Otome Game
| Synonyms: | Otoge,乙女ゲーム |
| See also: | Visual Novel, dating sim, Interactive Fiction, Eroge, Joseimuke |
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Otome game is a term for (usually Japanese or Japanese-inspired) games that have a female protagonist and a "focus on developing a relationship with one or more male characters."[1]. However, today indie creators may call dating sims 'otomes' even if the do not have a female protagonist or male love interests, provided that the focus is still on developing a relationship.
Popular otome game fandoms include Mystic Messenger and Hatoful Boyfriend. Some fans create games featuring characters from their favorite media, such as in the case of Fate/Otome.
Game mechanics usually involve making choices over the course of the story to influence how your main character acts. Games usually include 'Good' endings as well as 'Normal' or 'Bad' endings. Sometimes, choices will play a role in which characters you become able to romance, sometimes they help determine what ending you get, and sometimes they are only cosmetic and do not affect the course of the story.
Though originally only available on computers and consoles, there is a new popularity of otome games available as mobile games, sometimes featuring micro-transactions to allow users to unlock additional content or characters. Many mobile otome games have adopted gacha mechanics, where a luck based system is used to unlock short stories about the characters or special character art (usually in the form of 'cards').
Where to find Otomes
- Steam
- Itch.io (generally games by indie creators)
Examples of Otome Games
- Amnesia
- Amour Sucré (My Candy Love in English)
- Angelique
- Anticlove
- The Cinderella Phenomenon
- Code: Realize
- Collar x Malice
- Diabolik Lovers
- Hakuouki
- Hatoful Boyfriend
- Heart no Kuni no Alice
- Ikemen Vampire
- Liar! Uncover the Truth
- Mystic Messenger
- Steam Prison
- TAISHO x ALICE
- Tears of Themis
- Tokidoki Memorial Girl's Side
- Uta no Prince-sama
Main Character with Ambiguous Gender or Player's Choice of Gender
Otome Game Fandom
White Butterfly is one of the fan blogs reviewing otome games.
Otome Games As Fanworks
Otome games are a rare fanwork in general, but are more common in game fandoms, either when the game is an otome itself, or when the game has many charming characters which the player might want to see romanced. This can be similar to a Choose Your Own Adventure game; the following examples will show more obviously otome styled games with the love interests and included art.
- Summery Fancy for the Saint Seiya fandom (2006)
- Golden Aegean Sea for Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas (2011)
References
External links
- Wikipedia article for "Otome game"
- "Otome" tag on Steam
- r/otomegames on Reddit
- How Japan Began Making Otome Games, Toshi Nakamura, Kotaku