HTML - Course of Temptation [v0.7.3e] [Anthaum]

Review updated for 0.6.7EA

Not much to add. Dropping review to 3 stars because it's been a while and I still haven't seen any significant increase in things I would like in the game. If you like pure sandboxes, this definitely has more going for it than some games but the to me it has no real compelling storylines or plot points that interest me and is more just a shell of a game that could be.

I enjoyed the addition of the river rat job line but that's about the only thing that's been introduced that has any real impetus to play for me.

I think the larger issue is that the developer wanted to appeal to almost any demographic and it's very hard to produce more content for everyone all at once. That's not necessarily a fault - but it's going to take a long time before there's a decent amount of content in here for me to enjoy.

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It's a solid framework but I hesitate even giving it four stars because I feel as though there's little 'soul' to the game at the moment. In a similar vein to accidental woman (although much better in my opinion) it feels at the moment like a dry simulator without any real feeling to it outside of some limited interactions.

Take for instance the classroom admirer. You can accept their advances once they ask you to study and move things forward, but it feels like literally every other encounter in the game.

I realise it's still early in it's development and I appreciate the array of choices given to the player, but I'd like to see some more emphasis on the interactions and character development before anything else.

Still, a very solid framework and hopefully development continues, hence the 4*

Impressive game! Not the first text based game I played and enjoyed, but the one with the most immersive feeling.
You are doing chores for most of the days, yes, like a proper life simulation is meant to represent. Yes, that is emulated via tons of clicking around and daily routines.
However, I'm genuinely impressed just by how much this game can be addictive. I think most of the reason for me it is because of the world NPCs which, while quite dumb and simplistic in the current state, are persistent and give the feeling of actually living inside the world.

Definitely looking forward new updates, for more content and smarter NPCs!

Wow! Impressive how much complexity there is in this Game - it can be configured to most people's (dis-)likes and you have a choice in whether or not to unlock certain kinks along the way.
The grinding part can be a little challenging but it's still "reasonable" and plausible enough for the "grindy scenario" that is Education most of the time sadly...yet, I do not yet know if there is an alternative option to this since I haven't triggered a complete "drop-out" yet (even though I have gotten hints, that this might be an option - but I cannot say whether or not it's something, that is implemented yet...or ever will be!).

But the potential of this Game is pretty clear - since it might also help those who might have had some trauma in this environment to maybe "re-frame" it with a naughtier and more pleasant/-ure-filled Fantasy-Option ("What could have been in a different Universe/World"), which can feel pretty empowering and could even inspire some constructive Lifestyle-Changes here and there (hopefully not the destructive ones though, that are also possible to "simulate" - but that could maybe serve as a "valve" for those more destructive personalities/impulses to be merely "simulated" than acted out!)...

The writing is pretty helpful with immersion for me though, I've found in the several nights I've already spent in there now...I will probably need to set alarms to drag me outta it when I immerse myself into this from now on - which is a compliment for the way it's written and designed, I guess.

The coordination of the different obligations can be a little challenging though, yet - as mentioned earlier - I dunno yet what kind of consequences not meeting them will/might have...I wanna see if I can play through a "successful" path first and then reload certain saves and see where the less successful meeting of the expectations will lead my character (playing M/M focused content here).

But the complexity really feels enticing, too - which I really love about this Game and miss in others, too. I guess in more graphical Games, this might be much harder to implement with visual sprites and/or animated characters even and need a lot more resources - why text-based Games like this can make use of the players' imaginative capacities, methinks.

And since lewd stuff is highly "imagination-dependent" anyway, I think it's an awesome inspiration of the naughty Muses inside of all of us...

Thanks for this and looking forward to see where it's heading with the planned options and Events in later versions (I just hope it doesn't get overwhelming then )

This game provides a level of freedom to how you want to play I have rarely seen. Paired with excellent writing and easy-to-utilise systems and a navigable HUD, this game deserves each of these 5 stars

This is probably one of the best text based games on the site so far, it would get tedious if the game didn't allow you to change the rate you gain skills on the fly. This game easily earns it's 5 stars.

Course of Temptation has the potentially to be one of the best games in its genre, and I'm being serious about this.

As someone who absolutely loves these types of life-sims and have played every one they can get their hands on, it is refreshing to see the breadth of choice in this game, the options for not only your own character but how they interact with others around them, and the scenarios you can find yourself in.

My only complaints are things that will be improved as the game continues through development I'm sure, expanded combat, relationship options, scenarios, and more lewd stuff. I always like to see the direction these games go before I add my own suggestions. That being said, I will definitely keep playing and hope this game continues to be amazing.

Review is for v0.4.20
All I can really say is "WOW". This has skyrocketed into my top 4 favorite porn games of all times. The game is just so much fun to play and there is so much to do, that you can spend a while just going around to the different area's talking to different people and getting different reactions based on what your wearing or if there is cum showing and whatnot. The amount of detail with these passages is incredible. The social aspects, and how you slowly start to learn who people are is amazing as well.
My main grip is that, for some reason, you cannot talk to the people that are around you. There is a button to identify who is around you, but no way to speak to them. In a game that's really all about socializing, this feels like a missed opportunity.
A couple minor grips are that the sex interface could do a rework. I wouldn't really say it's bad, but how the buttons all jump around is frustrating. The other is the lack of art. I know the game is text based, so we may never get it, but even just having an avatar that shows your characters appearance would be amazing.

I agree with some points on the previous review, in particular the fact that the corruption escalates very fast with each stat, and that exhibitionism and disinhibition seem to work on different scales.

However, I still think this game deserves a 4 at the very least (and, to be honest, it is very close to a 5 but it is not perfect).

Why do I think so? first let me say that only text games are not my cup of tea, unless they are very well written, they do not increase my arousal, as opposed to games with images and text where, if the text is lacking, the image can still do its job or, if the images are not perfect, a good text will support it.

Course of Temptation doesn't have fantastically written sex scenes, however it does have something even better... it lets your imagination do the work. It presents situations that are hot and sexy in themselves, and then provides you the tools to move the scene along and use your imagination in a very compelling way.

The system allows you an incredible amount of agency and granularity, do you want to lift your shirt or take it off? push your panties aside or keep them on and grind against the guy? remove his pants? zip them off? lower them? tease the cock with your fingers? with lips? suck it? lick it? caress it? You can also choose positions, and each allows for different sexual behaviours, and, more important even.... your partners also have their preferences! do you want to go on your knees and suck that guy off? well, maybe he wants to keep you standing. Does he want to remove your panties? you can oppose it.

All of this allows for your imagination to do the work and immerses you in the actions of this girl, you choose how far she goes and what exactly she does. Also, if you are getting to a point where due to drunkenness or arousal you will lose control, the game lets you know about it.

The game has other strengths, the map is fantastic and helps to navigate this place in a very realistic way, the passing of time is well done and realistic, the eating, hygiene, resting, relaxing stats are all very well done and believable, you have to earn money and spend it also in a realistic way, I love the way other NPCs are implemented in the game, and how little by little you develop your relationships with them, from acquaintances to friendships, to possible romances... etc.

The NPC relationships really help with the feeling of immersion in the game and I found myself checking different people, the system of memories with them, who was unfriendly, rough, caring, funny... etc and then roleplaying my character with them, hardly no game manages to do that!

The classes, the system to study and do homework, the exams... all add to that immersion and roleplaying.

So sure, the game needs maybe some polish on its implementation of the corruption mechanic. More granularity here wouldn't hurt (even though I like that you need to do a certain type of action a lot for it to increase, it is not like you go from disinhibition 1 to 2 in a moment either... which is good).

I also would love to see a paper doll to go with the fantastic clothing and appearance system that the game implements (but I can live without one as I understand this would be a major undertaking given the huge amount of clothing options available).

Still, all things considered, I am giving this game a 5/5 as I have had a great time playing it and I am looking forward to keeping exploring this place, this character and developing relationships with its inhabitants.

Very rough and sometimes nonsensical corruption slope; sex vignettes are pretty lacking.

Basically, I played this game for the initial corruption journey of a female MC, not caring about "late game" content. If I had to sum it up I'd say I was very disappointed.

As is de-facto standard in these life sims, the character has a bunch of stats; the ones I'm interested in are exhibitionism and disinhibition—which is really corruption by another name, so I'm calling it that. And my main criticism is that corruption 0 is an absolute virgin, unwilling to masturbate in relative privacy, and corruption 3 is a slut ready to prostitute herself for a measly $100. At 4 the price you can set goes down to $50. For reference, your hourly wage at that point should be $9 or $11 sans tips for milder lewd requests. Now, bearing this in mind, I want to emphasize that exhibitionism 3 is still not enough to flash tits for money (without sex), which makes no sense. Not only the progression steps are incredibly steep, but the stats don't correlate with each other in a sensible fashion.

This, in my opinion, is the bane of most text games, especially those with procedural generation. They don't focus on making sense of the lewd stats, and making them fine-grained. Or at least sensible. You can go as a corruption 0, exhibitionism 0 character, buy the shortest miniskirt, a g-string, and the largest buttplug the adult store has, and wear this... anywhere, from day 1, in perpetuity (yes, including the plug, 24x7, classes, workouts, sleep). What? Something wrong? Let's see, you've got outer wear and underwear, that means you formally pass all your modesty checks and so your character is okay with that! Occasionally you'll get one of three short vignettes for wearing the plug, and when I say short I mean it. They are literally two-sentence long. Then you can edge the main character so she constantly walks on the brink of orgasm, go to the bar, and hook up with a stranger, letting him fuck you in any way, before even asking for a name. And if you know what you're doing, and have some luck with the bar visitors, you can do it again. And again.

But fucking god forbid you dare to go out without a bra with a modest top on. Exhibition 0! Not lewd enough! Shoo! Shoo! Go grind some lewd stats!

Is this depth, or rather lack thereof, even appropriate for a text-only game? But hey, you can have said sex toys and a gazillion of clothing articles in over a dozen different colours! Now that is an important feature. This pond may seem large because of all these clothing options, but it is not even ankle deep.

Just as another example, the game features an introductory sex event on day one, which in case of a bi female MC takes shape in the form of a stranger with a huge dick who jerks off onto the faces of MC and two other girls. Now's the important part: it happens on a campus bus, mid-tour, and with other people around! And the only choice you're given is what to do after MC's face is glazed (wipe, lick off, let dry). To add insult to injury, the event goes back to back with character creation, but plays out exactly the same regardless of the starting corruption stat, which can be as low as 0 and as high as 3 (remember, 0 is a chaste virgin uncomfortable with any sexuality, and 3 is the level at which MC is already willing to sell her body for just one Franklin). This instantly invalidates any weight corruption stat has, because it hasn't any! It's only a dumb gating switch, that works maybe for only half of event types!

All this was to say that for a game that advertises corruption as one of its key features, the way corruption stats are (not) working is just unacceptable in my opinion. Add some really dry prose in sex scenes, incredibly so in procedurally generated parts, and it is not a good look at all.

A lot of other reviews mention grind as a major flaw of the game, and I suppose that depends. Some aspects, like relationships with other NPCs are indeed incredibly grindy. You can hang out with a character for several hours and still not know their name. Ridiculously grindy. But you can skip them, and go for some other less grindy paths like burger joint slut, like I did.

Okay... I need to say something nice, I guess. The general routine and UX are pretty good. Navigation is very good for a text game, having an actual map that you can click to fast travel does wonders for useability. The technical side of writing is also fine, no obvious typos or errors. The setting is realistic and boring, and that's a good thing, because the alternative is some seedy Rapetown. You won't need to engage in combat to defend yourself at every turn. The worst you'll face is occasional molestation on the crowded bus which you can shut down (or encourage).

The score is not final, but for now (v0.4.27) it is what it is.

Amazing start. So many options right off the bat. The NPCs have actual personality that you can interact with and they are all random generated. Such an amazing game so far. Can't wait to see more updates.

Life sim with refreshing take on the mechanics. Like Degrees of Lewdity, there's a schedule to follow with random events, options to explore and advance skills, and scripted story events that appear by passing time. Also like DoL, it seems like the "difficulty" is meant to increase over time.

An interesting but simple new system of needs. Composure affects the generation of relaxation and attention. Short term affects like humiliation gets dumped into long-term needs.

Navigation hotkeys need re-organizing. If I ever need to reach toward Shift for a repetitive maneuver, the hotkey doesn't help.

I like to roleplay a goody-two-shoes, trying my best to stay out of trouble until the difficulty drags me down or forces me to make hard decisions. While playing that route, I had a hard time finding sources of composure. Other needs like food have a hard reset, the clinic stay, but composure does not, which can lead into a spiral that keeps attention and relaxation low too. This would be the time when my character is forced to consider consensual sex acts, but I think the game should leave some other avenue to get out.

Suggestion: Drunkness can negate the effects of low composure. When drunkness is high, relaxation and attention can be restored quickly even if composure is low.

+ College Age DoL. No more skirting rule 7
+ Characters can be forceful depending on settings.
+ Monthly free updates
+ Lively discord presence for questions/bug reports/suggestions
- money and skill grind but adjustable gain multiplier
- some scenes are hard to save scum (like laundry scene or city random events)

Very entertaining and complete sandbox even at this stage, although it's in serious need of some QoL adjustments, or more personalization regarding world generation.

It has certain variety regarding sexual content and events, but maybe it can benefit from more verbose descriptions, and some more options, like disengaging during the act (or failing to do so).

Definitely a game to keep an eye on.

+ There are some story lines well designed.
+ Lewed encounters has much potential. Yes, detailed as it advertised.

- Not much real story lines. Somewhat underdeveloped.
- Very annoying RNG.
- Endless daily loop to progress the story.
- Status management.
- All in all the game is playing you.

This is on version 0.5.5f.

So I've finally come back to see where Course of Temptation has gone, and I have to say - I'm disappointed.

Let's get this out of the way: The game has a lot of the same basic issues as Degrees of Lewdity. Hell you're locked into an encounter just by agreeing to read the tutorial. Yes it's a sex game, that doesn't mean I want to go fondling or getting fondled by just anyone. While you can turn that down, the "best friend" you're automatically assigned and is with you during this doesn't, so you're placed into a position where your "best friend" has had an encounter in front of you, which largely defines your character for you. When I have to load saves and change actions to avoid getting forced into encounters, you're effectively creating a rape game - Hell, the entire "Roommate's Girlfriend" plotline that is forced on the player leads to unavoidable straight-up rape.

The other immediate point of contention is in the world generation. You have your usual sliders - female generation, male generation, transgender generation, etc. - but the kicker is you cannot disable any of these. You can lower or raise them, but the tooltip outright tells you this adjusts the weighting but cannot zeroed out - which I confirmed very quickly while playing when I was almost immediately hit with several things I had lowered to the minimum. I am not commenting on any of the preferences I just mentioned, what I am pointing out is the game doesn't actually give you these options.

Content. There...isn't much. It's mostly handled through gamified systems rather than hand-written encounters, and as such really lacks detail or investment. The majority of the time spent in the game is actually clicking the same buttons for going to class or working, with not much happening. It's very repetitive and not very interesting. It's also worth noting that, unsurprisingly, there are next to no dominant options - to the point that not acting submissive regularly locks you out of large sections of the game with content that is by no means inherently submissive.

In terms of mechanics, it only keeps going downhill. Skill grinding is literally just choosing to repeat actions - the only thing that makes this not endless is that the game imposes artificial limits on this grinding (though you can thankfully turn this off). Grinding money is just the same deal. Attempting to generate friendships to start sexual actions is the same deal. The game decides your character has a crush *for you* (what the actual fuck?). Why have a sexual orientation option when it changes absolutely nothing (your character gains arousal over anyone)?

In the end this isn't a lifesim. It's far too restricted, railroady, and disrespectful to simulate anything.

So overall - I think Course of Temptation in its current iteration doesn't have any substantial merit. It doesn't provide much and it absolutely ignores what the player may want in the same core ways Degrees of Lewdity and similar games do - prioritizing the author's own preferences.

Incredible game. As others said, it's basically DoL without the rape. The writing is really good, the mechanics and unique characters are great, the random encounters feel really nice. It's really awesome.

I think this along with BDCC will be my two main games here. It would benefit a ton from some cute art (paperdoll or high poly pixelart like DoLs beeesss mod) though. Just so you can see the character and who you are speaking to without the need to go through menus.

Anyway, I really love it. Also, it's a life sim like Girl Life etc., so expect a lot of "chores" and daily actions. Nothing annoying though.

The actual stuff is pretty good, but theres waaaaaaaaaaaay too much filler and just travelling around doing things that don't actually matter. its an all text game, too, so its wild they try to pad this out so much considering its not like theyre stalling for artwork. If this game had more confidence in its meat and a lot less runaround it could be an easy 5

Finally something that is similar to Degrees of lewdity, and infairness the game is new and it has a lot of things to do, the Grind is respectable and the RNG needs alittle bit of adjusting, thank you dev for adding a XP multiplier to lessen the grind, this game is great if you want to roleplay

5 Stars i hope it doesnt get abandoned

I downloaded it expecting nothing and i ending love it if you want a Degrees of Lewdity without the being the victim here it is. It has a lot of general costumization (MC, World population etc) you can be a female bi in a world with the mayority of woman is trans or vice versa some people say is really grindy in the default mode it is but you can go to the option an change the difficulty making it less grindy and the cheat option is there too.
the only thing i did not like is that you cannot fully remove a gender of the game but I understand it because some characters are linked to quests.

Honestly surprisingly really good. I went into this expecting to be disappointed but came out with... Possibly new personal favourite HTML game.

It has a pretty surprising amount of very high-quality content, decent customization of game-settings, and some unique quirks. It still has a bit of work to go admittedly but even at its current state it's a very well done piece of work that's very enjoyable and you can get a very hefty amount of playtime in.

The only things that I found semi-negative about this game is;

• The customization of generated NPCs is annoyingly limited. I'm not bi, so I want only one gender of NPCs to be running around the town to interact with. This game limits the lowest you can set it to be as 5%... despite easily being able to go into HTML dev console and setting it to 0%
• The inclusion of "genderless" NPCs and Trans characters with no way to turn it off. While some might find this enticing, I personally found it just to be an annoyance. The amount of times I would get stuck in a sex scene with no way to exit (you can't leave a scene until you both finish) with the thought of the person having a dick to suddenly find a pussy instead... is super high. It can just end up with you getting excited for a scene just to leave with a bad taste in your mouth (pun intended) and disappointment.
• Story Content seems to be mainly Female PC based, as well as some of the regular interactions.

I WILL ALSO NOTE FOR GAY PLAYERS; if you're interested in playing a Male PC with Male NPCs, while it's still enjoyable, it is a bit buggy as well as lacking some content currently..

• The main story with the best friend focuses on a party that happens with drinks that are given out to females. In a game with no females... It makes that content impossible to proceed.
• As well as Sex Interactions with Dominate Male NPCs will never result in anything more than a HJ. The game fails to register that, while a Female PC can get penetrated in the regular standing position, a Male PC can not and so instead, the NPC will refuse to let you move positions (intended) but will also not change positions themselves (not intended).
• As well as Rimming isn't in the game at all. This is less of a gripe and more of an observation instead as, I noticed on a Female PC that Male NPCs seemed to love to go down, but as a Male PC with a Male NPC the only oral option is a regular BJ.

Regardless, a very well and refreshing HTML game that knows an HTML game's strong point; The writing and availability of a sandbox. Will definitely be keeping my eye on this one and definitely recommend anyone that enjoys HTML games to try this out.