For as long as I can remember, I have been playing video games. When I was younger (and had more time) I would spend hours playing anything from Super Mario Bros. to  Spyro the Dragon. As I got older, the time spent playing video games was replaced by school and school-related activities. It kind of just flew by. But one day in high school I was introduced to the most amazing game I had ever played and it led me on a search to find more games like it. 

That game was Hatoful Boyfriend. 

A dating sim where you get to romance the love interests (LIs)… Pigeons. You’re a human in a pigeon world doing pigeon things. I loved the storyline of it all. The artwork. The music! I needed more of it and ended up discovering Jurassic Heart. Which is a dating sim about you and a T-Rex. 

I had no idea that this would inevitably lead me down a path to discovering otome games as an adult – but it did. Instead of trying to explain what an otome game is, I’ll just link you to the greatest otome blogger I know (Blerdy Otome) who made a whole beginners guide for folks like me interested in otome: A Beginners Guide to Otome Games.

After finding out about the entire world that existed before me, it was kind of daunting. I wanted to play more, but some of these games could get very NSFW very fast. I wanted to ease my way into them just in case I developed an addiction to them – spoiler alert, I did. 

I kept it cool and played mobile otome games like Ikemen Vampire and Ikemen Sengoku. In IkeVamp you romance historical men brought back as vampires, and in IkeSen you fall through time and are back in Sengoku period Japan where you get to romance the leaders of that time. Needless to say, there was a lot of time invested in those games and each character’s storyline. 

It was slow-burn, but I eventually found my way back to otome games when I stumbled onto Voltage’s King’s of Paradise. A mature romance title by Voltage that I was excited to dive into. I then fell in love with my first option, Taki Kozaki, and waddled further down the rabbit hole of otome games. 

I primarily play all my otome games on my Nintendo Switch, but I’ve recently discovered the power that PC players have on the vast array of indie titles as well. With the help of otome Twitter and bloggers and their communities like Blerdy Otome, I have an endless list of games I hope to try out on Switch and PC. 

What’s your favorite otome game? Recommend them in the comments!