What's the right amount of girls in a harem game?

[Joshua Tree]

For any harem i think 7 girls is best, because week has 7 days.
Each girl gets your full attention for an entire day, everyone is happy~
Happy harem is good harem.

You don't have a wife/gf/partner do you? Imagine pay them attention just one day a week... they be SO HAPPY!

 

[Yngling]

With regards to the "optional side girls", I find that it cheapens the entire experience.

Like when I meet a girl, I prefer it if she's not hopping from one dick to the next one and I happen to be number 259 in line. And I do give girls the same courtesy.

I get it, side girls allow a dev to add sex scenes early in the game while keeping the main LI's / harem a slow burn. But still.
At the same time, if there are sex scenes to be seen, without any negative in-game consequences, you'd be stupid not to want to see them. But after seeing the scenes, it still makes me feel a bit dirty.

 

[Joshua Tree]

With regards to the "optional side girls", I find that it cheapens the entire experience.

Like when I meet a girl, I prefer it if she's not hopping from one dick to the next one and I happen to be number 259 in line. And I do give girls the same courtesy.

I get it, side girls allow a dev to add sex scenes early in the game while keeping the main LI's / harem a slow burn. But still.
At the same time, if there are sex scenes to be seen, without any negative in-game consequences, you'd be stupid not to want to see them. But after seeing the scenes, it still makes me feel a bit dirty.

Big issue is lack of imagniation or whatever when it come to write these games/stories. Because it doesn't have to be over just because you lay with the main girl(s). Also another thing is the endless hj/bj's etc before any actual penetration take place. Have these people had sex in real life before at all? Majority of these people are lacking when it come to write good sex scenes from start to finnish with foreplay etc.

 

[MrFriendly]

With regards to the "optional side girls", I find that it cheapens the entire experience.

Like when I meet a girl, I prefer it if she's not hopping from one dick to the next one and I happen to be number 259 in line. And I do give girls the same courtesy.

I get it, side girls allow a dev to add sex scenes early in the game while keeping the main LI's / harem a slow burn. But still.
At the same time, if there are sex scenes to be seen, without any negative in-game consequences, you'd be stupid not to want to see them. But after seeing the scenes, it still makes me feel a bit dirty.

Yeah... I am not into the "side fucks" or side girls that are only there so the dev can have sex in each update but is waiting to build relationships with the main LI. That said I figure to each their own and if the girls are optional then I can have my MC be celibate while another player shags anything that moves.

I much prefer a game with a few serious relationships - mono/poly/harem - versus the fuckfest extravaganza that some games end up being, but I understand that I am in the minority on that one.

 

[Doorknob22]

The two factors you should take into consideration are:

A. The amount of interaction between the girls
B. How deep should the story of each girl go

The more you intend to invest in A and/or B above, the fewer girls your harem should hold. The opposite is also true, of course: if your harem has very little interactions between the girls and/or shorter stories for each, you can increase the size of the harem.

 

[♍VoidTraveler]

You don't have a wife/gf/partner do you? Imagine pay them attention just one day a week... they be SO HAPPY!

That's all on you mate, if you can't keep 7 satisfied, maybe try less.

 

[Joshua Tree]

That's all on you mate, if you can't keep 7 satisfied, maybe try less.

Self-insert in games is bad for you mkay. There is a real world out there..

 

[Just1Question]

It all depends on what type of game/story is being developed. If the game will focus on a strong central plot and have the MC develop relationships with the LI then it makes sense to limit it to 3-5 with potential one off flings that could happen with other characters.

Depends on how long the game has been in development for me. I'd rather the dev start with only a few that are the focus of the story, and expand out.

I think you should first think on what you want the player to feel. Do you want deep relationships between the characters? Maybe 3-5 with side characters is better.

To quote the three of ya, I mainly did the poll to genuinely see what people thought, but I'm currently making the story of a VN (that won't come out anytime soon) and your suggestions are, literally, what I plan to do. I just hope that I don't accidentally make the side girls more interesting than the main ones.

With regards to the "optional side girls", I find that it cheapens the entire experience.

I get it, side girls allow a dev to add sex scenes early in the game while keeping the main LI's / harem a slow burn. But still.
At the same time, if there are sex scenes to be seen, without any negative in-game consequences, you'd be stupid not to want to see them. But after seeing the scenes, it still makes me feel a bit dirty.

Yeah... I am not into the "side fucks" or side girls that are only there so the dev can have sex in each update but is waiting to build relationships with the main LI. That said I figure to each their own and if the girls are optional then I can have my MC be celibate while another player shags anything that moves.

I much prefer a game with a few serious relationships - mono/poly/harem - versus the fuckfest extravaganza that some games end up being, but I understand that I am in the minority on that one.

I feel like side girls are are a necessary evil. It is true that they cheapen the experience, especially if they have no relevance to the plot whatsoever, but you all know there are two types of audiences here: 1) The slow burners and 2) The quickies, as I call them. The games are a mix of storytelling and eroticism after all, so by having OPTIONAL side girls that the player can choose to bang or not, I feel like it keeps everyone happy.

 

[jamdan]

I picked 3-5.

Side-girls can be interesting, but they need a purpose other than just random sex. Be it something story related or they tie to one of the main girls somehow.

 

[MrFriendly]

To quote the three of ya, I mainly did the poll to genuinely see what people thought, but I'm currently making the story of a VN (that won't come out anytime soon) and your suggestions are, literally, what I plan to do. I just hope that I don't accidentally make the side girls more interesting than the main ones.

The issue with side girls versus main girls is the fact that there will always be players who like the side girls more than the main girls. I've seen it in nearly every game that goes with that concept (from a large game like Being a DIK all the way to the other end of the scale with Freshwomen to a more middle of the road success like Where the Heart Is). When they learn that the one girl they like is a side girl they leave or spend page after page begging/demanding that their favorite side girl be promoted to main girl status.

I feel like side girls are are a necessary evil. It is true that they cheapen the experience, especially if they have no relevance to the plot whatsoever, but you all know there are two types of audiences here: 1) The slow burners and 2) The quickies, as I call them. The games are a mix of storytelling and eroticism after all, so by having OPTIONAL side girls that the player can choose to bang or not, I feel like it keeps everyone happy.

I disagree, if you approach your game hoping to make everyone happy you are unlikely to be successful. People are fickle bitches and will always find some reason to be unhappy. By having optional side girls you are adding to your writing/programming/rendering burden and stealing time away from your main storyline(s). There is nothing wrong with a slow burn game/story, the idea that you have to include sex in every update to keep your audience engaged can work against you. The audience may come to expect that sex with main girls will occur quickly due to how quickly sex happens with an optional girl. In addition unless there is some way to clearly delineate which are side and which are main you have the chance that people will grow attached to a side girl. The only successful system I've come across was in Bad Teacher, the dev marked them via color code in dialogue IIRC. Even then the fans kept asking for the side girls to repeat due to liking their scenes, despite the fact that the dev explicitly stated that the side girls would be one offs.

In the end you do what you want within your game. Obviously, it is your creation and you are the arbiter of what will and can happen in it. Personally I feel that a lot of developers are overambitious for their first games, get overwhelmed, and then disappear or get bogged down. So many abandoned games are due to the simple fact that people don't have a full story developed and try to do too much with their game.

Hopefully you defy the odds and make a great game that is successful.

 

[JoeTheMC84]

For me personally I picked 10+ optional/side girls. You can never have enough girls.

Give me more.

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Though, it largely depends on the skill of the writer and the purpose of the characters. As has been said already. For me there is no upper limit. For example, if the story is about a noble king and his harem set in a fictional or historical setting where harems are normal then you could have hundreds of girls. If you are telling a slice of life modern day story, then you could get away with 3-to-5+side girls easily but anything more and it gets difficult to justify without moving the story in another direction, such as have the characters get confronted about it and maybe forced to move (Sisterly Lust style).

I've also never been a fan of the idea of side girls, all girls are my girls, so all girls are main girls.

 

[Airell]

Why a limit?

 

[Yngling]

I feel like side girls are are a necessary evil. It is true that they cheapen the experience, especially if they have no relevance to the plot whatsoever, but you all know there are two types of audiences here: 1) The slow burners and 2) The quickies, as I call them. The games are a mix of storytelling and eroticism after all, so by having OPTIONAL side girls that the player can choose to bang or not, I feel like it keeps everyone happy.

The problem is, players ARE going to want to see the lewds. All the lewds, including even if it includes some dreaded three letter fetish that they hate. Never mind pretty but inconsequential side girls.

If you want people to follow only their "true path" and not stray, they have to be REALLY invested in the MC, the main girl(s) and the story. But it's likely that people are not that invested.

Therefore, you'll have to assume that people do pursue the side girls, so you need to somehow incorporate them in such a way that doesn't make the MC some mindless manslut.

 

[Just1Question]

If you want people to follow only their "true path" and not stray, they have to be REALLY invested in the MC, the main girl(s) and the story. But it's likely that people are not that invested.

Therefore, you'll have to assume that people do pursue the side girls, so you need to somehow incorporate them in such a way that doesn't make the MC some mindless manslut.

I picked 3-5.

Side-girls can be interesting, but they need a purpose other than just random sex. Be it something story related or they tie to one of the main girls somehow.

Thanks for the tips, you two. I'll definitely keep them in mind.

Hopefully you defy the odds and make a great game that is successful.

Man, and here I thought my ideas were good enough to warrant a story that everybody would like. Guess that only shows how green I am when it comes to developing erotic stories (this is my first project after all). Or maybe I just need to accept that I can't please both audiences and that my story skews more for the slow-burners, but even then, I'm afraid of disappointing them. My VN is more like an ecchi game, with the sex scenes coming much, MUCH later. If I were to make an analogical comparison of what I have in mind, it would be like this:


What's a great and successful game to you? Just out of curiosity.

 

[MrFriendly]

Thanks for the tips, you two. I'll definitely keep them in mind.


Man, and here I thought my ideas were good enough to warrant a story that everybody would like. Guess that only shows how green I am when it comes to developing erotic stories (this is my first project after all). Or maybe I just need to accept that I can't please both audiences and that my story skews more for the slow-burners, but even then, I'm afraid of disappointing them. My VN is more like an ecchi game, with the sex scenes coming much, MUCH later. If I were to make an analogical comparison of what I have in mind, it would be like this:
View attachment 1829035

What's a great and successful game to you? Just out of curiosity.

Great and successful game? Are talking completed only? There's the polarizing game aka Acting Lessons, though I wouldn't classify it as great it was successful. Depraved Awakening is another good and successful game. A smaller success but great game would be Something to Write About: The Author. As for currently games currently being developed there's City of Broken Dreamers, Artemis, Intertwined, STWA: The Unbroken, Where the Heart Is... They all have varying degrees of lewdness and some have lewdness right at the beginning and others build up to it.

I'd say that overall they have a strong plot/storyline which is the focus even though some of them have a lot of lewd bits versus the others. CoBD and WTHI would be the most lewd, CoDB having lewdness in the first episode. However CODB all of the lewd partners contribute to the plot or are part of the plot as more than a fuck IIRC.

Don't add in lewdness because you are worried about losing an audience which has a hair trigger attention span . At the same time if you feel something fits naturally then do it, you'll never know unless you experiment...

Just... Make YOUR game. You're the only one that knows what is right for you.

 

[Yngling]

What's a great and successful game to you? Just out of curiosity.

That's a really difficult question.

I play a lot of games, including the very successful ones, but although most of the top earners are ok-ish for fapping, they are not great VN's (due to unoriginal cookie cutter plot) let alone "games". Some try to insert some sandbox elements but it simply adds to the frustration. Why a game like Milfy City did so well? No idea, although I guess that the characters (even though very much tropes) do kind of work.

The GAME that stands out to me is Good Girl Gone Bad. That's one of the very, very few which actually have game play mechanisms due to the many paths. Our Red String is completely next level.

When it comes to VN's, there are a lot which are quite good, but most of those are not what I think are top earners. Some of my favourites: Young Again, Moment of Bliss, Our Fate, Lost at Birth, Oopsy Daisy, but there are many more.

To come back to the topic, Young Again, Moment of Bliss and Oopsy Daisy stand out because the harem interactions are believable and well thought out. The girls are aware of each other and try to steer a somewhat reluctant MC towards the harem (and the incest). When the girls are not aware of each other, it feels like cheating to me.

 

[Tokenugget]

Poll is flawed to begin with. Where's the option for "As many LI's as there are"

That might be 3 or 10 or 30. Why are you trying to bucket the options into decisive amounts? You must not understand harem games.

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

The right amount is the maximum amount a dev can manage with maintaining good quality for each individual girl.

Realistically this number is 3 to 5. Beyond that it's exponentially more difficult to write unique convincing characters. This is also the number that is typical for "a team of heroes goes on a mission" stories.

 

[Malachite1789]

For me personally i'd say 5-7 because that way you get a good amount of content with the girl/s you like. Most BIG harem games you end up getting little to no content with the girl/s you want to see.