holy Grail grants both master and servant any wish that their heart desire. Here, we find our unwilling protagonist - Shirou Emiya participating in the Fifth Holy Grail War. Accidentally summoning a female servant, she introduced herself as none other than Arthuria, the legendary king of the Knights of the Round Table. Seven masters and seven servants, it's an all out battle and only the strongest will emerge at the top and claim their prize.

Immediately after Ufotable took the reins in producing an anime of the same name, the series skyrocketed to fame. Amazingly though, fans were shocked to find out that this impressive series has its origins as an eroge. As mentioned, a good eroge relies on the usage of mature themes to intensively build relationships between characters. The Fate series differ from a normal dating sim in the way that the plot is way more developed than a dating sim of which the story can be somewhat open-ended. What you can expect from the Fate series is appropriately placed scenes, a great storyline, likeable characters and an amazing soundtrack! On the other hand, if you're looking for a game that is purely based on its erotic contents, do check out Illusion Games. After all, Eroge is a broad category on its own!