Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator Review

My life of being perpetually single is finally over! I’ve found my dream man… or “Dream Daddy”... and… drum roll… I shoulda guessed he’d be into a store called Dead, Goth, and Beyond! Ladies and Gents, the game was delayed for a week, but our wait finally ended on the 19th of July when Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator FINALLY dropped on Steam. This game, a collaboration between the Game Grumps, Vernon Shaw, and Leighton Gray, has set out to fill the void in our hearts that we didn’t know we had. Did you know you needed a dad dating simulator in your life? Well you did, and here you are.

This passion project has been in the works for almost a year now and, after some delays and a little back end kerfuffle, Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator has come to us in all its glory. With all of its dad puns and mini-games, we can play it to our heart's content, and play it I have. To be upfront with everyone, this was not a review code. I waited… and waited… and waited… and purchased the game eagerly with my own hard earned money.

You and your daughter, Amanda, are moving across town to start a new chapter in life. She’s in her senior year of high school, getting ready to start college, and maybe it’s time you try to date again. You’re a dad, a single dad, surrounded by other (mostly) single dads. Seven to be exact. Where’s your better half? Well… he, or she, died, a while ago, so it’s been just you and Manda Panda for a while. She wants you to make friends, to get back out there! Don’t disappoint your little girl.

As I said before, you have seven dads to choose from, and they are all different. You have a health nut, a goth, a drifter badass, a teacher, a one-upper, and they all have their pros and cons, some more than others if you ask me. In the real world, there were some guys that I would have honestly never have given a second chance, like the drifter badass, Robert. But honestly, the more I got to know him, the more I kinda loved him. He was funny as hell! And that brings me to the writing. This game is very well written. The dad jokes… oh they are painfully wonderful. The moments between your character and Amanda can be almost tear-jerking at times, and the interactions between you and the other dads are great, be them good or bad.

A lot about this game is great. The art style is absolutely wonderful, very anime and cartoonish, the dads both attractive and cute and the kids absolutely adorable. The music is fun and bouncy that fits in nicely in the background, and it has a cute theme song that you may find yourself humming on occasion. Everything flows together really well. The Dadsona creator (yup) is really fun, letting you decide what you want your dad to look like. It really kind of brings the whole thing together.

Where there is good, there is bad, though. The bad is mostly found in the mini-games. For instance, while I was on a date with the first dad I picked, Damien, I accidentally broke a gargoyle and had to put it back together. I’m colorblind, so for the life of me I could not tell what the gargoyle even looked like. I still don’t, and it was just pure damn luck I put that thing back together. I’ll even be honest, I didn’t get it on the first try, but was not willing to fail a date, so I backed up and tried again. I will not fail Damien! Another mini-game that I really struggled with was the minigolf with Brian. If you get easily motion-sick, be warned, this game made me a little nauseous. You don’t get to pick your shot, the shot has a ticker that moves each second. After you take your shot, the screen moves with the ball. It was a bit disorienting. And as Brian is the one-upper, I kind of wanted to do my best to one-up him for once. I did not.

Another downside (though perhaps not entirely) was some of the story endings. I was frustrated when one of the dads stories… but if I get into it, it gets a little spoilery. Let’s just say I wasn’t pleased and leave it at that. Even if I did learn a bit more about his situation while dating another dad, I was still a bit salty. So while that outcome was something I got disappointed with, at the same time, I guess it’s not a downside entirely. Variety is the spice of life after all.

In the end, Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator is a wonderful game. It’s well rounded and well made. It can be frustrating at times, but so is dating! Sometimes, it’s not gonna work out, no matter how hard you try. Sometimes, the guy’s gonna dump you after you lay yourself out to him literally and figuratively after sleeping with him on his boat and… sorry, still a sore spot there. I still have Damien! This game is $14.99 US and £10.99 UK and a great play. Supposedly there was talk of adding more dads, so hopefully there will be more to look forward to in the future! I freaking hope so!!