Doki Doki Literature Club

Love and Other Terrors: Intimacy and Vulnerability in English-Language Dating Simulators and Romance Games

This paper examines intimacy, vulnerability, and uncanniness in English-language dating simulators and romance games, a genre that originated in Japan and remains comparatively underrepresented in English-language scholarship despite the prominence of romantic choice in major franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect…

• The paper analyzes English-language dating simulators and romance games, a genre that originated in Japan and remains underrepresented in English-language scholarship despite romantic choice appearing in major franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Hades, and Baldur's Gate 3.
• Drawing on McGlotten's definition of intimacy as an affective experience of connection and belonging, the authors tie intimacy closely to fantasy, longing, failure, and vulnerability.
• Emotional vulnerability is often created by altering or inverting the player's agency through gameplay mechanics, making player control itself a source of affect.