Over time, however, otome games began to evolve to include more diverse portrayals of femininity, and even masculinity and nonbinary identities. Even now, a game like Angelique would not necessarily be common. To be a frilly, “girly” romance game and fantasy resource manager was unheard of at the time. Male-targeted bishoujo games, which were often disparaging to women, were quite popular, and mainstream games intended for heterosexual women-and romance games, to boot!-were a rarity. It also had an uphill battle considering the greater gaming culture it was engaging with. It took 10 years, helmed by a team that had little to no prior game development experience, but the Ruby Party women delivered and created a new genre in the process.Įven if the femininity within otome games is oftentimes normative, the genre had to start somewhere. In catering to an underserved demographic, this labor of love kickstarted the Angelique franchise, which became a smash hit among female gamers in Japan but hasn’t found much popularity abroad.
While Angelique ended up being a resource management sim and not a visual novel, its art is clearly influenced by late ‘80s and early ‘90s shoujo. So, more simply put, dating sim otome games are choose-your-own-adventure romance novels. Still, above all, the story within otome games is key, and because of that, many otome games are visual novels. Romancing is optional, but heavily implied at the least.
In fact, some prefer to refer to otome games as bishounen games. The main signifier of an otome game is that they contain a cast of handsome men ( bishounen)-and, for some, gorgeous women as well. However, not all otome games are dating sims. Sometimes called “otoge” for short, these games share genre conventions with bishoujo or gal games, dating simulation games meant for a heterosexual male audience, which began to gain prominence in the late 1980s. These games are narrative-based over gameplay-based, can be any genre, and are primarily made by female teams with a female audience in mind.
Otome games (乙女ゲーム), literally translated to “Maiden’s Games,” are a unique subgenre that buck male-oriented trends found throughout gaming culture at large.
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