Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator

Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator is a light-hearted, well written dating simulator that is filled to the brim with humour. However, this goofy premise does not prevent the player from building genuine relationships and emotional connections to the characters. The writing manages to strike a balance between comedy and serious conversation, which helps the characters feel like they are real human beings.

The game describes itself very well; Dream Daddy is a Dating Simulator/Visual Novel. The gameplay consists mainly of a branching narrative, in which the player is able to make choices, to affect the outcome of the narrative. The story is told in the standard format: Characters appear on the screen, while their dialogue runs. This will often leads to the player choosing what their response/action will be, which furthers the narrative. Dream Daddy intermits the narrative with short mini-games. These are a welcome change of pace, although they cannot maintain the level of quality the main game offers. The story starts when you, a single dad, and your daughter Amanda move to another part of town. This is where you are able to meet the neighbouring single dads, while learning more about yourself and Amanda in the process.

Dream Daddy is most of all very easy to play and read through. The narrative is extremely well written, being both light-hearted and serious at the same time. The game manages to bring the playful and emotional teenager stories, and the serious and comedical dad stories together in a way that complements each other. All characters feel extremely human, which allows you to make emotional connections with the characters more easily. Amanda (your in-game daughter) is the best example of this. After playing through the game, I genuinely care for Amanda. She is my daughter, I care for her, and I need to protect her. Not from zombies, or any other rational dangers, just from being a teenager. Near the end of the game, Amanda showed her appreciation for me taking care of her, and it was an extremely fulfilling moment.

While being mostly comedical in nature, Dream Daddy does take the chance to start conversations in ways that only games can do. Actually taking care of a teenage daughter, being a homosexual/bisexual dad, and being a parent are all things I am yet unfamiliar with, but this game allowed me to a small glimpse into that world. And that does give a new perspective on the irrational protectiveness parents feel towards their children, for example. 

One complaint voice about Dream Daddy are the voices that accompany the dialogue. The game does not feature full voice-over, but instead just contains small, voiced catch-phrases that are played during dialogue. These can feel a bit random, and could become annoying, although I personally did not feel this frustration.

Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator is by far one of the best, and most interesting text-based games I have played. It's humorous tone is extremely enjoyable, while also covering more serious subjects. This makes Dream Daddy a recommendation, for anyone slightly interested in narrative games, even if you normally tend to avoid Dating Simulators.

PS. This game might be better enjoyed with friends, as any choice based game usually is. However, I played it solo, so I cannot really comment on this.