Recommending TonyMurray's Favourite Games and Favourite Girls

[TonyMurray]

Summer Heat by Naughty Fox Games

This is one of those games that looks fantastic and maybe suffers for it. The update schedule is pretty long, and it’s relatively early into its development, so it’s a game that I sort of wish I didn’t find until much later, so there would be more content for me to check out. The renders and the girls look great, some of the (few) lewd scenes we’ve had so far have been very promising, but as we wait for update 0.7, I still don’t really know what the actual story is going to be.

There are a few different threads, and some of them get ignored for an update or two at a time, so it’s a little difficult to judge whether they are key plot points or just little side experiments that may or may not amount to much. This is definitely a bit frustrating to me, as it feels like there’s a little bit of cohesion missing in the overall planning of the story.

Possibly tying in to that, time seems to pass very slowly here, with just a day or two passing during the six updates so far. This means that movement with the game’s LIs is almost non-existent, which is natural in terms of normal relationship development, but feels too much in terms of gameplay and real-world waiting time. Conversely, there are a couple of scenes with side girls that need no build up, just hitting you out of nowhere. I do wonder if these are added to appease people who might otherwise be frustrated at waiting for things to progress with the main girls. There are also some phone interactions on a dating app that may also serve this purpose, just giving some additional nude images, despite not (so far) meeting any of those girls in person.

If this was any other game, chances are I would choose at this point to drop it, as the story just isn’t doing anything for me – the main bit I’m interested in is probably destined to go nowhere fast. Here, however, the graphics and, in particular, the girls are the saving grace. I am genuinely invested in some of the relationships as, although they seem (very) slow burn, there is plenty of intrigue. Each LI has given me a hint of something I want to explore with them – and not just the nudity, which I do, of course, want to get to! I just hope that things soon start moving at what I would consider to be a better pace, so I can experience some of those temptations before losing interest.

 

[mrjessan]

By far the best recommendation list thread.

 

[TonyMurray]

Thief of Hearts by MrDots Games

This one is relatively early in its story still, with only two episodes released so far, but it’s an interesting one that I’ll look forward to continuing. I think it will give something just a little bit different, so long as it doesn’t stray too far from its initial concept. Depending on your settings, the team or family here are a crew of thieves, and I like the idea of preparing and going on heists amidst the backdrop of a light-hearted but sexy game.

The graphics look good and some of the girls are really promising – certainly in looks, but also potentially in character. Along with all the stealing, it seems that the girls will be at the forefront of any story here, with the MC having his head turned by one hottie or another, either from his crew/family, his day job (at the gym), or elsewhere. This does give us one forced sex scene, where you have the option (depending on a series of “compatibility” questions built into conversation) of sex with one of two women, or potentially both of them. There is no option to avoid the scene though, as it’s integral to the story, even if that isn’t immediately apparent.

Some other scenes either appear as “non-canon” events, or are extended with “non-canon” events, which do not impact the story but are meant to show what could potentially have happened at a certain point, and just give an extra (or extended) lewd scene to up the numbers for the episode in question. I am torn on these, as I don’t feel they are really necessary, and if they are given as rewards (you need to find the secret on screen at various points to unlock them), I feel they would be better appearing in an extras gallery instead of in the game itself, where they can be confusing. If not for the “non canon” notification at the top of the screen, there would be nothing to distinguish these from any other scene in the game.

I like the way you get quests in this game where you need to complete certain little elements to build your report card for the end of the episode. Some of these do seem a little odd though, having nothing to do with the task at hand but rather being geared towards taking the more perverted approach out of two options in a given situation.

This is not a dark and sinister sort of thieves game. I figure the tone is set pretty early on in the first episode, and it gives you a good idea of what to expect going forwards. If you’re after something fun with a bit of a different setting/theme, Thief of Hearts could be a good one to try out.

 

[TonyMurray]

Being Super by Sandman Games and Art

This is a game I've decided not to continue with. I was giving it the benefit of the doubt while I waited for the next update, and once that arrived, I would start again and play it all through to make my decision. Well, that now being done, the decision is to drop it (sorry Milton!). There are some good looking girls in here and a couple of hot threesomes involving two of them, but for me, most of the rest was a miss rather than a hit.

I thought the story was a bit jumpy, at least in the way it was shown, with stuff seeming to come out of nowhere a few times. This may be just because of the content, with aliens and people with special abilities forming most (or even all) of those "jumpy" transitions, but it still just felt a bit disjointed to me.

There's a pretty cool set of skills that you can upgrade as you progress through the game, and a lot of the game choices are categorised (e.g., flirt, joke, intelligence - each of these having different levels as well). While both of these things add a degree of strategy to the gameplay and potentially an element of replayability, I felt there was little guidance as to the benefits of any of the options. I might have missed this in my playthroughs, but it certainly came across to me as the sort of thing where you play the game, then on a second playthrough, you know what's coming later, and so can make appropriate choices. I guess kind of like the advantage a walkthrough mod might give you.

Overall, I didn't manage to make a connection to any of the characters or the story, and the couple of girls I was interested in weren't enough to make me want to continue. Perhaps if the game was "tidied up" a fair bit, it might be worth me giving another shot, but at this point, it's just not there for me.

 

[MiltonPowers]

Being Super by Sandman Games and Art

This is a game I've decided not to continue with. I was giving it the benefit of the doubt while I waited for the next update, and once that arrived, I would start again and play it all through to make my decision. Well, that now being done, the decision is to drop it (sorry Milton!). There are some good looking girls in here and a couple of hot threesomes involving two of them, but for me, most of the rest was a miss rather than a hit.

I thought the story was a bit jumpy, at least in the way it was shown, with stuff seeming to come out of nowhere a few times. This may be just because of the content, with aliens and people with special abilities forming most (or even all) of those "jumpy" transitions, but it still just felt a bit disjointed to me.

There's a pretty cool set of skills that you can upgrade as you progress through the game, and a lot of the game choices are categorised (e.g., flirt, joke, intelligence - each of these having different levels as well). While both of these things add a degree of strategy to the gameplay and potentially an element of replayability, I felt there was little guidance as to the benefits of any of the options. I might have missed this in my playthroughs, but it certainly came across to me as the sort of thing where you play the game, then on a second playthrough, you know what's coming later, and so can make appropriate choices. I guess kind of like the advantage a walkthrough mod might give you.

Overall, I didn't manage to make a connection to any of the characters or the story, and the couple of girls I was interested in weren't enough to make me want to continue. Perhaps if the game was "tidied up" a fair bit, it might be worth me giving another shot, but at this point, it's just not there for me.
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I haven't played the latest update yet. With intricate coding games, I'm always happy to wait, because there will be bugs to fix. I hope I like it better than you did.

 

[TonyMurray]

I hope I like it better than you did.

Me too buddy, me too. You were a lot more on board to start with though, so you have an advantage over me there.

 

[TonyMurray]

Straitened Times by HRelease

I tried out this game because I’m a fan of multi-girl scenes, and it looks like there are a lot of them here. In one way, I got exactly what I was looking for there, but in other ways, not quite. If I had strong feelings for this game, I might say it’s a love–hate relationship, but I definitely don’t love it, and I don’t quite hate it either.

Let’s start with some good stuff. There are a lot of “lewdable” women here. I say “lewdable” instead of “romanceable” just because romance isn’t always the intention (on both sides). The detail on the models is sometimes really good, with close-up shots during dialogue that generally look very well done. There are also, as promised, a whole bunch of threesomes and foursomes.

In terms of the not-so-good though, those sex scenes, including the single-girl scenes, lack variation, with a few different views, but only a couple of positions used each time. The views are often weird as well, with either poor (IMO) composition, meaning you can’t see much, or they look like they’re viewed through a fish-eye lens.

The story isn’t really a big factor. It’s there, and parts of it do drive the relationships to a degree, but the way I see it, the main feature of the game is moving forwards with this plethora of women. This brings me to the single worst thing about the game for me, which is the sandbox. It is incredibly grindy, with little-to-no direction, and a big reliance on the RNG (random number generator) meaning that grind just continues.

Sometimes you have to roll back the chosen options, choosing one lower on the scale to enable the highest on the scale to open up when you play the same scene the next day. It’s incredibly frustrating trying to guess which option to choose when, feeling like you’re not getting anywhere, and not knowing if it’s because of the RNG or because you need to go back to just kissing the girl today instead of a blowjob, in order to move on to fucking her tomorrow.

I’m a stubborn person, so once I started unlocking scenes, I was determined to continue and max out each of the LIs, despite the grind I had to go through to do it. So if you are a fan of sandbox games and don’t mind a heavy grind, this could be a game for you. If that is a turn-off for you, I would steer well clear!

 

[tuskedkibbles]

I saw how much overlap I have with you and figured I'd toss a few more into the ring for you to take a look at if you've never heard of them.

Karlsson's Gambit - I don't remember why I gave this game more than a cursory glance as its ostensible theme is extreme femdom (very much not my thing), but I did and it's one of the best decisions I ever made on this site. While there is a femdom path, the other path is far more interesting and is pretty much the exact opposite, with the MC climbing the ladder so to speak. Plenty of scenes and LIs surrounding a corporate game of thrones style story with several distinct subpaths for the various power pushers (who are LIs, of course). Highly recommended.

Defending Lydia Collier - Murder mystery as the main plotline with three very distinct LI paths (two of which branch off into multiple others). Several subpaths in regards to the LIs as well. The main plot does require a bit more thought than your average 'smash click until next scene' game, but it's nothing crazy (no sandbox elements).

Long Road Home - You join a biker gang and sleep around a lot. There's more to it than that, but that's the jist of it. Some characters have some real depth to them (others not so much, lol) and the main story is interesting enough, if relatively generic (save small businesses from corrupt politician working with rival gang). The creator also intends to update the game so that all LIs are optional outside the 'main girl' (most LIs are already optional, but a few that aren't will be made so).

Friends in Need - Relatively straightforward, but one of the few games I've found with a 'dark path' that isn't straight American Psycho level. Alternatively, you can be totally wholesome and nice to everyone. Also one of the rare cases where a celibate run is possible (outside the first scene, but even that will be changed to be optional in the next couple updates according to the dev).

Let me know if you've got any questions about any of them. I'd be happy to answer. Great thread.

 

[TonyMurray]

I saw how much overlap I have with you and figured I'd toss a few more into the ring for you to take a look at if you've never heard of them.

Karlsson's Gambit - I don't remember why I gave this game more than a cursory glance as its ostensible theme is extreme femdom (very much not my thing), but I did and it's one of the best decisions I ever made on this site. While there is a femdom path, the other path is far more interesting and is pretty much the exact opposite, with the MC climbing the ladder so to speak. Plenty of scenes and LIs surrounding a corporate game of thrones style story with several distinct subpaths for the various power pushers (who are LIs, of course). Highly recommended.

Defending Lydia Collier - Murder mystery as the main plotline with three very distinct LI paths (two of which branch off into multiple others). Several subpaths in regards to the LIs as well. The main plot does require a bit more thought than your average 'smash click until next scene' game, but it's nothing crazy (no sandbox elements).

Long Road Home - You join a biker gang and sleep around a lot. There's more to it than that, but that's the jist of it. Some characters have some real depth to them (others not so much, lol) and the main story is interesting enough, if relatively generic (save small businesses from corrupt politician working with rival gang). The creator also intends to update the game so that all LIs are optional outside the 'main girl' (most LIs are already optional, but a few that aren't will be made so).

Friends in Need - Relatively straightforward, but one of the few games I've found with a 'dark path' that isn't straight American Psycho level. Alternatively, you can be totally wholesome and nice to everyone. Also one of the rare cases where a celibate run is possible (outside the first scene, but even that will be changed to be optional in the next couple updates according to the dev).

Let me know if you've got any questions about any of them. I'd be happy to answer. Great thread.

Thanks, much appreciated!

• Karlsson's Gambit - I feel the same on the extreme femdom, but this is one I already have on my list to try.
• Defending Lydia Collier - I've looked at it a number of times, but it's not on my list. I don't know if there's a reason why I didn't add it though, so I've done so now.
• Long Road Home - I tried it and liked some of it, but I couldn't get into the story at all.
• Friends in Need - I tried it and couldn't get past that forced first scene. None of the choices available reflected the way I would want to play, and I really disliked that. From what I recall, the choices (after the dev made the change) were to talk her into fucking, to rape her, or to turn her down. The turn her down option is what I believe was added, but it's basically a joke as it leads to an early game over. If that's not the case and I missed something, I'd consider looking at this one again, perhaps.

 

[Dessolos]

• Friends in Need - I tried it and couldn't get past that forced first scene. None of the choices available reflected the way I would want to play, and I really disliked that. From what I recall, the choices (after the dev made the change) were to talk her into fucking, to rape her, or to turn her down. The turn her down option is what I believe was added, but it's basically a joke as it leads to an early game over. If that's not the case and I missed something, I'd consider looking at this one again, perhaps.

that's the only scene that is forced but after the next update the dev is taking a 1 month break then redoing that chapter and has said you won't be forced to have sex with Nicki so if yous till want to give it a chance after that I'd wait like 6 ish months.

 

[TonyMurray]

that's the only scene that is forced but after the next update the dev is taking a 1 month break then redoing that chapter and has said you won't be forced to have sex with Nicki so if yous till want to give it a chance after that I'd wait like 6 ish months.

Cheers Dessolos. Might add it to the list to try again then!

 

[MaxRichard]

While we're at it with the recs, I don't know if it was just because I'm bad at searching but I couldn't find a reference to My Pleasure on this thread so there's the link. Enjoy

 

[TonyMurray]

While we're at it with the recs, I don't know if it was just because I'm bad at searching but I couldn't find a reference to My Pleasure on this thread so there's the link. Enjoy

That's already on my list to try out. Thanks!

 

[Canes]

Ooof, why didn't I find this sooner, this is top Tier stuff. I am now a big fan of this list so don't stop updating it! If you're looking for feedback, include the playtime in your reviews, like how long the games are, or how long you've played them for --if dropped.

Anyway, big fan, big fan!

 

[TonyMurray]

Ooof, why didn't I find this sooner, this is top Tier stuff. I am now a big fan of this list so don't stop updating it! If you're looking for feedback, include the playtime in your reviews, like how long the games are, or how long you've played them for --if dropped.

Anyway, big fan, big fan!

Awesome, thank you! Re: playing time, it's not something that I would do, as I have no reliable way of detailing this. I don't keep any sort of track of time played, and I'd struggle to even give an estimate in most cases!

 

[TonyMurray]

The Beautiful Game by Daggum Games

The Beautiful Game is, for me, quite aptly named. It’s obviously called that because it’s a phrase linked to football (because I’m a Brit, but soccer to many of the rest of you), but there are a lot of beautiful women in this game as well, which gives the title a double meaning.

This is another of those games that’s focused more on fun than realism – if you stop to think “would that really happen?”, you wouldn’t get very far in most games, and here, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It gives you some funny moments that literally would never happen, but work because they fit the overall light-hearted vibe of the game.

I like that this game gives something a bit different. There aren’t too many games of this graphical style and quality that centre around sports, and while the bulk of the game is off the pitch, you do get to see training and some matches as well (bearing in mind we’re currently in the off-season in the game itself).

There is a good variety of women involved with the women’s football club MC works at, and some of them are very beautiful. Outside of the club, there’s a further expansion of the selection pot as well, so there’s someone to suit most tastes. Although there is a list in the menu section of the game with nine LIs named, the dev has suggested that it’s not a set-in-stone situation, so I’m hopeful that some of the gorgeous side girls can work their way into a promotion and see more “screen time” as a result.

The story here is pretty standard fare, but it does give you enough to keep you interested, and even if it didn’t, the visuals do. I really like the look of the game overall, and at present, it would have one of the highest averages if I were to compare my character cards across all the different games I’ve done them for. Plus, as a bonus, there’s currently no indication of a need for multiple saves, with a full-harem mode looking like it’s available, so you can romance all of the beautiful women who are open to it. This is specifically mentioned by one LI, and it will be interesting to see if it’s the case for others down the line as well.

Having played the latest update, which gives progression with a couple of existing girls, as well as introducing a couple of new ones, I’d say I’m pretty happy with where this game is going. Based on that, and the visual quality of the game and the girls, I’m moving The Beautiful Game into my current top ten, at the expense of Midnight Paradise.

 

[Canes]

Awesome, thank you! Re: playing time, it's not something that I would do, as I have no reliable way of detailing this. I don't keep any sort of track of time played, and I'd struggle to even give an estimate in most cases!

You must be registered to see the links

,

You must be registered to see the links

or even

You must be registered to see the links

can track playtime.

 

[TonyMurray]

You must be registered to see the links

,

You must be registered to see the links

or even

You must be registered to see the links

can track playtime.

Thanks, but it's not for me. I'm not personally interested in this side of it, which is why I don't track it. It's not because I've not found a way, I've just not had a reason or the desire to look

 

[Canes]

Fair enough. Just thought that since most of the VN are still in development, it might not be worth the potential emotional investment if they have a runtime of a couple of hours or scenes, even if they get a glowing review from you.

But more often than not, we can get an estimate of runtime from the other reviews or comments on the game thread, so not a big deal.

 

[flaviopaganini]

One of the best topics on this site!