Boyfriend Dungeonis a game title I have had my thirsty little heart from the moment I found that you can romanceeveryonewith pretty much no consequence. But while I started my playthrough centered on romancing every dang anthropomorphic sword I came across, I ended up holding back, gaining knowledge from the characters, and researching myself along the way. Developed and authored by Kitfox Games,Boyfriend Dungeon is equal parts dungeon crawler and dating sim. With the choice to date as many as seven weapons-and the encouragement to (we’ll get to that later)-Boyfriend Dungeonpushes the envelope with regards to romance, inclusivity, and ultimately love.
InBoyfriend Dungeon,your character went to reside together with your cousin. Perpetually single, and have never been on a date, your cousin plays matchmaker because he can help you explore an enormous amount of dungeons along the way. And that’s it! The idea of Boyfriend Dungeonreally isn’t all that complicated. That said, it’s the execution and thoughtful choices in storytelling and immersion that help result in the game get noticed inside a genre largely centered on banging.
While I greatly wish to dive in to the game’s unique mechanics, we have to discuss the premise and the deliberate choices to get this to dating sim, dungeon crawler work for players from different identities. Right off the bat, there are no gender restrictions on whom you can romance, and the roster of characters isn't just diverse in race and gender but body type too. But before you begin your journey through dunjs (dunj may be the in-game term for dungeons) you need to make your character. While simplistic in nature, you will find the choice of name, hair and skin color, and pronouns. Offering players to convey their gender because they see fit and become known as such in the game.
But the next choice Kitfox Games made is a that you might not have thought of-it lets you turn off messages from “Mom.” While this might not appear to be a big deal, very quickly, Boyfriend Dungeon creates that intimacy and closeness between you and its characters by communicating directly through texts and giving the choice to respond from preselected texts. This isn’t only a present from mom, but a connection towards the character. In reality, the texting mechanic is one of the strongest elements ofBoyfriend Dungeon, with dialogue that was crafted to produce character types that weallhave either dated or told our friends to ghost before. While it's true that the more you romance each weapon, the more they level up their ability in battle, and that means you should probably select one to pay attention to, it wasn’t my playstyle in combat that dictated who I kept romancing. No. It had been the text messages.
Like real people, the way in which characters treat you when you’re in person together can be different from texting. While you have good conversations personally and thirst over their designs, when that text comes through, things can alter. And that was my knowledge about Eric specifically. A personality that exudes possibly cute guy you may corrupt on his first meeting (he looks like a character in manwha I’ve read who was exactly that), as soon as he begins texting you he becomes the epitome of a fuck boi however with much more sinister intentions. He’s aggressive, doesn’t know when to back away, and badmouths your cousin. He's frustrating, as you would expect, and that i dropped my goal of romancing everyoneby the wayside after the second texting situation because he helped me angry. And that’s the beauty ofBoyfriend Dungeon.Sure, the wonder can also be quite literally the extremely thirsty character designs, double entendres, and magical girl transformation from sword to human. But it’s truly the thoughtful way that Kitfox Games has centered on delivering the thirst along with a player experience that pushes towards connection.
This connection is another stunning achievement for that game because it isn’t about romance along with a summer fling. Actually, you can play through Boyfriend Dungeon by seeking out strong platonic love just as much as the sexual kind. You can be friends, lovers, and break the rules against characters you don’t like. While this works to make the game and its characters dynamic, additionally, it provides a vital inclusivity element for Ace players, exactly the same way it enables for same-sex and non-binary romances as well.
Additionally, your phone is equally as vital as your weapons. Through texts and communications together with your cousin Jesse, you receive story updates. But that also means that if you get distracted by all of the selfies of swords inside your DMs from Sunder (oh I really like that man), it is simple to disappear ofBoyfriend Dungeon’smain plot’s progression that is facilitated by emailing Jesse.
Moving into combat, there are multiple playstyles you can choose and they’re each tied to a weapon. While the game doesn’t punish you for dying, and at some points encourages it to scale properly, discovering the most effective way to experience is essential. As being a dungeon crawler, the rouguelite elements may become frustrating if you’re not accepting it-like I was initially. Having said that, while you find new weapons, saving them from abductions mostly, you get to see the things that work good for you. When you may be pursuing one weapon, their type of combat may not work well for you personally which will push you into a choice. Continue the romance, or concentrate on a weapon that does. Thankfully, I was drawn to everycharacter (except for Eric, who isn’t ammunition anyway so nothing lost there) which at least made exploring those initial connections simple to do.
Additionally, with procedurally generated action-combat, the dunj stays engaging rather than feels repetitive. And when you want to capture a rest, you can easily start your character interactions up that provides the gamer a pleasant reprieve. This is especially important for those who may pick up the game for that dating sim elements and never the combat ones. That said, the hack-and-slash combat is fun for the most part and the weapon and combat variety also balances the game for players looking for good dungeon-crawling mechanics as well.
Overall,Boyfriend Dungeonis an ideal combo of thirsty and thoughtful. Whether it’s the deliberate decision to embrace a comprehensive gameplay experience or even the option to make use of the characters you meet to understand more about insecurities after which fight those fears within the dunj, this game succeeds in hitting the feels. With beautiful art and animated sequences (I reiterate, these swords have magical girl transformations), the game visually succeeds. With a story that pushes connection and empathy, the narrative content also earns an ideal score. Boyfriend Dungeonis a hybrid game that actually works from beginning to end.
Boyfriend Dungeonis currently available on Nintendo Swith, Xbox, and PC.
