Monogamy fans rise up!

[NukaCola]

So harem is a very popular genre out there but personally I always prefer monogamy relationships or three way at best. It just feels more intimate that way. Does anyone else here share that sentiment?
I stopped playing so many popular games on this site just because they have forced harem or unavoidable sex scenes. Especially when it's with a fat middle-age women with huge breasts . Even worse if its MC mom. What a Legend, Treasure of Nadia, Lust Theory to name a few.

 

[Bev_]

I do prefer 1on1/monogamous relationships in those games, because of (as you said) intimacy and their 'moral aspect' (I hate cheating and most of harem-type relationships at least start that way).

However, I always go for harem route when possible (at least during my first playthrough). Because it allows me to see most (if not all) of the content that game has to offer and it's way easier than going through the game like 8 times to see every single LI route.

 

[jamdan]

Generally, yes. But there are exceptions. Some harem games are well done and fun to play.

But often big harem games fall into the same issues. Too many LI's, and that causes them to lack proper screen time. Whether it's 1 on 1 time with MC (non sexual) or interacting with the rest of the harem. And that causes their progression and the story itself to be inconsistent if not non-existent.

I think, and this is coming from someone who generally dislikes sandboxes, that harem actually works better in a sandbox setting. Like Harem Hotel, Mythic Manor, Corrupted Kingdom, House in the Rift etc.

Not to say you can't pull off a harem in a VN, but it's harder to balance. So, it's not really being a harem is the issues. It's the unreasonable scale of the harem. That feeds into what you say, it lacks intimacy. It's basically quality vs quantity.

 

[aura95]

I don't have a problem with harem / multiple LI scenarios per se, but I'll take a well developed 1 on 1 over those any time.

More intimate, much more time to let the relationship grow naturally, more time to develope the couple's togetherness beyond the bedroom, more time to explore the complexeties that are part of any serious realtionship and are all too often glossed over by the 'I'll love you as long as yiou fuck me as often as all your other partners' attitude of the average harem LI.

 

[Meaning Less]

I stopped playing so many popular games on this site just because they have forced harem or unavoidable sex scenes. Especially when it's with a fat middle-age women with huge breasts . Even worse if its MC mom.

Try excluding some tags?

 

[ImperialD]

we're talking about fucking porn games here ...... anything and everything goes in them

 

[Loganfin]

I'm about as polar opposite as possible.

For me, games are for fantasy. They're for things that I didn't get to do in life and/or never will be able to do. They're for casual, hot, messy sex with as many people as I can shake a stick at.

Monogamy is for real life. There's no fantasy to it. at least for me. Its just every day.

 

[Bucketbot89]

I'll take a monogamous relationship over a harem every single time. Few things kill my interest in games on here faster than forced harems. Especially when the game adds the forced harem mid-development (looking at you MurMur). Even in games with optional harems I won't go that route (such as the two games in my sig). Relationships always feel more natural, and like OP said, intimate, when it's 1 on 1 rather than when it's with a huge gaggle of characters. Just my 2 cents.

That said, Harem Hotel might be my favorite game on this site, so what the hell do I know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[NukaCola]

Try excluding some tags?

Problem is all the tags are usually not mutually exclusive. Many games that have harem, incest, milf tag but they are completely optional based on your choices in the games and there is no way to know that until you play it.
Also I don't dislike harem. Some harem games are quite fun to play. I dislike the forced harem games where you don't have any choices over the girls to included in your harem.

 

[Meaning Less]

I dislike the forced harem games where you don't have any choices over the girls to included in your harem.

Aren't most games tagged with harem forced?

Maybe I just don't notice this because I usually pick every character but I feel like it would be very hard to make main characters optional in harems since usually you need to "catch em all" to continue the story, especially when they have scenes together later so if you skip a character the game would require many different renders for each character missing and that would be hard.

 

[Ap0state]

Aren't most games tagged with harem forced?

Maybe I just don't notice this because I usually pick every character but I feel like it would be very hard to make main characters optional in harems since usually you need to "catch em all" to continue the story and they also have scenes together later, so if you skip a character the game would require many optional routes for each character missing.

Picking only one Li in a porn game with harem tag makes me feel like I'm going to miss a lot of content from the game.
Multiple playthroughs are always an option, but I prefer to play most games with only one playthrough unless I like them a lot.

 

[justpassingbyreally]

Harems are porn's "you can join all guilds in a single playthrough".

I even know one where most of the potential harem members can be killed off by the MC if you want to be an impatient Bluebeard.

*eats annoying dragon fangirl*

 

[Rafster]

Sometimes I feel I'm missing something. By design, my game COULD BE an harem game, since it's a sandbox with 1 LI/main storyline (in my game the city will be a hub of many big storylines, each one with a different LI). I have two guys right now (It's a gay game. One done, and the second will be finished on the next update) but the paths are mutually exclusive.

But I can't get into the harem fantasy, or rationalize it to include it in my game. In my mind, having more than one LI leads to jealousy, betrayal and all that drama, and I didn't want to deal with that on my first game. And in harem games, this aspect seems to be gone and everyone is fine with the MC having 5958598753985 romantic relationships with half of the town. I can't get into that mindset, No matter how much I try.

 

[bobdickgus]

I always prefer to have my multiple LI's monogamous with me of course!
That said I do prefer smaller harems with more time with each LI.

 

[Carrera]

I play games to be able to do things without repercussions or guilt like I'd experience IRL, and even in games I still feel guilt like going darkside in KOTOR.

So in games, if I can be a cheating POS and fuck everything that moves, or get fucked by everything that moves then I have no problem with it, because it's not me IRL.

You'll be much happier when you separate fiction from reality.

 

[baloneysammich]

Problem is all the tags are usually not mutually exclusive. Many games that have harem, incest, milf tag but they are completely optional based on your choices in the games and there is no way to know that until you play it.

IIRC the site overhaul in the works will make it possible to distinguish between optional and non-optional content. Unfortunately I have no idea where I read that.

 

[Fatalmasterpiece]

I agree to the extent that I think games should really have the option to ignore any and all advances from some potential love interests, to the point where you could keep things monogamous if wanted. That's definitely a plan for my own.

Harems are porn's "you can join all guilds in a single playthrough".

*eats annoying dragon fangirl*

This. It totally breaks immersion when you can romance *everybody* in one play through just like when you're the Jarl of Windhelm, and the Grandmaster thief, and the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, AND the Dragonborn AND... it's poor writing.

 

[Meaning Less]

This. It totally breaks immersion when you can romance *everybody* in one play through

Isn't that exactly the difference between harem and a normal adult game?

In a normal game you pick one of the character to focus on, going for everyone at once usually leads to bad endings.
Now in harems it is the opposite, if you leave any character behind you miss the "true ending".

 

[NukaCola]

Aren't most games tagged with harem forced?

Maybe I just don't notice this because I usually pick every character but I feel like it would be very hard to make main characters optional in harems since usually you need to "catch em all" to continue the story, especially when they have scenes together later so if you skip a character the game would require many different renders for each character missing and that would be hard.

Not really. Take a look at some of the most popular games with harem tags on this site for example. WVM, Sisterly Lust, Parental Love, Once in a Lifetime, My New Family...etc. Most LI in these games is optional. You can end up alone, with a single girl or with multiple girls of your choice.

 

[Winterfire]

While I do not necessarily call myself a monogamy fan (when it comes to games), as a game developer I do agree that writing 1 on 1 feels more romantic and intimate, somehow more "special" than sharing the same act with multiple people. That's always true for me.

However, that does not stop me from making harem games when I feel like it fits the MC's personality.
A lot of players want harem to be able to complete the whole game in a single playthrough without any care regarding the plot, so I often ignore such requests when I am making a not harem game (such as my current project).
Even when I made a harem game, not all pairings do make sense.