Almost two years after Game Grumps released Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator, now Chinese indie developer, Game Uncle, have released a similar project in the same realm called UncleNeighbor: Uncle Dating Simulator, and honestly, it’s an improvement in every way.
To kick things off, UncleNeighbor allows you to custom design your own uncle character before dropping you into your new home, which your dad left you after his death. It seemed like the best time to move, having just quit your office job in the city, and after your ex-boyfriend dumped you while also owing you $20,000. It’s time to count your losses and get that fresh start you need.
That’s where most similarities to Dream Daddy ends.
The game’s prologue lets the player venture across their new town, getting to know its inhabitants and all twelve potential love interests. Between choice-making moments, UncleNeighbor becomes interactive. A variety of mini-game sequences are presented in an 8/16-bit format that the player must beat to progress further. Although they are all relatively easy, the mini-games are a nice touch and keep players from getting anxious from reading for hours on end. After the whole cast is introduced, the prologue comes to a close (lasting roughly 20 minutes) and the player can select individual characters they wish to interact with from the main menu.
Instead of having to play through a full story, players can pop in and out of romance routes at their own choice and pick back up later on as they wish. Each route selection has a heart-counting meter to show how much progress you’re making with every character. While some characters share a resemblance to Dream Daddy (a biker, teacher, fitness enthusiast, etc), with nearly double the number of dating options, there are plenty of new setups to enjoy too (adult otaku, florist, farm-owner, and even your new boss, etc).
With 12 datable options, players will have more than enough meat on their plates.
Oh, there’s more than just a few dating options. UncleNeighbor does one thing that Dream Daddy was too shy to do, and that’s “going all the way.” You won’t be ending a character route with just a kiss and an illustration or two. Each route comes with full sex scenes, uncensored, and…
That’s right, everyone. During every scene, you get to choose if your character is on top or a bottom! This makes UncleNeighbor: Uncle Dating Simulator the first gay visual novel to offer this option. Although, if the sexual content is something you’d like to avoid and just enjoy the character routes then players are luckily prompted at the start of each game to turn off the NSFW content. It can be toggled back on or off in the game’s settings at any time.
On the downside, the game’s backgrounds are a little flat and appear almost too minimal. What’s more, the English translation of the script features a few rocky lines, with incorrect grammar or word order. The head developer of the game has recently announced that new translation help has been hired to polish off the English version of the game. UncleNeighbor will continue to be updated for free as the remaining errors are weeded out.
Currently, the game supports English, Simplified Chinese (Mandarin), and Portuguese. UncleNeighbor: Uncle Dating Simulator is available now on Steam and itch.io for only $14.00.
