Dating sims tend to be wildly entertaining and bizarre, starting as soon as you read its synopsis. Today, we’ve picked out 5 of our favorites that you should check out, because what’s better than a dating sim being both weird and the best at delivering all of the kookiness? Here are the Top 5 Best Weird Dating Sims.
Top 5 Best Weird Dating Sims
Speed Dating for Ghosts
Speed Dating for Ghosts proves to be a masterclass in posing as a bizarre dating sim with hidden depth. As a ghost attempting to find love afterlife, the game manages to find a happy medium in its macabre horror and heartfelt messages relating to our own world. Topics touched upon consist of existentialism, companionship and purpose. It’s comically deep in how it is all presented in such a cozy, rom-com setting until it all gets a bit too real and personal when the experience can turn reflective.
Its varied character designs give each romance option its own unique, individualized style. This is made even better by their backstories being different yet still offering plenty of food for thought. Having them gradually open up to you as you learn about them and give them the closure that they have been seeking in life and in death is the pride and joy of this hidden gem. It’s more heartfelt than it is weird once you look deeper into it.
Sucker for Love: First Date
Sucker for Love is a parody horror dating sim that was originally exclusive to Dread X Collection 2, a collection of indie games creators who collaborated in making up their own titles within 10 days. In the following year 2021, Sucker for Love was made free-to-play as its own listing on Steam to give players a taster before its paid expansion would release early this year.
Its iconic, busty Cthulhu entity of Ln’eta who you summon with the intention to get a smooch from is not the only omnipotent being you can get lucky with this time around. Now with a total of three love interests including Estir and Nyanlathotep, the replay value with 10 endings and additions to its story elements makes Sucker for Love: First Date all the more intriguing in how its world continuously expands.
With an entertaining amount of interactive segments involving its plot and bonding progression through rituals to appease these otherworldly beings to satisfy everyone’s needs, Sucker for Love subverts expectations. It looks and starts out harmless enough but plays up dating sim tropes for its comedy and even downer endings and surprise bloody factors. Starring a hilariously honest protagonist who does not mind seeing the world explode all for the sake of getting it on with divine entities who are all voiced, Sucker for Love is a guilty pleasure of an experience.
Jurassic Heart
As the shortest game on the list, Jurassic Heart has a plotline that is as simple as it is peculiar. Players find themselves already in a relationship with one of the many dinosaurs that still roam Earth in modern times. Alongside our shy, insecure and prone-to-blush T-Rex boyfriend named Taira, we follow the short and sweet tale of him confronting his deep-rooted self-esteem issue and enjoy an idyllic date whilst confiding and reassuring him.
It’s a surprisingly wholesome time that will make us more understanding and appreciative of the difficulties living with tiny hands can be. Maybe it’s even farfetched looking any deeper into it, but it has quite the undeniable “don’t judge a book by its cover” message because even the most deadliest of historic predators have weaknesses.
PacaPlus
As one of the originals, or at least earliest dating sim made available in the west about romancing a anthropomorphic love interest, PacaPlus is one of two that come to mind – the other being the more well-known Hatoful Boyfriend. The two happened to release very closely within 2011, and while PacaPlus did come out with an English text option the following year, it would take until 2017 for it to became more widely known once it was made available on Steam.
The story follows Saeki Kazuma, whose love for alpacas and his girlfriend inexplicably results in him seeing her as an alpaca when her 16th birthday comes and goes. What follows is the solving of what exactly is happening, chock full of hilarious CGs to exaggerate just how hilarious an everyday life with an alpaca girlfriend would be. What makes PacaPlus all the more special as something more than just a wonderfully weird dating sim is its heartfelt message behind it that persists the notion of love being blind and accepting others for who they are over superficial reasons.
Meeting in the Flesh
Closing out this list with the one nearest and dearest to my heart is the most underrated of monster-focused dating sims. With extremely immersive world-building with half a screen’s worth of text often appearing to really sell this cozy Lovecraftian neighborhood in all its gory glory, Meeting in the Flesh takes the most wholesome approach possible to the monster motif within dating sims.
With the main character you will love to support, and routes that take unexpected turns that result in each one being just as unique and special as the other, the title packs a lot in it for a free-to-play dating sim. Best yet is its three love interests that come with intriguing character arcs that play around with themes such as body horror, the consequences of isekai-ing (traveling to another world), and self-acceptance.
