I Love You! (好きだ！, Suki da!) is an indie otome game created by Shinogi Shiohara and localized in English by Moonchime Studios. In these trying times sometimes you need something cute brighten up your day and if you’re itching for a bit sugary sweetness to add to your gaming library, look no further than I Love You! Follow a silent heroine as she navigates her high school days in this quirky otome game that puts a fun spin on the usual gender norms!
Hey Blerdy Tribe! HuneX, is releasing the demo for the Nintendo Switch port of Steam Prison today (January 28th)! But, that’s not all in this exclusive demo, players can now play through Eltcreed’s route from start to finish! So if you’ve been on the fence about giving Steam Prison a try, now is your chance to do it!!
The full version of the game will be made available on February 25, 2021 and it boasts some great new extras that weren’t included in the initial MangaGamer PC release!
Demo Features
Players can enjoy Eltcreed ENTIRE route all the way through to the Best Ending, “My Queen”
Available in Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese for display language.
Digital pre-order opens simultaneously.
※The save data from the demo cannot be carried over to the actual copy of the game.
When Kotone inherits her grandfather’s Tokyo café, she discovers the shop holds more secrets than anyone could imagine.
Cafe Enchanté is a fantasy romance otome game developed by Idea Factory under their subsidiary, Otomate and published by Aksys Games. The game was originally released in Japan on October 10, 2019 for the Nintendo Switch. The English release is fully voiced and features five potential love interests– Demon King, Misyr; Fallen Angel, Il; Headless Knight, Canus; Demon Beast, Ignis; and Supernatural Investigator, Kaoru.
I can’t get enough of Black run indie game development studio, Jellyfish Parade—I have been following the team since their release of PAIRS and I have not looked back. I recently covered the demo for the team’s upcoming fantasy romance game, Ocean Pearls: Kissed by the Sea (which spoiler alert, I loved) and now I’m back covering the studio’s first commercial release, Heroine for Hire—a high fantasy romance—and let me tell you, it is definitely worth checking out!!
The game follows Lyre Harmoniel, a young woman who can’t seem to hold down a steady job. After losing eight jobs in the span of just 2 months, Lyre is starting to get desperate—is it too much to ask for a gig that is both fulfilling and pays well?! Just when she thinks the perfect job doesn’t exist, Lyre sees a promising job listing and she thinks maybe, just maybe her luck has finally turned around…
Heroine for Hire is still in development, with only one of the two love interests available at the time of this writing—the second love interest’s route will be released as DLC at a later date. But, don’t let that discourage you from giving H4H a try, there is more than enough content to keep you entertained!
For many in the “mainstream” gaming community, visual novels are often seen as not “real” games—to many, an interactive story-based game can sound like a snooze fest. But, the truth is, visual novels are some of the most diverse games out there, covering a wide range of stories and genres… that quite frankly surpass anything I’ve seen from most mainstream games. Whether it’s a sci-fi adventure set in a distant galaxy, a slice of life romance, or an epic historical drama—visual novels are open to a wealth of story telling opportunities! They even lend themselves to giving creators from all walks of life a platform to tell their own unique stories with characters that are representative of themselves and the larger gaming community.
As a Black woman and a gamer, I find that I turn to indie visual novels whenever I am hankering for more diverse gaming options and always, visual novels deliver. Over the years I have discovered quite a few gems and I’ve even had the opportunity to chat with a few developers of color, like Jellyfish Parade founder, Jessinia. I am no stranger to her games, having fallen head over heels for her sci-fi romance game PAIRS—which follows two couples as they navigate the ups and downs of their relationship against the backdrop of an ongoing war between Earth and an invading alien race. But, what drew me to the game was the fact that both of its female leads have distinctly Black features (something that was WHOLLY intentional), while not being defined by the color of their skin—something that isn’t as common as it should be in media. So, when I saw that Jellyfish Parade was working on a new (longer) romance game featuring a Black female lead and a diverse set of love interests… let’s just say I was closely following the project!
Ocean Pearls: Kissed by the Sea is an upcoming fantasy romance visual novel that follows Nova, a young woman who finds her life turned upside down when she is unwittingly betrothed to one of several eligible ocean royals. I managed to get a sneak peak at the demo and y’all, I am in love with these mermen~ (and the game too)!
Blerdy Otome is an otome games and visual novel review site that runs on Black Girl Magic and Dreams. While I mostly focus on romance themed games, I’ve been known to cover a wide range of nerdy and otaku themed topics.
So, step right up and prepare your heart! Let’s talk about otome games!!
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