A ren'ai game (恋愛ゲーム) is a Japanese adventure video game focusing on romantic interactions with anime girls. It is a subgenre of bishōjo games. "Ren'ai" is a Japanese word meaning "romance".
Some but not all ren'ai games contain erotic content. Bishōjo games containing hardcore pornography are generally called H games rather than ren'ai games. The terms dating sim and visual novel are often used as synonyms for "ren'ai game" in English, but strictly speaking they are narrower subgenres. The terms love sim or love adventure game are more accurate translations of "ren'ai game" for casual use in English. See bishōjo game for a detailed discussion of terminology.
Characteristics
Dōkyūsei established the basic conventions for ren'ai games in 1992. In a typical ren'ai game, the player controls a male avatar surrounded by female characters. The gameplay involves conversing with a selection of artificial intelligence-controlled girls, attempting to increase their internal "love meter" through correct choices of dialogue. The game lasts for a fixed period of game time, such as one month or three years. When the game ends, the player either loses the game if he failed to properly win over any of the girls, or "finishes" one of the girls, either by having sex with her or achieving eternal love. This gives the games more replay value than some other game genres, since the player can focus on a different girl each time, trying to get a different ending.
There are many variations on this theme: high-school romances are the most common, but a ren'ai game may also take place in a fantasy setting and involve such challenges as defending your girl from monsters. Ren'ai games, as their name suggests, generally strive for a romantic atmosphere.
Famous ren'ai games
The following are a few especially popular or influential ren'ai games. There are thousands of ren'ai games in existence, but the games on this list were successful enough for an anime series to be based on them.
Some dating sims have been imported to the United States by companies such as JAST USA and G-Collections; however most never leave Japan, at least not as official releases.
Dating Sim is a simulation game where one role plays, usually as oneself though picking a fictional character is common, and achieving certain objectives.
However, in practice the term "dating sim" applies to any sort of romantic anime game, including those which might be specified as ren'ai games or bishÅjo games by some fans.
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