- Dec 11, 2020
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Hi, I'm new to developing adult games. I'm sure I must have played a harem game, but what are the absolute key points that a harem game involves? Like what's the core purpose, and the part that makes it fun?
People have asked me they want a "harem" game. What does a harem game involve?
- Thread starter hhrichards
- Start date
- Aug 22, 2018
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You'll never get an answer that pleases everyone here, there are 2 very different camps.
There is the camp that only wants the MC to have sex and the girls will only ever touch him/her and not each other and there is the camp that wants a poly harem and every to be involved with each other.
You have harems like MNF and WVM and then you have harems like Sisterly Lust and Parental Love.
Sisterly Lust will always be the best harem game for me. Everyone was involved, nobody was left out.
I enjoy WVM but it does feel like a conveyer belt with people waiting in line for him to have time for them. It feels a bit emotionless to me.
Both styles will bring in players so it will boil down to what you want. You will never be able to please everyone, it's impossible.
There is the camp that only wants the MC to have sex and the girls will only ever touch him/her and not each other and there is the camp that wants a poly harem and every to be involved with each other.
You have harems like MNF and WVM and then you have harems like Sisterly Lust and Parental Love.
Sisterly Lust will always be the best harem game for me. Everyone was involved, nobody was left out.
I enjoy WVM but it does feel like a conveyer belt with people waiting in line for him to have time for them. It feels a bit emotionless to me.
Both styles will bring in players so it will boil down to what you want. You will never be able to please everyone, it's impossible.
- Jun 24, 2018
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By definition here on F95. This would be enough to use the tag here.
Extra points if somehow you can manage to make all your girls live with you in the same place/house.
Then, my favorite idea of Harem is when all the girls (at least 4 girls) know about each other and they all agree to share the MC. There are a lot of games when you can fuck +20 girls but somehow almost none of them know each other or even less know their relationship with the MC even when all of them live in the same town/city and all of them go to the same school. I like fucking +20 girls without consequences, but at the moment you say "I love you" to one girl and the next day you say the same to another girl without even thinking in the first girls, it feels closer to a guy cheating +20 girls than a guy with a harem.
Extra points if somehow you can manage to make all your girls live with you in the same place/house.
- Jun 10, 2017
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Having all the girls.
Having all the girls.
Having all the girls.
It's the only thing that matter for those who explicitly ask for a harem game.
A harem game being just a game where the player will have all the girls, the absolute key points, the purpose, and what make it fun, are absolutely not different than for any other adult game. Having a story that offer the possibility to have a harem, and avoiding jealous characters, is all what is needed to make a harem game ; at least, all in top of what is needed to make a game.
- Sep 26, 2018
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- May 22, 2019
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It just MC with multiple oposite sex attracted to him its not hard to find any game such sisterly lust and porn with harem setup in it for me its "generic" genre nowadays
- Dec 13, 2018
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At its most basic level, I'd say the general concept/perception of a harem game is that the MC can romance multiple women with little consequence because in the end, he either ends up with all of them or a majority of them. As Ava said, Sisterly Lust is a good example of this because the MC can have sex with about a dozen different women, but can end up with a maximum harem of 7. Others like WVM have the MC be able to bang pretty much everyone and they're all totally cool with it.
The core purpose of these types of games, I'd say, is that players don't need to make tough choices about which ones to choose (because they're typically all great) and don't have to suffer any crushing consequences from being a raging lethario. It also, I think, taps into this primitive alpha mindset of being a dominant male who gets all the females.
When developing harem games, from what I've seen, it honestly doesn't matter how you do it because people will still like it either way. You can craft a really intimate, realistic-type story showing how one guy can navigate multiple relationships to the point where he's able to cleverly weave them all into accepting a harem/poly relationship with him at the centre, or you can make a game where all the women worship his cock like it's the only one in the world and are totally OK about him being with other women so long as he continues to take of their needs too, and you'll find that enough people will like either scenario.
- Sep 30, 2018
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Key Points: A protagonist with 3 or more love interests who can end the game involved with 3 or more love interests with those love interests aware of and accepting of that arrangement.
Core Purpose: Generally harem games either involve working through interpersonal drama to get characters to be love interests and openly accepting of other love interests OR they're love interest collect-a-thon games where there is zero interpersonal drama at all beyond seduction and the end goal is just to seduce every love interest who will then without question accept the MC having other love interests. In the former case, you can also have variants where part of the game is getting the love interests themselves together with each other in a poly relationship instead of just a harem. In the latter case, the harem is more incidental than anything and is just either acknowledged in passing or limited to ending scenes.
Fun: Different people play harem games for different reason. To run through some of the reasons I like them.
1. Nobody gets left out: If multiple possible love interests are included in a game, and the implication is they can all make a relationship work with the MC, I would rather they all do so than only one or a few do so. Separate individual routes basically imply all but one love interest missed out on their happily ever after in each route. I'd rather everyone be happy. Cheesy reason, but I'm being honest.
2. Complex romantic dramedy: Harems provide a lot of opportunities for tense, touching, and humorous interactions between characters as they navigate who to tell what when and how about what they feel with regards to the idea of the harem and its members. And separately you still have non-harem elements of the relationships between characters to play with, too. And just normal relationship stuff like flirting, wooing, teasing, and fighting. This is all turned up to 11 in poly harems where the members also get together with each other.
3. Group sex scenes: This should maybe go without saying, but harems provide a venue for group sex scenes. Some people like group sex scenes. They are also the ONLY venue for group sex scenes wherein the parties involved are in a relationship, for people that prefer that over things like no strings attached sex, swinging, sex friendships, or cuckoldry (not that harem games can't also include these).
Final Thoughts: Can't we all just get along?
Core Purpose: Generally harem games either involve working through interpersonal drama to get characters to be love interests and openly accepting of other love interests OR they're love interest collect-a-thon games where there is zero interpersonal drama at all beyond seduction and the end goal is just to seduce every love interest who will then without question accept the MC having other love interests. In the former case, you can also have variants where part of the game is getting the love interests themselves together with each other in a poly relationship instead of just a harem. In the latter case, the harem is more incidental than anything and is just either acknowledged in passing or limited to ending scenes.
Fun: Different people play harem games for different reason. To run through some of the reasons I like them.
1. Nobody gets left out: If multiple possible love interests are included in a game, and the implication is they can all make a relationship work with the MC, I would rather they all do so than only one or a few do so. Separate individual routes basically imply all but one love interest missed out on their happily ever after in each route. I'd rather everyone be happy. Cheesy reason, but I'm being honest.
2. Complex romantic dramedy: Harems provide a lot of opportunities for tense, touching, and humorous interactions between characters as they navigate who to tell what when and how about what they feel with regards to the idea of the harem and its members. And separately you still have non-harem elements of the relationships between characters to play with, too. And just normal relationship stuff like flirting, wooing, teasing, and fighting. This is all turned up to 11 in poly harems where the members also get together with each other.
3. Group sex scenes: This should maybe go without saying, but harems provide a venue for group sex scenes. Some people like group sex scenes. They are also the ONLY venue for group sex scenes wherein the parties involved are in a relationship, for people that prefer that over things like no strings attached sex, swinging, sex friendships, or cuckoldry (not that harem games can't also include these).
Final Thoughts: Can't we all just get along?
- Aug 22, 2018
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A years birthday for this thread.
Another year older and Sisterly Lust is still the best made harem game but at least it's getting competition now.
The dev of Sisterly Lust is making a new game, Tales from the Unending Void, and will have a poly harem like Sisterly lust where everyone fucks everyone else.
Also Inner Growth. Thalna has her own harem but everyone just fucks everyone else anyway because demons and angels and as shit load of futa/trans characters.
Another year older and Sisterly Lust is still the best made harem game but at least it's getting competition now.
The dev of Sisterly Lust is making a new game, Tales from the Unending Void, and will have a poly harem like Sisterly lust where everyone fucks everyone else.
Also Inner Growth. Thalna has her own harem but everyone just fucks everyone else anyway because demons and angels and as shit load of futa/trans characters.
The strong point of harem games is there are several romantic interest some players will a hardcore suckers for the mom character, the nerdy girl (crossing fingers to be secretly a cosplayer), the church rat, the tomgirl, the gym rat or even the goth girl (like my personal taste). There are so many characters than the dev could strike hard for several stereotypes apealling to lot more variety of players.
Mixed with the sandbox tag can give a lot of versatility, from a harem of femboys to a full futa+female exclusive game passing from a mind controled harem
Building relationships and relationships grooming is a core of these games, can bring lot of content in a very organic way. Management can be an interesant tag along harem games leading to leaving the harem or even the game if you don't give her attention or find out you cheated if you was dating her and she wasn't aware of the harem or the MC said was a close relationship. Even if you like you could bring NTR as punishment as a bad gameplay like game over scene or closing forever a path with a girl (be aware some players don't appreciate NTR, even if is optional, could push back lots of players even if is a good game mechanic).
The trainer, corruption, and transformation tags could work well in a harem game but will be a lot of extra work for the dev
Also expect the MC to be leading to the dominant expectrum so some mild BSDM fits very well (but is not a must)
Mixed with the sandbox tag can give a lot of versatility, from a harem of femboys to a full futa+female exclusive game passing from a mind controled harem
Building relationships and relationships grooming is a core of these games, can bring lot of content in a very organic way. Management can be an interesant tag along harem games leading to leaving the harem or even the game if you don't give her attention or find out you cheated if you was dating her and she wasn't aware of the harem or the MC said was a close relationship. Even if you like you could bring NTR as punishment as a bad gameplay like game over scene or closing forever a path with a girl (be aware some players don't appreciate NTR, even if is optional, could push back lots of players even if is a good game mechanic).
The trainer, corruption, and transformation tags could work well in a harem game but will be a lot of extra work for the dev
Also expect the MC to be leading to the dominant expectrum so some mild BSDM fits very well (but is not a must)
- Jun 19, 2019
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To make a harem game you must:
* Have absolutely NO other males or dicks in game at all - It is important that harem players do not feel threatened or that, like real life they have competition so make sure there are no males that could possibly threaten their illusion. If you must have other males, have them killed off early, or make them effeminate basement dwellers/ugly/weak. Don't even have a married woman's husband appear or even random characters you never interact with be depicted as a couple. Ideally the MC is the ONLY male that exists or gloss over other males.
* Have an Uber CHAD MC Protag - MC MUST absolutely be muscular, good looking, be wealthy and be successful so that players can live out their fantasies vicariously through that character. OR the character must either slowly develop these traits OR have blackmail/superpowers to enable what would otherwise be a none winner to become an UBER CHAD. The CHAD should also have a ginormous penis in order to assert his masculine dominance and make the girls brains explode with the well used trope that women fall for massive penis and become brainless upon seeing one.
* The girls must be good looking/corruptible - The girls should ideally have ass like Kim Kardashian and a cleavage you can ski down. They must in no way be as intelligent or successful as the MC in order to avoid players feeling threatened by 'Muh Wommanz' and to blow out the idea that the Harem MC player needs to be the ALPHA UBER CHAD they can rely on. They should be housewives who are unsatisfied, nerdy unsociable girls, schoolgirls with bimbo qualities etc etc. To that end avoid Femdom, it can offend the UBER CHAD sensibilities of the harem player. Pregnancy is however very welcome as it allows harem players to live out the fantasy of being virile UBER CHAD with many children.
So in short the best harem game is one in which the Male MC is a rare supremely blessed UBER CHAD with no competition at all and women that fall for him because of superficial qualities like wealth or a big penis, the women must NEED the UBER CHAD to save them from something, but must face no trials or exertion in doing so.
Think I got that right. I had to enter the mind of a Harem player for a moment there...it's dark in here, the bookshelf has cobwebs and there are way too many beers and sports memorabilia around...
* Have absolutely NO other males or dicks in game at all - It is important that harem players do not feel threatened or that, like real life they have competition so make sure there are no males that could possibly threaten their illusion. If you must have other males, have them killed off early, or make them effeminate basement dwellers/ugly/weak. Don't even have a married woman's husband appear or even random characters you never interact with be depicted as a couple. Ideally the MC is the ONLY male that exists or gloss over other males.
* Have an Uber CHAD MC Protag - MC MUST absolutely be muscular, good looking, be wealthy and be successful so that players can live out their fantasies vicariously through that character. OR the character must either slowly develop these traits OR have blackmail/superpowers to enable what would otherwise be a none winner to become an UBER CHAD. The CHAD should also have a ginormous penis in order to assert his masculine dominance and make the girls brains explode with the well used trope that women fall for massive penis and become brainless upon seeing one.
* The girls must be good looking/corruptible - The girls should ideally have ass like Kim Kardashian and a cleavage you can ski down. They must in no way be as intelligent or successful as the MC in order to avoid players feeling threatened by 'Muh Wommanz' and to blow out the idea that the Harem MC player needs to be the ALPHA UBER CHAD they can rely on. They should be housewives who are unsatisfied, nerdy unsociable girls, schoolgirls with bimbo qualities etc etc. To that end avoid Femdom, it can offend the UBER CHAD sensibilities of the harem player. Pregnancy is however very welcome as it allows harem players to live out the fantasy of being virile UBER CHAD with many children.
So in short the best harem game is one in which the Male MC is a rare supremely blessed UBER CHAD with no competition at all and women that fall for him because of superficial qualities like wealth or a big penis, the women must NEED the UBER CHAD to save them from something, but must face no trials or exertion in doing so.
Think I got that right. I had to enter the mind of a Harem player for a moment there...it's dark in here, the bookshelf has cobwebs and there are way too many beers and sports memorabilia around...
- Aug 24, 2020
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- Aug 24, 2020
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Generally the most acceptable Harem is MC gets lots of love interests that are loyal to the MC alone,
other points can included Harem members are allowed to engage with each other if the MC is otherwise engaged with someone else in the harem,
current harem members are willing and fully support MC in bringing in new harem members (some harem members may even be into the MC seducing new members in verious ways)
and above all if a rival for any of the love interests takes away a harem member MC gets them back while ruining said rivals life.
goes without saying that the MC is devs choice of Gender unless they give the play a choice and be it MFF FMM or anything inbetween, please for the love of any and all sex gods if you decide to include a futa MC commit to it as far far too many promising Futa games are started by devs that lose interest and left abandoned.
other points can included Harem members are allowed to engage with each other if the MC is otherwise engaged with someone else in the harem,
current harem members are willing and fully support MC in bringing in new harem members (some harem members may even be into the MC seducing new members in verious ways)
and above all if a rival for any of the love interests takes away a harem member MC gets them back while ruining said rivals life.
goes without saying that the MC is devs choice of Gender unless they give the play a choice and be it MFF FMM or anything inbetween, please for the love of any and all sex gods if you decide to include a futa MC commit to it as far far too many promising Futa games are started by devs that lose interest and left abandoned.
- Jun 19, 2019
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The only true definition of harem is
The main thing to define a harem:"a protagonist is surrounded by three or more androphilic/gynephilic love interests or sexual partners"
Almost everything else people are asking here is naught but their preferences outside the genre, which is why everyone like to give their own definition.
Harem can be anything as long as you have multiple characters interested in the protag be it a male, female or even futa.
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.The main thing to define a harem:"a protagonist is surrounded by three or more androphilic/gynephilic love interests or sexual partners"
Almost everything else people are asking here is naught but their preferences outside the genre, which is why everyone like to give their own definition.
Harem can be anything as long as you have multiple characters interested in the protag be it a male, female or even futa.