Semana 2: Valida tu concepto

Lección 2.2: Diseño de personajes

Crea personajes que enamoren a las jugadoras

Por ahora, esta lección solo está disponible en inglés.

IN THIS LESSON: CREATE CHARACTERS PLAYERS WANT TO ROMANCE

What do your characters say about your game?

Characters are the heart of a dating sim. A strong character design instantly communicates personality, archetype, fantasy, and emotional appeal before the player even reads a single line of dialogue. In this unit, you'll learn to design characters that attract the right audience for you.

⚠️ Don't lose momentum! Most people finish this in 1 week or less. ⚠️ Work smarter, not harder! If this is your first game, start with a cast of 3 to 4 love interests.

Example: a tablet held in two hands showing two rows of full-color love-interest character designs from a fantasy game.

Get to know your characters

In dating sims, your characters are the product. Players are choosing who to romance before they know the full story, so strong character design creates immediate emotional interest.

Genre

Good character design acts like visual shorthand. A player should understand the world your character belongs to before the character says a single word. If you're making a slasher romance, your character design should communicate danger and violence.

Example character design: a hulking figure in a bloodstained butcher's apron wearing a pig mask and holding a chainsaw, signalling a slasher villain.

Let's look at Leather from Slashfic:

He is carrying a weapon
He is wearing a mask
He is physically imposing
His overall design instantly evokes horror imagery

Example character design: a sharp-toothed, pointy-eared figure with white hair and red eyes in a black leather jacket and ripped jeans.

In Shark Bait, GW's design also tells us a lot:

We immediately can tell he is not human
His gills tell us he is likely a sea creature
His outfit tells us a lot about his personality
His facial expression instantly reinforces his voice

Ask Yourself

Could someone guess the genre of my game just from looking at this character?
Does this design communicate fantasy, horror, sci-fi, historical, modern romance, mafia, etc.?
Does the character visually fit the world they belong to?

Archetypes: Build Characters Players Already Love

Most successful dating sims work with clear romantic archetypes that players already know and love. Think about your favorite dating sims, romance books, TV shows, or fandoms, you'll notice familiar character types appearing again and again:

The Bad Boy → emotionally unavailable, intense, morally gray
The Golden Retriever → loyal, sweet, protective, emotionally open
The Antagonist → tension, banter, chemistry through conflict
The Quiet Protector → nurturing, dependable, makes the player feel safe

Example character design for the Bad Boy archetype: a red-haired horned demon with a smirk, wearing a black leather jacket over a red shirt.

Example character design for the Golden Retriever archetype: a smiling blond character with bright eyes in a lemon-print shirt.

Example character design for the Antagonist archetype: a dark-haired character with a sly expression in a black trench coat and purple tie.

Example character design for the Quiet Protector archetype: a dreadlocked character with an eyepatch and gloves, draped in a tan cloak.

These archetypes work because players already understand the fantasy. Once you've established that, you can take risks and experiment with how you bring that fantasy to life.

Colors Make Personalities Easier to Read

Colors are one of the fastest ways to communicate personality traits to players. You don't need to follow these rules perfectly, but understanding color association helps make designs feel intentional and readable. It's not always necessary for a successful character design, but it's a good beginner tool to get started.

Color-meaning chart: blue = intelligence, reliability, emotional restraint; red = passion, impulsiveness, aggression; purple = mystery, power, magic; black = danger, secrecy, intimidation; yellow = optimism, chaos, warmth.

Strong Silhouettes Make Characters Memorable

A good character should be recognizable from their silhouette alone, one of the most important principles in character design. If you filled your character entirely in black, would players still recognize them?

Strong silhouettes come from:

recognizable hairstyles
distinctive accessories
unique body shapes
exaggerated proportions
iconic clothing pieces
identifiable posture

Character silhouette: an all-black figure in a feathered tricorn hat with a cape, recognizable by its outline alone.

Character silhouette: an all-black figure with long spiky hair, recognizable by its outline alone.

Character silhouette: an all-black winged figure with a thorned halo holding a sword, recognizable by its outline alone.

Character silhouette: an all-black figure with large curling horns or tendrils, recognizable by its outline alone.

The same characters in full color: a regal woman in a purple-and-gold gown with long magenta hair.

The same characters in full color: a blond character in a loose white ruffled blouse with a blue ribbon.

The same characters in full color: a pointy-eared character with black hair and tattooed arms in an open blue shirt over a graphic tank top.

The same characters in full color: a jester in a red-and-black harlequin outfit with a white-and-red mask and long red hair.

Time to publish!

Not your game yet, first, test out what your characters look like in the engine. We made a template especially for that, and you can find it on your creator dashboard.

Animated demo: the Dorian creator "Get Started" dashboard cycling through game templates, including a "Test your Art" template.

Ask your community! When designing new characters, many Dorian creators turn to their social media followers for feedback at the earliest stages of drafting their project. This is priceless feedback that can shape the future of your characters, make the most of the opportunity.

Animated demo: a character design being shared for community feedback, cycling through color choices and personality traits.

Check yourself

Can you tell the genre your characters belong to at a glance?
Did you use colors to convey personality?
Did you use easily identifiable silhouettes?
Did you use pose and accessories to tell a story?
Where will you share your art to get community feedback? (We recommend posting on both Dorian and social media before finalizing your designs.)