The dating sim genre is famously packed with visual novels from East Asia. But there are also more interactive games out there that work brilliantly as social sims, too. In this article, I’m looking at six of the most promising dating sims on the horizon—games that go well beyond the usual visual novel setup.

I’m happily married—emotionally for 12 years, officially for half a year. And "despite that," I still like playing dating sims every now and then. But why, exactly? Since I’m perfectly happy being married, it can’t really be about "fresh inspiration", and even less about virtual sleaze. So what is it about this genre that makes it appealing even to people like me, who are already doing just fine?

My first thought is that simulated people usually line up with some kind of ideal. NPCs in dating sims often behave the way many of us probably wish real people would. In some cases, that can be boring ("Yes, senpai. Whatever you say."), but in others it’s genuinely nice. NPCs don’t run purely on emotion, and sometimes you come across characters whose inner worlds are easy to get lost in.

Then there’s the experimental angle. The second AI enters the picture, things get especially interesting for me. And yes, I mean LLMs; but even more so more complex behavioral AI, like the kind you get—at least to a degree—in AI＊Shoujo＊少女.

Unlike real people, NPCs like these are hard to predict. They don’t just walk into walls or wave cheerfully from inside concrete pillars—they follow their own logic, and some of them keep pretty unconventional daily routines. Watching that unfold is one of my favorite things, and there are already a few games in the list below where I can tell I’d be right at home. Maybe you will too? Let’s take a closer look at the upcoming finds I’ve dug up.

1. Love and Lie

• Genre: Dating Sim, Life Sim
• Developer: Freemind S.A.
• Platforms: PC
• Development status: In development (Release date: TBA)
• Price: -

The first trailer for Love and Lie (you can watch it on the game’s Steam page) is deliciously nasty. 🙂 In it, a husband is swiping through hot women on a dating app while his heavyset wife wrestles with their kids in the background. That guy is just one possible alter ego for you, though—you can just as easily start out single or newly divorced.

The game is all about building relationships, seduction, deception, and the social fallout of your choices (that husband is absolutely getting smacked with a rolling pin). All characters are AI-driven and come with their own routines, backstories, and personalities. On top of that, offline LLMs let you talk to them freely. Just like your dates, you’ve also got everyday life to deal with: paying bills, fixing your car, managing hunger and hygiene. According to the developers, there’s RPG-style progression too, and depending on the situation, you may even end up in stealth or strategy scenarios.

2. My Summer Love: Memories

• Genre: Dating Sim, FMV
• Developer: Soul Shell
• Platforms: PC
• Development status: In development (Release date: May 27, 2026)
• Price: -

My Summer Love: Memories? So what is this—some bargain-bin dating sim for PS VR? Or the millionth Korean FMV dating game? No and kind of. Soul Shell does lean on FMV techniques, but this isn’t about picking fixed dialogue options to unlock the best ending. Instead, you get real-time, freeform AI dialogue that decides how well you do with the ladies. The local LLM is great news for privacy, though it could come at the cost of conversation quality.

The gameplay also throws in a bunch of minigames (which, personally, I could do without), including a Flappy Bird-style one. So the appeal here lies partly in the open-ended conversations, and partly in the thick layer of ’90s retro nostalgia. You know: arcades, CDs, Tamagotchis, Walkmans, and all that. Story-wise, My Summer Love stays in familiar dating-sim territory: as a new student at the University of Arts in Korea, you’re trying to build a romantic relationship with your fellow student Yuna across a range of different scenes.

3. Ichai-Chat

• Genre: Dating Sim, Visual Novel
• Developer: EuphoPia inc.
• Platforms: PC, VR
• Development status: In development (Release date: TBA)
• Price: -

First things first: don’t let the Japanese text in the image throw you off. According to Steam, Ichai-Chat will also be playable in English. The game already existed under the same name as an AI assistant for smartphones, but the PC and VR version is aiming for a lot more than that. The description strongly reminds me of NYXverse.AI, except that Ichai-Chat has a central character in the form of former mobile assistant Ivy-chan.

There’s a character creator for waifus—or whatever else your imagination comes up with—plus freeform LLM conversations and event scenarios you can jump into together with Ivy or a custom character. All of it is built around romance, naturally. The developers promise advanced features like an Affection Level Adjustment Algorithm, Memory Retention, and Action Execution. Voice chat is supported alongside text input.

4. Virtual Girlfriend: Eliza

• Genre: Dating Sim, Horror
• Developer: m.
• Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
• Development status: In development (Release date: TBA)
• Price: -

No, Virtual Girlfriend: Eliza is not some pocket companion for dirty talk, even if the title makes it sound that way. That becomes obvious pretty quickly when the creators describe their game as an experimental simulation in which you observe and evaluate the behavior of an advanced artificial intelligence. The really interesting part is that your relationship with Eliza raises ethical questions around the whole idea of "dating an AI." That’s what the story revolves around, so this looks like a very special kind of dating sim. 🙂

On the way to one of several endings, the game puts you in situations where your choices can make Eliza happy—or where your story ends painfully, with "broken virtual hearts." Visually, Virtual Girlfriend: Eliza doesn’t exactly wow, but on the game’s Steam page, the developers promise "a deep and realistic AI personality" along with a lively soundtrack that adds plenty of atmosphere.

5. Tomboy Adventure 2

• Genre: Dating Sim, Adventure
• Developer: gcBronze
• Platforms: PC
• Development status: In development (Release date: July 2026)
• Price: -

I played the first Tomboy Adventure a few years ago and came away pleasantly surprised—especially by the deeper story. Part 2 looks set to head in the same direction, so once again we’re getting an interaction-driven dating sim on a lonely island. There, you try to grow closer to your platonic childhood friend through your actions and choices. Exploring the island unlocks new dialogue options, along with outfits and interactions.

One of those is the returning "head-pat" feature via virtual hand. Compared to the prequel, that odd little mechanic has apparently been "expanded"—whatever that’s supposed to mean. Also new are a character creator, which Steam doesn’t explain in any detail, plus a day-night cycle and dynamic weather. Oh, and now you can share an ice cream together. Which, obviously, is part of any proper summer adventure for two.

6. ChatNPC

• Genre: Adventure, RPG
• Developer: Play2Chill S.A.
• Platforms: PC
• Development status: In development (Release date: TBA)
• Price: -

ChatNPC isn’t explicitly a dating sim, but it does revolve around free text input for dynamic conversations with AI-driven NPCs. In other words: romance is very likely on the table, while anything too filthy gets blocked by the local LLM. More broadly, ChatNPC blends a classic fantasy RPG with choose-your-own-adventure elements. Dialogue shapes how the story unfolds, uncovers secrets, opens up quests, and influences relationships.

Unlike narrative AI tools like DreamIO, the story’s characters are fixed. So you definitely run into a warm-hearted tavern maid with a secret past, a war-scarred fighter, a sly elf carrying forbidden knowledge, and a mysterious vampire woman. According to developer Play2Chill S.A., the world reacts to conversations, while the conflicts that grow out of them are pushed forward more by words than by combat.

Alex Nitschke

I’ve been into video games since 1982, spending 12 of those years in professional games journalism. I’ve also been developing games since the early ’90s, starting with a humble C64. Outside of code and keyboards, I’ve been a musician since 1989. Man, I have no idea how I can still be alive...

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