Highlights
- Single-player video games often lack engagement, but some titles incorporate a dating system that adds excitement and depth to the gameplay.
- Games like Story of Seasons and Rune Factory 5 offer romance options that are rewarding and require effort to develop, making the experience more satisfying.
- Video games like Doki Doki Literature Club and Life Is Strange: True Colors combine romance with unique storytelling elements, creating unforgettable and gripping experiences.
Single-player video games can often get lonely or dull after you've gone to the same places innumerable times, killed X amount of enemies, and fulfilled goals A through Z. Thankfully, some titles spice things up by letting you experience a fully-fledged dating system. These romance options, unsurprisingly, can be engaging and straightforward experiences when done well.
There are actually quite a lot of video games now which have incorporated romance options into their gameplay. Some of them are done so well that they stick out in the minds of gamers, resulting in rewarding and emotionally satisfying story moments.
Updated August 7, 2023 by Jouanna Bondakji: Video games don't always have to be exclusively about beating up enemies. If characters are important to you, you'll sometimes want to be able to interact with them on a deeper level. Romance options in games aren't rare, but they're always appreciated, especially when done right. The list has been updated with even more games that capture that special feeling of romance.
Story Of Seasons
- Release year: 1996-2023
- Genre: Farming, Simulation
Story of Seasons is the new name of what used to be known as Harvest Moon. Playing one of these can be one of the most relaxing experiences, as there's no combat to them. All you have to do is plant crops and raise livestock as you bring new life to an abandoned old farm.
Of course, you'll also meet a bunch of characters along the way, and you can sweep many of them off their feet if they strike your fancy, and eventually marry them. Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life demands it, even. You also get to have children, which is not something all games offer, so romance really isn't just an afterthought in these games.
Rune Factory 5
- Release year: 2022
- Genre: RPG, Simulation
If you know Harvest Moon or Story of Seasons, you'll have no problem getting comfy with Rune Factory. It's a spinoff title, so there are plenty of familiar elements. You get to farm and defeat monsters, but most importantly, you can date and even marry a selection of distinct NPCs you'll meet along the way.
In Rune Factory 5, the romance system has you earn your love, since you have to work towards raising NPCs' friendship levels high enough first before even thinking about dating them. You can also increase the skills they admire most to raise your chances with them, as well as inviting them to parties and festivals. There's no instant gratification, and that's what makes getting close to and spending your life with these characters so rewarding.
Wylde Flowers
- Release year: 2022
- Genre: Simulation, Adventure
Wylde Flowers puts a fun, witchy twist on the life simulation genre. You play as Tara, who's decided to help out her family by maintaining their part of the island they live in. During daytime, you do the typical life sim stuff like fishing, gardening, and crafting. But at night, you fully go into witch mode as you mix potions and fly around on your broomstick.
And since things are magical, not all the lovely candidates you can romance are human. Ever wanted to marry a witch, or perhaps a werewolf? This game lets you do that. It's not afraid to delve into the topic of gender identity and sexuality either, so you're not forced to go with straight options if you don't want to.
Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous
- Release year: 2021
- Genre: RPG, CRPG
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is a return to the roots of the CRPG; a lot of the genre's fans even credit it with bringing a Renaissance period to CRPGs. Sure enough, any CRPG won't be complete without its beautiful roster of romanceable characters. And your choices here are wild and varied.
You can opt for demi-human companions, a demoness, a queen, and a lecherous brat. It's not really that expansive, but once you get to know each one of them, you might even find it difficult to choose wisely among these potential partners. Oh, and the world is also on the brink of an apocalypse, but you can always squeeze in some trysts and courtship in between.
Saints Row 4
- Release year: 2013
- Genre: Action, Adventure, Open-world
It has been a long time since Saints Row 4 graced us with a wackier parody of an open-world city that Grand Theft Auto just can't reach. But despite going off the rails more often than in GTA, Saints Row 4 actually offered more varied romantic options than the latest GTA game. Once you have unlocked crewmates on The Ship, there's always the option to romance them.
This will lead to some spicy scenes. There are quite a lot of options here since you can rescue a handful of crewmates from their Simulations. However, don't expect the 'dating' part to be fleshed out and intricate compared to RPGs. It's rather blunt and quick but nevertheless decent.
Catherine: Full Body
- Release year: 2019
- Genre: Puzzle, Adventure game, Platforming, Visual Novel
Romance is likely the last thing you would expect to find in a puzzle game, but Catherine: Full Body transcends genres. It's a remake of the 2011 original of the same name, but this time around, they expanded your options with another potential lover that can alter the ending.
Originally, there were only two choices, Katherine and Catherine; playing the confused boyfriend to Katherine, Vincent's life took a sharp turn after getting ensnared in an affair with a demonic woman named Catherine. How the game ends and who Vincent ends up with is up to the answers you provide and the puzzles you solve. To add to the chaos, now there's also a pink-haired girl named Rin who wants a slice of the pie.
Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire
- Release year: 2018
- Genre: RPG, CRPG, Strategy
Deadfire has undoubtedly more features than its predecessor and more generous romance options, but either game will suffice for anyone who wants the complete RPG experience. This time around, you're chasing a rogue god after he stepped on your castle, crushing you and your home.
You find a peculiar band of misfits along the way and form relationships and alliances with them. Some of them would like to get closer and more intimate, of course. The romance here is rather meek since it mostly plays out like a visual novel, but the characters are well-written and well-voiced, so it's easy to fuel your imagination with some sweet memories you never had.
Doki Doki Literature Club
- Release year: 2017
- Genre: Horror, Visual Novel, Adventure
Don't be fooled by the dating sim facade; Doki Doki Literature Club is a bait-and-switch experience that quickly unravels into one of the most brilliant and unsettling psychological horrors in gaming. It starts off under the pretense of a high school dating sim, of course, to catch you off-guard.
This is where your romantic options come into play. It doesn't take long for things to start feeling different as certain characters begin acting out or discovering things they shouldn't. Pretty soon, one of them will start breaking the fourth wall and even go as far as messing with your computer's files — a small price to pay for a bit of initial romance.
Life Is Strange: True Colors
- Release year: 2021
- Genre: Adventure, Story-driven
Life is Strange: True Colors is like a Netflix teen drama with supernatural and existentialist themes, except you get to participate instead of just watching the story unfold. It's thus a story-driven adventure game that's received critical acclaim for how it handled its own mechanics.
The game portrays Alex, whose powers allow her to read and feel anyone's genuine emotions, practically making her a magic empath. Alex also gets two romantic options here in the form of either Ryan or Steph, making it double as a coming-of-age LGBT story.
Jade Empire
- Release year: 2005
- Genre: RPG
Jade Empire was one of Bioware's hidden gems before they moved on to bigger projects such as Mass Effect or Dragon Age. It's an RPG where you are placed in the shoes of an aspiring martial arts master with several paths and styles laid right in front of them.
Along with those fighting styles, you also get to choose who to pursue when it comes to romantic liaisons. There are a total of three options, which vary depending on your character's selected gender. While that's not very many options, they each are well-written and performed characters, aiding in the meaningfulness of the experience.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
- Release year: 2013
- Genre: RPG
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is an underrated JRPG; like Dark Souls, it also took heavy inspiration from the iconic genre-defining manga, Berserk. It starts off with an epic journey where you have to get back your heart after it was stolen by a dragon. It's almost a tough bureaucratic process as the requirements for succeeding in this quest are steep.
The heaviest among these requirements is having a 'Beloved.' This is the closest companion or romantic interest for anyone, with important narrative points relating to them. Thankfully, there are a lot of options in choosing a Beloved in Dragon's Dogma, and they don't demand much apart from a gift and a questline.
Fable 2
- Release year: 2008
- Genre: RPG
Romance in Fable 2 is similar to Skyrim's: it's not that fleshed-out or intricate, but it has a lot of bonuses and benefits. You can take your pick of villagers after inspecting your preferred gender and then start wooing them. This can eventually lead to marriage and a family.
Fable 2 is generally considered the most balanced out of all the three games due to its updated graphics and less streamlined system. It also gives you plenty of opportunities to do whatever you want in the game with no railroading or urgency to save the world.
Crusader Kings 3
- Release year: 2020
- Genre: Strategy, Simulation
Crusader Kings 3 is a grand strategy game hailing from an esteemed franchise that provided a more complex playground for people who find Civilization or Total War games too simple or bare. Sure enough, this game is a wild sandbox of medieval times. You take on a role of a feudal lord with his own plot of land or nation.
In true feudal fashion, you must maintain your dynasty; to do that, relationships are mandatory. Marriage is required, and, truth be told, they're not all pleasant. It was a different time, where princes and princesses were treated as currencies and diplomatic offerings. The morality of romantic relationships is cast to the of-the-time wayside. This includes the option to bless incestuous relationships and marriages, as well as the repercussions that come with it.
Greedfall
- Release year: 2019
- Genre: RPG
Greedfall is a different breed of RPG as it takes place in a fictional colonial era where gunpowder weaponry is just about as common as swords. As such, Greedfall has underlying themes about colonialism and traditionalism - both of which make its romance more turbulent as there are cultural subtexts involved.
In total, there are four romantic potentials in Greedfall: two exclusively straight options, and two whom you can romance as either gende. Each of them, however, falls into different factions that may or may not oppose one another.
Hades
- Release year: 2020
- Genre: Action-Adventure, Roguelike
Do you fancy romancing a fury? Or a disembodied gorgon? Or the God of Death? Well, then head on over to Hades, where you have to escape the titular Olympian god's Underworld over and over again while getting stronger and gradually wooing the options mentioned above.
Truth be told, those options are quite weird given how the all-star Olympian ally roster is present, but being able to romance Aphrodite will likely break the plot. In any case, Hades is one of the strongest titles of 2020.
Cyberpunk 2077
- Release year: 2020
- Genre: RPG
It's more GTA with a sci-fi coat than a CDProjekt RED-caliber RPG, but Cyberpunk 2077 is nevertheless a fun and huge game. It's also one of the most daring games to include a romance option since the options here are wild and free.
Romancing your target character is as easy as picking the obvious dialogue choices, and the chaotic dangers of the lawless Night City as a backdrop sure makes things more endearing and steamy at the same time. Love blossoming in such an environment is something special.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
- Release year: 2018
- Genre: RPG
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an ambitious European project that became one of the best medieval life simulators of 2018. Its animations are superb, and thankfully, the combat's disappointing scale can be easily forgotten.
For a game set in the medieval era, the choices here are quite liberating. You can pick casual encounters for Henry or maybe something more serious and long-term. The romances even go past chaste kisses and into more intimate territory. They're all welcome distractions from the rather difficult sword fights and lethal chivalric duels.
Baldur's Gate
- Release year: 1998
- Genre: RPG
Before Baldur's Gate came along, video game companions (especially in RPGs) were usually just extra hands to help you fight dark lords or something similar. Then, BioWare sprinkled its lovely magic on this game and included four romantic prospects.
Since then, most RPGs have likely considered this aspect of video game romance instead of just linear ones. Baldur's Gate offers you the chance to woo and win the hearts of some of your companions in the party as they go about their D&D adventure. You even unlock extra dialogue and quests for being in those romances!
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
- Release year: 2020
- Genre: RPG
Almost all Final Fantasy games have their own fleshed-out yet simple romance system, but Final Fantasy 7 gives you more romantic options than usual. Its 2020 remake, namely Final Fantasy 7 Remake, sort of mixes things up by adding Jessie to Cloud's orbit.
You don't exactly get to romance her officially, but she's still there while you pick either Tifa or Aerith. It's a bit more limited compared to most games here. But when it comes to Final Fantasy, it's the quality that wins over quantity.
Fire Emblem Series
- Release year: 1990-2023
- Genre: RPG
Does love bloom on the battlefield? It most certainly does, seeing as that's a question the Fire Emblem series has affirmed over and over again. In fact, it even handles romance in a more unique fashion compared to the conventional courtship present in other games with romance options.
Interactions with your potential partners also happen in the heat of the battle, where placing them adjacent to each other during fights can further strengthen their bond. Not only are there plenty of options for you to be with, but you can also decide who ends up together by increasing certain pairs' support with each other.