What Criteria Do You Guys Have For a Good Adult Game?

[Ouro-Chan]

Do you guys have any specific things you look for in an adult game when you start playing it? I've been working on my own game and I was wondering what kind of things you guys like or expect in a game.
For me it's dialogue and characters. No matter now bad looking the visuals are, if I feel a genuine connection to a character I can still enjoy the game. On the other hand, if the game's visuals are great but the dialogue sounds like it was written by a middle school boy filled with teen angst, I can't take it seriously and wouldn't be too worried about its updates.
So, what about you guys? What is something you guys look for in adult games?

 

[kimoo]

this is my opinion

there are many games in this site i have payed because

1-first thing i need is the story (not some porn stuff and easy fuck) if i need porn i know where to go believe me
here i need story
2-why most of dev using this words (our little secret ) really i hated this word
3-most of the people here hate NTR of course me too so if there is NTR not playing it
4-this is my only thing (i hate mind control and female protagonist ) dont know about others
5-when play a game i need to feel that iam playing story game with adult content not porn game without content

thats it for now

 

[altaccforresearch]

Well it depends mostly on the type of game. If its a Visual Novel, story is definitely important as the whole game revolves around it. But you wouldn't want a good story to be dragged down by a pictures drawn by a 12 year old either. Story is still king tho.

If its the grinding type of game (Big Brother, My Cute Roomate), story is still important but since I'm grinding for money etc. I would expect the visual/scenes that I "unlock" to be great as a reward for grinding. You don't want to spend hours playing stupid little mini games just to get a pixelated crap. Its kind of frustrating if you grind alot but you dont get to see any H scenes at all. Its okay for Visual Novels to delay the H scenes and build suspense but for grinding games you might lose some players as they just wasted their time grinding just to grind some more. A good mini game helps the grinding process too (and cheats).

Overall, a good story helps the player to feel emotionally connected to the MC and allow the player to be immersed in to the game/story. At the same time, you don't want to play an adult game with minecraft visuals. A good story with decent graphics would always make me follow the game's updates compared to shit story but amazing graphics.

 

[thecardinal]

Do you guys have any specific things you look for in an adult game when you start playing it? I've been working on my own game and I was wondering what kind of things you guys like or expect in a game.
For me it's dialogue and characters. No matter now bad looking the visuals are, if I feel a genuine connection to a character I can still enjoy the game. On the other hand, if the game's visuals are great but the dialogue sounds like it was written by a middle school boy filled with teen angst, I can't take it seriously and wouldn't be too worried about its updates.
So, what about you guys? What is something you guys look for in adult games?

What kind of game do you have in mind?

 

[DarthSeduction]

Long ago I put in my signature the words Character Depth Matters. I'm still 100% aligned with that statement. Narrative and character depth are the most important things a game can give me. However, I've also played a lot of games now, so I'm also looking for games that want to do something different. Don't get me wrong, I like the incest games, but I've played plenty that are focusing on a very specific type of story and relationship. Specifically, I'm ready for stories that don't lean on the "We've been separated for XX years and now that we see one another again we can't contain our lust" narrative.

One of the game's I'm developing is about twins who find themselves sexually attracted to one another after a shared tragedy brings them closer together. It's not a Harem, gotta fuck'em'all title like most incest games, which are fine for what they are, but an exploration of a single relationship, and how they hide it at first just from their mom, but then, as they become public figures, due to their employment as Models at their Aunt's agency, keeping their relationship hidden from the world.

Other games I really like are doing things that are different entirely, one's a high fantasy game about a girl who's tasked with saving both our world and the world of the fae from an impending demon invasion. Another game is about a Private Eye looking into the Bougie sex ring that seems to hive killed his former client and has it's fingers in corrupting the police, as well as attempting to kill you for your prying. There's another game I'm really looking forward to continuing that follows a girl iwth superpowers going all secret agent against a group of criminals who screwed her family over.

Essentially the most important thing for me these days though, is when the narrative and the sex work together in harmony. Both have a place and should be important. Your character can have very little sex if that's the narrative your game calls for, like in Dual Family, or your character can have a lot of sex, like in a game I'm writing now, that deals with themes of promiscuity and polyamory. Either way, you have to be able to tell what best suits your narrative and make it work. Sex for the sake of sex is never going to be as good as sex for the sake of story.

 

[altaccforresearch]

This thread covers pretty much everything that is frustrating about adult games if you want to be a game developer.

Spoiler: Link

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

 

[DarthSeduction]

If its the grinding type of game (Big Brother, My Cute Roomate), story is still important but since I'm grinding for money etc. I would expect the visual/scenes that I "unlock" to be great as a reward for grinding. You don't want to spend hours playing stupid little mini games just to get a pixelated crap. Its kind of frustrating if you grind alot but you dont get to see any H scenes at all.

I don't like seeing grind treated like a mechanic that belongs in a game. View of Family, Summertime Saga, Milfy City, and Mythic Manor are all also Life Sims. VoF has some grind, but it also has a good bit of narrative, Summertime Saga's grind is more related to the character gaining skills than to the sexual content. Instead it too is more narrative based. Milfy City and Mythic Manor take it a step further and eliminate most of the grind completely. An hour of the Paper Rock Scissors minigame in Milfy City buys you all the items in the stores, allowing you to start playing the game and finding the content in relation to the narrative, not the grind. Mythic Manor lets you earn all the cash you need with a couple clicks a day to do your job writing articles. Both of them advance their plots not through repeated events but through narrative. You spend time with and develop relationships with each girl. That's how a Life Sim should be made. Replacing that with grind doesn't make a game, it makes a lazy developer.

Its okay for Visual Novels to delay the H scenes and build suspense but for grinding games you might lose some players as they just wasted their time grinding just to grind some more.

Delaying H scenes to build tension really only works in incest or teenage drama games. Adults normally only take no more than 3 romantic encounters to advance to sex, and often times are able to do it in less if alcohol or dancing are involved. I'm not saying that you can't build tension, but most developers who use this excuse are making the mistake of thinking that the reward is the sex, and therefore drawing it out so that you keep playing and paying until the end when the sex happens. In reality I'm far more excited about the next Parental Love update than I am about the next Dating my Daughter update. Parental love has advanced to sex with your daughter in 6 releases, DmD just put out its 18th, and I haven't played it yet, but considering we only just passed the Blowjob hurdle last update, I'm not holding my breath for sex this time.

The stairway to heaven isn't a bad thing, it can be used to great effect if done properly. But to drag it out too long because you think you're building tension is just going to alienate an audience and make your characters look stupid and immature.

 

[Gomly1980]

I'm not here just for porn, i'm here for quality adult content. That content can come in either porn or story.

I prefer story above all else. That's what keeps me playing or reading. I've played through plenty of VN's and KN's without any porn whatsoever purely because the story and characters were engaging and made me want to keep going.

Simply put if you put up a Visual Novel then I expect a novel worth reading. There are plenty of VN's that are pure porn but they will never be on my favourites list.

If I play a game made in RPGM then I expect an RPG. If I play a game in RPGM and it's a VN walking simulator then it better be the best story ever told with the best characters ever created or it can fuck right off. Example of the only good RPGM game that isn't a full blown RPG is Coceter Chronicles. As for RPG's there are quality games like Last Sovereign, Roundscape, Fractured World and Daughter of Essence that have both story and characters down with engaging RPG mechanics and combat.

It's like this, it doesn't matter how good your DAZ skills are or your 2d art skills are they won't beat quality SFM animators or pornhub.

No matter how good your porn is in your game i've seen better so your story and characters better grip me or i'll forget it exists.

 

[GuyFreely]

It's encouraging to see people say they want story, because I'm currently working on a game (don't hold your breath) where I hope the story and characters ring true. I'm personally a bit less picky when it comes to games. Much like movies, I think there are times when a deep plot and strong characters are good and other times you just want a fun romp. I'm okay with a paper thin excuse for sexy hijinks, as long as the player knows that's what they are in for. I liked Shawshank Redemption and I liked Deadpool. These films are nothing alike, but they both have their place, you know?

@altaccforresearch kindly pointed to the thread I started where my goal was to have devs stop wasting people's time. It does meander and get sidetracked, but the main points are there. Beyond that: good art, good models, and an attempt to keep things moving forward. I realize not everyone is a pro at Daz, lord knows I'm not, but there has to be a minimum level of quality.

For example, here's some stuff I made in my first few days playing with Daz.

Now the second one is a bit better than the first, but the lighting is all wrong, it's washed out, etc. I've seen games with this level of art out there sadly.

Here's something I made fairly recently.

Hopefully, you'll agree this is decidedly better and good enough to put in a game (it's not from a game).

 

[Boogie]

As many have already said, story and characters for the win! For me, when playing a game, I assume the roll of the MC so absolutely despise the abundance of games where the MC is a total creep. Even if the NPC's are appealing, if I can't like the MC then I don't want to play it.

A good story also doesn't have to mean a long build up to the first sexual encounter. The amount of blue balling in all these unfinished games is frustrating. You can still give us some early sex to keep us interested as you build up to the encounter in the main plot line.

 

[epw14]

I'm not here just for porn, i'm here for quality adult content. That content can come in either porn or story.

I prefer story above all else. That's what keeps me playing or reading. I've played through plenty of VN's and KN's without any porn whatsoever purely because the story and characters were engaging and made me want to keep going.

Simply put if you put up a Visual Novel then I expect a novel worth reading. There are plenty of VN's that are pure porn but they will never be on my favourites list.

If I play a game made in RPGM then I expect an RPG. If I play a game in RPGM and it's a VN walking simulator then it better be the best story ever told with the best characters ever created or it can fuck right off. Example of the only good RPGM game that isn't a full blown RPG is Coceter Chronicles. As for RPG's there are quality games like Last Sovereign, Roundscape, Fractured World and Daughter of Essence that have both story and characters down with engaging RPG mechanics and combat.

It's like this, it doesn't matter how good your DAZ skills are or your 2d art skills are they won't beat quality SFM animators or pornhub.

No matter how good your porn is in your game i've seen better so your story and characters better grip me or i'll forget it exists.

Well said!

 

[epw14]

Here's something I made fairly recently.
View attachment 104230
Hopefully, you'll agree this is decidedly better and good enough to put in a game (it's not from a game).

I'd definitely play that game (if it were a game). Different art-style to mine, but there's interesting things happening in that image. Nice!

 

[ArrantBreeze]

I find that for sex scenes to be satisfying at all, there needs to be quite a lot of depth to the plot/characters.

 

[Ignazzio]

Difficult question and definitely depends on a mood whether I'm looking for a porny type or more ambitious one. If it's a real VN with anime-like style I'm usually looking just for a story. Nothing else matters if it's good. But on Patreon it's much more difficult since no game has a story worth reading yet. It's like 3d daz models can't really fit into a real VN. So my ingredients for a perfect Patreon erotic game would be:
- Fine, but not overly sophisticated English. - Native level is essential. It might be translation but good game requires native level translation. That's quite obvious with all these half russian games here. It can't be too complex as well as it has to be easy to read for non natives. That's quite rare but some native speakers tend to write stories which are to complex language-wise and that's exhausting. Like it or not but it's the only language with natives being minority and erotic game has to be easy to read (but also well-written).
- Good graphics. - It has to be at least correct. Better graphic means more audience but for me basic correctness is enough. Whether it's daz or handmade it has to feel unique. That's the biggest problem nowadays with daz cuz all models and backgrounds are overused. It doesn't mean it's impossible.
- It has to have huge amount of possibilites and caters to my fetishes - When I see a game first thing I'm looking for is how many routes and subroutes it has. I have to be able to pick up any woman but I also have to be able to not pick any of them. Give her a flower, dildo or nothing. NPCs should feel real and have their own friendships and love interests. Other males are also essential for me as without them whole game feels like a porn on a rails and my immersion is broken. Oh, and I don't feel it if there is no virgin in a game.
- No incest, futa and other fantasy fetishes - They break my immersion totally. Except for Babysitter I didn't see any incest game worth playing for anything else rather than its renders. And even in Babysitter it's a huge turn off. It's similiar with futas, furries etc. It has to make sense for me within its own setting.
- It should ignore Patreon monthly model of development - Developer should develop it in a way he finds comfortable. Monthly updates are fine only if game is meant for them. Otherwise they're toxic as hell.
- It shouldn't focus purely on sex - Normal life activites are essential for me. They add a lot to immersion.
I'll leave it like that I guess. Best example of such games are School Dreams 3 or Meteor but I doubt such games can exist on Patreon. Just my personal view

 

[LordofEntropy]

It's hard for me to make an exact ordered list. What I think makes a good adult game is an amalgam of things when taken as a whole, make a game "good" to me. For instance a game might have some weak and uninteresting characters, however its game-play or art are really interesting, so I end up overlooking the flawed characters. On the flip-side there have been games that I've ran into that really nail a few things, but then does something so poorly that I just can't enjoy the game at all, despite it having some really good elements. Then of course some games do nothing well.

Here are some things I find important, I give some examples of games I find that do them well(by no means exhaustive):

• Characters - Interesting characters are important, and I find that a game with well-developed interesting characters will usually grab me. As I mentioned in an example above, this may be the thing that if done really well, will let me overlook many other flaws. I find Coceter Chronicles and Depraved Awakening to be excellent examples of characters I really enjoy.
• Story/Writing - An interesting and/or well-written story is always good to see. This is something that I absolutely love to see done well and the games that do it are just great. It is also something that I'm a bit forgiving on (maybe low expectations) because these are after all porn games. So often times I'm like "okay it's another girl getting blackmailed and corrupted by [boss, relative, cop, aliens, whatever] story, okay." I've actually enjoyed many of those games, even if it's a overused and unoriginal theme. Again Coceter Chronicles and Depraved Awakening are great examples of this done well, and of course Good Girl Gone Bad. Also I think Zoe's Temptations, My Girlfriend's Amnesia, and Seeds of Chaos are well done.
• Art - Of course great art is great to see. This is a pretty broad and overarching category. "Great" art can be simply beautiful and well-done renders, hot sex scenes, beautiful characters, and even simply quantity and variety. Depraved Awakening is gorgeous in characters, sex, and all around. I love the characters and sex scenes in Coceter Chronicles, Anna's Exciting Affection, and Lily of the Valley. Even Big Brother, even though it used basic assets out of the box, it always did look very pretty.
• Gameplay - This I'm using really for interactivity. I really like it when the game gives me a sense of control. I like it when I can choose paths and generally decide for myself how naughty my character is going to be. Good Girl Gone Bad is excellent in this regard. Again Depraved Awakening and Coceter Chronicles really hit this point for me as well.
• General Hotness - This incorporates many of the above criteria and having them in varying amounts can make a game interesting, especially when combined with sex. But sometimes it's just the sex whether it's fetishes, or "wow this girl is a slut, me likey." For instance Elena's Life is pretty generic in many regards, but I find myself still interested in playing it because of the sex, I like seeing fucktoy Elena going around getting boned. I find it entertaining, despite the overall mediocrity of the game. The above mentioned usual suspects do this well, I don't need to list them again. But I would also add Officer Chloe, Chloe 18, Gates the Opening, The Adventurous Couple, among others.

 

[megaplayboy10k]

1. Good to great storytelling--this is more than just the general plot. It's the tone, the choice of visuals, the character dialogues, the pacing, the conflict, etc.
2. Good visuals--a game with erotic content/focus needs to have good visuals.
3. Good gameplay--e.g., my choices make a difference, enjoyable scenes are replayable, minigames are fun and not tedious, even if the game is linear there are "sandbox" aspects to it.
4. internal logic--things work fairly consistently the same way in game. Character behavior towards you is consistent with recent interactions.
5. some creativity--the sex scenes should be enticing and not humdrum. Adding elements I haven't seen in other games, or combinations I haven't seen.
6. humor that doesn't try too hard or draw too much attention to itself.
7. Polish! No, not more hot Eastern European women, though that's nice. Just show that attention to detail, finishing, show clean and polished renders, clean and polished dialogue, user interface, etc. Even if unfinished, handle the incomplete content gracefully. No bigger turnoff than stuff looking half-assed.

 

[Delmach]

How many criteria for one game so it becomes interesting for me to play, or general criteria in games that grab my interest? Because so far I see people naming quite a lot, and im thinking its to the point that a single game that fulfills them all sounds close to a wonder.

In any case, both times im looking for things that have variety. I like to see different things, not necessarily all in a game as that could lead to a clusterfuck of things thrown in without all thought through. Im talking about characters that have some personality, but not for the sake of it. Dont need to have polarizing characters that are like day and night, just something different between them, be it in hobby, likes/dislikes, up to visuals. For example while big breasts are more than great for me, if every character has them its obviously not really special anymore.

The same thing applies to scenes or fetishes, maybe thats on me since I can get behind most of them, but I also want to see more of them applied. And while I like the family setup and the incest fetish is a nice way to spice things up, I really want other things from time to time, or at least mix it up with something else.
And you are asking for criteria in an Adult Game, and for me most of the programs there are right now are more like an interactive porn book with pictures that im clicking through instead of having something that qualifies them as a game. Theres no real game to it, and no, picking different options for a different character route isnt really cutting it. Theres books like that already, jump to page 53 for different outcome. Im still playing most of them, just have to have something else between them to not see the same all the time.

To name a few examples, give me something like Lab Rats, where you have to balance the use of the anti-inhibition serum you give them, and they at least have sexual preferences, and different body styles.

Or something like Misadventures of Agent Romanov, where an alien parasite/tentacle/whatever it is (Venom from Spiderman fits pretty well) affects the character and the parasite, while not completly overtaking the MC, makes her do things a bit out of her comfort zone, which can also be influenced by character stats you chose. Also probably tentacle sex, and a hot redhead, sign me up.

Last very different example is Inheritance, a mostly text based game with art added as "support" in which you inherit a mansion with surrounding land that also comes with two slave maids (theres more to it of course, they got treated quite "bad" from the last owner, your estranged uncle). You can already see the scope of it and chose things to your liking, but it comes down to, what do you want to do with them, nurture them and give them hope, or torture them (mind and body wise), play them out against each other (they are sisters by the way), or give them hope and then lead them to their downfall again.
Yes, sounds evil, can be evil, but it will only be as evil as you want it, and shows what real choice making in a game can be. And definitely evokes a lot of wanting to protect them, while also wonderning what would lie on the other paths.

 

[thecardinal]

• Art - Of course great art is great to see. This is a pretty broad and overarching category. "Great" art can be simply beautiful and well-done renders, hot sex scenes, beautiful characters, and even simply quantity and variety. Depraved Awakening is gorgeous in characters, sex, and all around. I love the characters and sex scenes in Coceter Chronicles, Anna's Exciting Affection, and Lily of the Valley. Even Big Brother, even though it used basic assets out of the box, it always did look very pretty.

Depraved Awakening does have some nice artwork, but the characters are all standard Daz models. Victoria 7, Aiko 7, Lucy, and Jolina.

 

[Ouro-Chan]

It sounds like you guys would be interested in a game even if the porn wasn't the main priority. The reason why I bring that up or even why I started this thread was because I found that the game I made has a pornographic scene every 7500 to 10000 words. My biggest worry was that people would get bored with that if they weren't constantly rewarded with porn every minute. But it seems that as long as character interactions are interesting enough, low amounts of porn isn't a deal-breaker.

 

[LordofEntropy]

It sounds like you guys would be interested in a game even if the porn wasn't the main priority. The reason why I bring that up or even why I started this thread was because I found that the game I made has a pornographic scene every 7500 to 10000 words. My biggest worry was that people would get bored with that if they weren't constantly rewarded with porn every minute. But it seems that as long as character interactions are interesting enough, low amounts of porn isn't a deal-breaker.

Indeed I am interested in games where porn isn't the main priority. If I just want porn, I'll just go to pornhub; I can find exactly whatever I want there, in large variety since they have like 5 million videos. The games are a different experience. I have no interest in those life selector games or whomever makes them, where it's just a certain actress' videos attached to some buttons, since I can just go download any of that actress' videos easily. I like have some actually interactivity and all that.