Highlights
- Games like Sun Haven and Stardew Valley offer players the option to build relationships and get married within the game, providing a fun and immersive way to experience romance.
- Dragon Quest 5 and Fire Emblem Awakening implement marriage mechanics that not only allow players to choose their romantic partner but also have a significant impact on the story and gameplay.
- Games like Dark Souls 3 and Fable incorporate marriage in unexpected ways, adding unique and memorable moments to the overall gaming experience.
It's no surprise that gamers like romance, especially when there are so many popular gaming couples and ships. However, sometimes you want a bit more control over how the story goes. Choosing a game where you can romance and then marry who you want is a fun way to play.
Games that contain marriage generally have a list of eligible bachelors or bachelorettes that you can choose to romance, date, and then eventually marry; although some offer total freedom. Depending on the game, marriage will have different uses and different requirements. Here are some of the very best games that offer marriage as an option.
Updated on August 9, 2023 by Jouanna Bondakji: Marriage is a lovely concept to most, but it doesn't come without its fair share of monetary and mental stress in the real world. Luckily, you can always get married in games instead, whether to fictional characters or your real-life significant other. There's no shortage of romance in games, but marriage is a different beast. This update provides you with more games, as well as additional information on how it works in the listed games.
18 Sun Haven
Sun Haven combines life sim coziness with combat. After all, its whole premise is that dark magic has suddenly hit the town of Sun Haven, and you must do what you can to stop it. After attending to your crops, animals, and cooking, of course. The romance system works similarly to real life: you build a friendship with a character first, and they'll eventually ask if you want to become a couple once your points are high enough.
Then, you can propose to the character. If they accept — which isn't guaranteed, by the way — you have your own wedding ceremony, with wedding rings and everything. You'll move in together, and you can choose to divorce them at any time. This way, you can experience the highs and lows of romance without any real repercussions!
17 Dragon Quest 5
One of the best RPGs ever made, Dragon Quest 5 has an incredible relationship with marriage. You're given the choice of one of three wives to pick from, all of whom have a unique bond with the main character. Bianca is your childhood friend, Nina is who the story is pushing you towards narratively, and Deborah is the wildcard who throws a wrench in the arc.
All three choices are viable and leave distinct impressions on the rest of the game – even influencing what your children look like and certain lines of dialogue. Dragon Quest 5's marriage mechanic has since been expanded for Dragon Quest 11.
16 Fire Emblem Awakening
Fire Emblem Awakening is far from the only game in the series to include marriage – long being beaten to the punch by Genealogy of the Holy War for the Super Famicom – but Awakening arguably implements the mechanic best. Not only can anyone marry just about anyone else, but these unions will also result in child characters who can be recruited into your army.
This does mean some character dynamics are a bit on the rote side to ensure everyone has chemistry, but this also just leads to more nuanced character interactions across the board along with a protagonist (you) who can get to know every single playable character on an intimate level. That degree of customization alone elevates Awakening's approach to marriage.
15 Dark Souls 3
Not exactly what you'd expect, right? Dark Souls and 'romance' don't really mesh together all that well as concepts, but there is one standout part of the third entry in the series that features your character getting hitched.
The side quest involves your character marrying Anri of Astora to fulfill the requirements to get the Usurp the Flame ending. While the... uh... ceremony isn't exactly as romantic as the other entries on this list, you will get your happily ever after. Eventually.
14 Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
The Harvest Moon series is no stranger to marriage – almost disguising itself as a life/romance simulator with farming – but A Wonderful Life takes the series' core concept to its logical extreme.
Not only can you get married, but you quite literally need to in order to progress the story. From there, you need to have children and live out the rest of your life before passing away of old age. Your partner can also leave you depending on your actions, making A Wonderful Life one of the most dynamic Harvest Moon games ever.
13 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Skyrim is a fantasy game set in the Elder Scrolls universe. You create your own character, and then you can do pretty much anything you please. This includes finding a house and hunting down all the available marriage candidates in the game to start a family with.
The Hearthfire expansion is a great pick-up for anyone who really wants to set up a nice life in Skyrim. It offers the ability to buy, build, and decorate your own houses. You can also adopt children and really make it feel like you've made your own special family after marriage.
12 Final Fantasy 9
It's not often that marriage ends up being the solution to a roadblock that your party faces, but this is certainly the case in Final Fantasy 9. Partway through the game, the gang finds out that the only way to progress on their journey is as a married couple taking their honeymoon.
Cue an awkward marriage scene between Zidane and Garnet, and an optional hilarious marriage between Vivi and Quina. While these marriages are obviously not made in the name of romance, they make for striking, memorable moments that the game is loved for.
11 Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is a 2D farming sim that has earned massive acclaim from gamers around the world. The game has 12 marriage candidates to choose from, and you can marry any of them, regardless of the gender you choose when starting the game. Each NPC has their own story, and you can have two children.
If you're looking for even more candidates, there are also mods for the PC version of the game. And, if you're playing multiplayer, you can marry your friends' characters instead!
10 Tomodachi Life
In Tomodachi Life, you create lots of adorable Miis that live in the same building. You can play with them, hold music shows, take quizzes, and do all manner of things. Over time, these Miis will develop different types of relationships between each other, like friendships, rivalries, and even romances.
Once two Miis have been dating for a while, there's a chance they can ask to get married. You'll get to witness the proposal, the ceremony, and you'll even receive a gift once they're back from their honeymoon.
9 Final Fantasy 14
Sometimes you just want to marry your best friend or real-world significant other in a game instead of NPCs, and that's OK. If you're one of those people who want to indulge in a lore-rich world with hundreds of hours of gameplay alongside your real-life partner, there is the MMORPG Final Fantasy 14, which allows for player-to-player marriage called The Ceremony of Eternal Bonding.
You can have a simple ceremony, which already offers a lot of neat accompaniments, or pay money for a more advanced wedding using the cash shop.
8 Phantasy Star 3: Generations Of Doom
Phantasy Star 3 is the perfect choice for the retro RPG fan. As you may have guessed from the title, the game has a generation system, meaning that marriage is a necessary mechanic that will affect the story of the game.
There are two different marriage routes to choose from at the start, and they will determine which type of character is born. Then, the more generations you go through down the line, the more options you have to alter the storyline. Your choices also affect the ending you get, making it a true butterfly effect type of mechanic.
7 Fable
While it's your job to save the world in Fable, there's nothing stopping you from taking some time off to develop a relationship with someone who strikes your fancy. The culmination of your efforts will be a beautiful marriage ceremony.
Your partner will live happily (or unhappily) in the home you pick out for them, and only within wedlock can children be born. Forming a close attachment to someone in Fable is a great way to connect with your character and the world they live in.
6 The Sims
The Sims has long been an interesting series as it allows you to create characters and control their lives. The series even allows you to get characters married, cheat, have a child, or even get divorced. There are a ton of interesting pairings that can be made, especially in The Sims 4.
Expansion packs can also help mix things up, especially when you want to have a better experience with parenting. And if you don't feel like paying for more features, the game's modding community has and continues to make mods that have things even official packs don't, and all for free.
5 My Time At Portia
My Time at Portia is a game where you move into a town called Portia and become the local builder. Your job is to create gadgets that help the town, and you slowly uncover the secrets of the world around you as you do.
There are also 27 characters you can marry, regardless of your gender. There are more bachelors than bachelorettes and everyone has their own story to uncover. You get exclusive interactions with your spouse after marriage, and depending on whom you married, they give you special perks you otherwise wouldn't have.
4 Clannad
Clannad is a visual novel that first came out in 2004 in Japan. The game is divided into two parts; one will take place while the characters are in high school and the other in adult life. This is a great game if you're a visual novel fan and crave an emotional story.
While marriage is in the game, it takes a different route than the rest of the games on the list. And though the art style isn't very polished, you'll soon forget all about it when you get sucked into the game's world and characters.
3 Record Of Agarest War
Record of Agarest War is a strategy RPG that uses marriage and children as a critical part of its gameplay. The story of the game is tied to who you choose to marry, and you get to play through different generations of your offspring to fight against the archdemon that plagues the land.
Who you marry and even your kid's gender affects not only the story, but also the next generation's abilities. There are five different generations in the game, and you will directly influence most of them.
2 Story Of Seasons
Story of Seasons is the new name for the popular Harvest Moon IP, a long-running farming series that has almost always included marriage and having kids. One of the games, Pioneers of Olive Town, finally introduced gay marriage into the series, unlocking a whole new range of possibilities.
Marriage isn't an instant thing, though. You have to raise their friendship and affection to appropriate levels, as well as view their Heart Events. This makes getting married feel like a truly special life event that you've worked towards. If you somehow realize that your spouse isn't for you, you can divorce them and try again.
1 Rune Factory
Rune Factory is a spin-off series from the Story of Seasons games that has both farming and RPG elements. Unlike in Story of Seasons, instead of just tilling a field all day, you will need to fight monsters in dungeons and complete the story. Along the way, you'll meet a few characters who double as marriage candidates.
How romance and marriage work differs slightly from game to game, but like Story of Seasons, you generally need to get characters' relationship points high enough to even think about marrying them. Rune Factory 5 has done away with exclusively same-sex marriages, which is always good news.