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Creating a Dating Sim - Step by Step Guide

Want to create something with hit potential that will inspire a fandom for years? Here’s your step by step guide!

It all starts with an idea!

The magic formula for a dating sim is:

A framing narrative that poses a problem and how you can solve the problem through romance
Attractive characters
Use of a relationship game system

When creating your idea, make sure you consider a concept where the player has a clear goal to solve a problem and the only way to solve the problem is through romancing characters.

Let’s give you some examples:

You’re a sacrifice to an underwater god. Your only chance of survival? Seduce a shark god into sparing you! (Shark Bait by Rose Magpie)
You’re trapped in a castle with a collection of dangerous fantasy characters. The only way to survive until the full moon? Get some of them to bond with you! (The Curse by Inspector Lemon)
You have to solve a murder mystery with six suspects. In order to find the killer, you’ll have to get very close with the suspects… (Dating Them by Asra Bounding & Morella Nimmermehr)
Zeus has chosen you as his mate! To escape the arranged marriage, you’ll have to find another mate in time from among the other gods! (Love Olympus by Kellie Storm and Pianobelt)

Developing your characters!

A selection of some great character designs on Dorian.

You need three love interests to launch your game. You can read our full guide on character design to learn more, but we suggest focusing on the following:

Make your characters feel alive with interesting poses & expressions
Get art that shows off your characters’ personalities
Aim for anime-stylized characters over realistic or too cartoony
Aim for trends that appeal to Gen Z — avoid aged up characters (e.g. men with heavy beards do not usually perform well)

Should I have art for my main character?

Dorian fans prefer to play as transparent self-insert characters that don’t assume race, gender, or sexuality. We recommend you optimize your game for this.

Have art already?

Connect with the Dorian team in your project channel to start testing your ideas! If you don’t have a channel yet, reach out to Asra or Jess on the discord!

Using your relationship system

If you don’t already have access to the relationship system, please ask in your project channel! The relationship system lets your love interests respond to players’ choices (for example, if you do something they like, you will get a point). Points can unlock exclusive bonus scenes in the future which reward your most dedicated fans!

Start Writing!

Did you know? You can find a template to create your dating sim on the Dorian website, after registering as a creator!

Your first episode should include:

Make sure you introduce your love interests in the first taps of the game
Create a clear goal or problem for the player to resolve through interaction with your love interests
Give away points very quickly so the player understands that they can build relationships with the characters
Try to pace choices every 10 or so taps
Include at least 1 premium choice where fans can pay to get alone time with the love interest of their choice

Things to remember:

Ep 1 is your chance to hook your fans, and they have short attention spans! You want to hit them with the best of the best, right away!
Avoid heavy narration and exposition. Players will be happiest when your gorgeous art is on the screen!

Creating Additional Episodes

Once you’ve confirmed your episode 1 is on the right path, you’ll want to prepare ep 2 & 3. We recommend you make each episode focus on a single love interest to make your writing easier!

Each episode should make it clear to the player what they need to accomplish
Give the player a goal around the points: for example, if they reach a certain # of points, they’ll unlock a special scene for free with their favorite love interest
Try to include at least 60 hearts’ worth of premium choices. Usually you can charge 30 hearts for a large bonus scene and between 15-25 for shorter scenes.

Launch your game!

Your launch will involve releasing your game to the public, which means anyone can come and play your game!

What do you need for launch?

Three episodes
- We recommend creators launch their game with at least 3 episodes. Consider your first 3 episodes as your Pilot.
Cover art
- Follow our art best practices to make sure your cover art will attract readers to your game!
A launch date
- Please confirm your launch date ahead of time with the Dorian team!

How do I make my launch go well?