How to make harem game convincing?

[F22232425]

Sometimes I just wonder why, in harem adult game, those girlfriends would have no objections or reactions
when the MC has multiple girlfriends at the same time.
How do those game developers justify the cheating?

 

[WhiteFireDaemon]

It varies from game to game. Often the girls the MC would hook up with aren't in serious relationships, just a friends-with-benefit kind of thing. Other times it's because the girl is into other girls, sometimes she's just not jealous. There's a lot of different reasons, some being more plausible than others.

 

[Avaron1974]

Only a few that i've played that were in any way convincing have been Luke's Way, Parental Love, Sisterly Lust and Last Sovereign.

Roundscape to a lesser degree in that it's not really a harem but he does fuck most of his companions. It's not a harem in that they still have their own sex lives outside of the group.

I've seen a few threesome endings that would work but no harem ones. Not that made any sense.

 

[jamdan]

A lot of them aren't actually girlfriends, just friends with benefits so they dont care about it. Now, the more realistic "harem" games are usually where the main girl and her BFF end up with MC (although thats not technically a harem, if its just 2 girls). They are fine with it because they're friends, usually before MC shows up and they both fall for him so they decide to share him. Obviously the family harem games too, they dont care because its all in the family, literally.

 

[DarthSeduction]

"Cheating" implying monogamy... in a harem game... There are genuinely people out there who don't expect it. And those who do aren't necessarily incapable of changing their outlook. I do think that if a character expects monogamy they should have an arc, but even then, it's not a major arc, just a coming to terms with it all moment.

 

[DreamBig Games]

IF you want a real-life example of it, look no further than a lot of Muslims families. How does it work? Fuck if I know...
But there doesn't seem to be a lot of jealousy, and it's not considered cheating if the other characters place the needs of the MC above theirs ( I think the same applies with Muslim marriage tradition, the women have been indoctrinated that they are worthless then their brothers, that for the rest of their lives, the men's needs are more important than theirs).

 

[megaplayboy10k]

It's easier with some kind of supernatural or supranatural element--mind control, magic, demonic/faerie intervention, corruption, some kind of potion, etc. If many of the relationships are illicit/illegal/taboo in nature, then it may be easier to accept since the relationship couldn't be public anyway. Or, alternatively, if the relationship itself constitutes an "alternative lifestyle", it may make the women more receptive to the alt lifestyle of polyamory, since they've already relaxed their inhibitions to enter the relationship(s) in the first place. A MC who develops into kind of the "alpha" of the game setting may also be able to hold a harem together through sheer dominance/force of personality.

 

[Ataios]

The most believable way to make a harem game convincing or realistic is to choose a setting where the character is allowed or expected to have harem. E.g. make him the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire or Emperor of medieval China. Of course it's debatable whether this scenario would still be attractive as a game, as it removes the taboo factor.

Otherwise you could still make a game about polyamorous people in the present, where the MC can have multiple girlfriends, but in that case they can have multiple lovers too - this would be my least favorite option and certainly not a game, I'd play, but maybe some people would like it, who knows.

You could create a fantasy world, where jealousy doesn't exist and everyone is allowed to have multiple lovers - I'm glad, I don't live in such a world, but as a setting for your game, it might work.

Another quite realistic option for a game set in the present, is that the MC just has to be careful, that none of the women notice. Any woman catching the MC cheating would become an antagonist by necessity.

If you don't like any of the above (which I can well understand), you will have resort to some element of coercion. This could be blackmail, sorcery or some sort of drug.

 

[SeventhVixen]

It's depends quite on the game and the setting. In most I've played, it's that most women just don't find out about if there is another women (talking about harem games as fuck them all, not about actual harems...). Due to not being properly scripted sometimes tho, it's strange that they don't find out (Like events that happens in wrong moments).

In the game I'm making, MC can do quite a big number of different women, but most of them live in different towns, so even if they care, they'll mostly just don't find out. In the locations were there are different women, I'm prepared for the contigency; Some just don't care (some are married so they are also cheating), but you can lose a relationship with some if you let yourself catch.

So summarizing for what I see until now, usually it's just that they don't care about because it's a fuckfriend relation, or they just hadn't find out.

 

[polywog]

Girls like money period, full stop. If there's enough money to go around, they're willing to share.

 

[vir_cotto]

Place the story in Saudi Arabia. Can't get more convincing harem than that...

 

[83wulf]

While the protag is forming the harem, and the girls don’t know about each other, he simply isn’t justified. He is a two-timing asshole, even if his end goal may not be malevolent. But he may be forgiven.
When there is absolute honesty from the onset, there is no real cheating, and thus no need to “justify” cheating.
Favouritism, however, would be a different (and complicated) matter.

As Avaron1974 points out, threesome relationships are much more viable than larger harems, unless they simply are a case of “bunch-of-roommates-with-benefits”. Human nature and all that.

When the harem is just united by subservient, starry-eyed admiration for the “alpha”, it can get boring very fast. And as a means of conflict resolution, a rushed, shoddily written, out of the blue discovery of bisexuality just doesn’t cut it. (This from a bisexual.)

I’m not against harem routes in general, but they must be well written, and, for me, the characters involved must be intelligent and with big personalities. Most harem routes fail these tests.

Sisterly Lust is an example of a game on here where this is done acceptably well (to date).

 

[megaplayboy10k]

There are literally dozens of harem-themed anime out there, even a few hentai harem anime. Probably not a terrible idea to look some up and look at the "setup" of the story--how are things situated so that the male protagonist is able to accumulate a "harem" of attractive girls/women infatuated with him?
What I wouldn't worry about overmuch for a harem-themed game--realism. You just have to be "remotely plausible".

 

[HiEv]

Sometimes I just wonder why, in harem adult game, those girlfriends would have no objections or reactions
when the MC has multiple girlfriends at the same time.
How do those game developers justify the cheating?

I'm not stating that these are necessarily plausible justifications, but here are some of the justifications I've seen given:

1. They all want him so bad (due to love or sex) that they're willing to "compete" with other girls for his attention.
2. They're all family/friends, so they see it more as "sharing" the man.
3. The first girl actively recruits the other girls to the harem to satisfy her man.
4. They're all "assigned" to him by some outside source or sources, often competing to be the first one to bear his heir.
5. The man drugs, hypnotizes, blackmails, or otherwise persuades them all to have sex with him (and possibly others) whenever he wants.
6. The girls all love having sex with him so much that literally nothing else matters. (A more extreme version of #1.)
7. The girls all just see him as the group's personal sex toy, thus don't have a problem trading him around. (A more extreme version of #2.)
8. At first the girls as a group decide to teach him about sex, but then they all fall in love with him, and just continue to share him. (Similar to #2.)
9. The guy is the first/only person who was nice to them, so they form such a strong attachment to him that they're willing to do anything to please him, including accepting that he has sex with other women.
10. The man has some power, item, or heritage (which he might not even be aware of), and the different women all try to seduce him to their side to obtain whatever it is that he has, but then he ends up making them all into his harem in some way (love, his power awakens, etc.).
11. The man is trapped somewhere alone with all of the women (often a deserted island), so they eventually all end up falling in love with him and understanding that they need to share.
12. The man is their boss/teacher/master, and eventually they all submit to him for whatever reasons.

I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones I could think of off the top of my head.

 

[echilog]

Sometimes I just wonder why, in harem adult game, those girlfriends would have no objections or reactions
when the MC has multiple girlfriends at the same time.
How do those game developers justify the cheating?

Are you asking to make a complete fantasy scenario convincing.?

The chances of having 3-6 WILLING and devoted GF's share you, and only you. Is less then winning 10 billion on the lottery

And I am not talking the occasional 3-4 foursome. I am talking a HAREM of devoted women..... that just near impossible.

 

[megaplayboy10k]

Are you asking to make a complete fantasy scenario convincing.?

The chances of having 3-6 WILLING and devoted GF's share you, and only you. Is less then winning 10 billion on the lottery

And I am not talking the occasional 3-4 foursome. I am talking a HAREM of devoted women..... that just near impossible.

Right. I'm all good with "remotely plausible".

 

[Akamari]

Harem only works if all members have significantly lower social status than their master. For example, a cult or a sect with a leader having his own harem is perfectly plausible.

Otherwise, it's bullshit. Jealousy would destroy such fantasy.

 

[megaplayboy10k]

Oh, I see harem refers to 3 or more.
Can you please tell me the term for ending up with 2 girls? Is it threesome?

Or trio. Generally a harem is a group of 3 or more. Most harem anime involve harems of 4+ girls or women showing romantic interest in the hero.

 

[Deleted member 229118]

It is often just not thought about.
Most of the time it is either consider normal or involve some type of control.
Emotional dependses, mind control, Blackmail, Being the only man in the entire world, Etc.
It is one of the reasons i like mind control.
Far more believeable that your entire family agree's to be your sex toys if they where mind control into it rather then talked into it.

 

[batman666]

I like it how Harem Hotel treats the whole harem idea. You got a crazy GF who wants you to only bone her and no one else, even going as far as pulling a knife on some other girl. You got a girl that likes you but her sister starts finding interest in you two which ends in threesome scenes and a three-sided relationship. Then there are several "open" relationships. I think the game nailed it perfectly.