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games with both VN and sim elements

a little lily princess (F/F)

• overall: A. enjoyment: A. a sweet dating sim spin (though two routes are platonic) on the old childrens book "a little princess". cute art and charming additions to the books story breathe life into the classic. definitely recommend. Full Review

how to date a magical girl (M/F, F/F, 16+)

• overall: C-. enjoyment: D. how to date a magical girl a VN/simulation game where you play as a new student in a magical girl academy, surrounded by new friends and potential love interests. behind the surface of the cutesy appearance, this is actually more 'psychological horror' than dating sim. in fact, very little of the story even changes based on which girl you pursue. despite the unexpected turn the game takes, though, it could still be enjoyable -- but frankly, the writing is unimpressive, the gameplay starts to drag on fast, and while the CG art is very good the majority of character art you'll see in the game is nothing like it. i came into this game expecting to love it unconditionally, but i found very little about it to be redeeming. Full Review

games with both VN and non-traditional elements

witches x warlocks (F/M, F/F, F/NB, M/M, M/F, M/NB, NB/F, NB/M, NB/NB, free*)

• overall: A--. enjoyment: A. witches x warlocks is a free dating sim (it markets itself as a raising sim, but it isn't really) starring a witch studying for their high school exams with the help of a cast of supernatural creatures. the art and characters are very cute, and the writing is surprisingly charming for such a short game. it is fairly limited, however, and the gameplay is so easy you'd have to be trying to fail. it's still worth a play! while three character routes are free, the fourth (a wolf boy) is dlc exclusive. i'd suggest playing through the free game before deciding if he's worth the $5.99 Full Review

magical diary: wolf hall (M/M, M/F, 16+)

• overall: B+. enjoyment: B. the second game in the magical diary series -- starring a male protagonist this time. wolf hall is a combination VN and magical dungeon crawler about a young wizard with mysterious origins coming to america for a year to study magic without the pressure waiting for him at home. the story is fantastically done, and it has even more room for variation and replay than the last time around. the gameplay is wonderful, there's a whopping 12 datable characters (4 male and 8 female), and no matter how you play the game you're ensured a fun and unique experience. Full Review

magical diary: horse hall (F/F, F/M)

• overall: B. enjoyment: A+. magical diary is a combination VN and magical dungeon crawler starring a young witch with no magical experience coming to a magical academy ala hogwarts. its a charming coming of age story with an open-ended setting and a lot of room for variation between runs. the spell casting aspect and the large cast of characters (though only 6 are datable) means no two playthroughs will be alike, so there's a lot of replay value. the gameplay itself is very fun, and while the art is a bit controversial overall its a very enjoyable experience that i recommend to anyone. Full Review

deep sea valentine (F/F)

• overall: B. enjoyment: C+. deep sea valentine is a short and cute dating sim about a girl trying to get a date for valentine's day. mixing VN with RPG gameplay, you explore an undersea world to find the right partner - your decisions affecting the story, and which options are available to you. the art and characters are cute and the story is simple but consistently well-written, but the gameplay is a bit buggy and walking around can be tedious at times. still, it's a cute game and i'd say it's worth playing. Full Review

my candy love (F/M, free*, browser)

• overall: C-. enjoyment: D-. my candy love is an old web dating sim (now with two sequels!) about a high school girl dealing with the trials and tribulations of coming into age via saying exactly ten words a day and playing a lot of brick breaker. its a cute game, and id recommend it in any other circumstance, but it is notoriously impossible to play due to the extremely low amount of activity points given out. im still at it. im suffering. Full Review

miraclr (*/M, */NB, free*)

• overall: D+. enjoyment: D-. miraclr is a instant-messaging based dating sim clearly optimized for a phone, but also available on PC for a cost. your player is contacted by a group of angels who need your help planning a miracle to reinvigorate faith in the divine. over the course of a week (real time), the angels will text you and set up meetings in a game interface reminiscent of a discord server. the game is cute, with a lot of potential-- but its hindered by several major flaws. the writing, while decent, is dragged down by the pacing. the art is subpar, but salvageable. the real biggest issue: the game just straight up doesn't work. the app is full of bugs, design oversights, and missed notifications. its not entirely unplayable, but its certainly hard to enjoy. Full Review

purino party (M/F, 18+)

• overall: D. enjoyment: F. a VN with puzzle game elements. you play as a boy whos invited to live in a boarding house with a group of girls from the devs previous games. the only decent thing about this game is the art, and you could just play the other games for it. this game is a waste of time, atrocious to play and atrocious to read. Full Review

games with both sim and non-traditional elements

huniepop 2: double date (*/F, F/F, 18+)

• overall: A. enjoyment: B. huniepop is a dating sim/puzzle game combo. you woo girls by playing candy crush. in this sequel, you're trying to get them to have threesomes with you, often by getting them to crush on other cute girls they know. and you have no idea how much it infuriates me that this game is so good. compared to the first game, the art, writing, and characters have all massively improved. it's a well crafted and fun game. it's... still a self-aware raunchy comedy game, so if that's not your thing definitely don't try it out. it's also got a real problem with racism and creepy shit, including a sexual assault scene and incest for some reason? i can't in good faith recommend playing this game. if you do, do yourself a favor and skip through as much of the dialogue as you can. skip the first lola/aiba scene, at least. Full Review

huniepop (*/F, 18+)

• overall: B. enjoyment: B. huniepop was a dating sim/puzzle game combo from 2015, noteworthy for both its self aware raunchy humor and high key problematic content, and for being the first of its kind in terms of game structure. the dates take the form of games of match-three, which at the time was an innovative design choice that has launched a good number of copycat games. aside from its standout areas, there isn't much to the game. the characters are hit or miss, the art is competent but not impressive, and the dialogue is very straightforward without any romance to speak of. i certainly consider this a "good" game, though i'd recommend pirating it if you think you might be interested. Full Review