Seduce Me

[Alx]

just bought it today...
I LOVE the look and feel, but those mini games are infuriating, make NO fucking senses in context, and the random algorithm seem to be bias against the player

I can't say it's a flop just yet, but this mechanic is a serious blow

[outrider9]

I found that the games take some time to get the hang of. It may take several playthroughs. Once I did, they actually started making sense.

[outrider9]

BTW, there is some help with the games on the game's forum.

[kessie8yl]

All in all, this game feels more like a "game", because it's based on game mechanics (getting achievements by improving your stats). While most of the adult titles are more like interactive stories where you choose dialogs and get different outcomes.

You can also visit the game's forum to read more reviews, if you want.

I will paraphrase my previous comment then... Since when have "game mechanics" such as these had any relevance to a person's desirability?

It is too much of a stretch to imagine why being lucky in playing simple card games would make you appear to be more desirable to these characters - and if you actually met anyone who was that shallow you'd probably feel more like shooting them than having sex

[Yamato]

All in all, this game feels more like a "game", because it's based on game mechanics (getting achievements by improving your stats). While most of the adult titles are more like interactive stories where you choose dialogs and get different outcomes.

You can also visit the game's forum to read more reviews, if you want.

I will paraphrase my previous comment then... Since when have "game mechanics" such as these had any relevance to a person's desirability?

It is too much of a stretch to imagine why being lucky in playing simple card games would make you appear to be more desirable to these characters - and if you actually met anyone who was that shallow you'd probably feel more like shooting them than having sex

Hi Kessie,

It's not as quite as black and white as you suggest.
Obviously one in real life sees a girl and says "Hey I like you, lets play a game of cards and if I win you'll like me." However, the little card games actually have nice little nuances. The type of card game you have to play and it's objectives really cutely and nicely reflect how boldly or timidly you approach the woman and what you're trying to do. (Ex: flirting is different from chatting etc...)

I bought the game and had to go through it a couple of times to win, and I really enjoy it.
I don't recall having criticized a game either positively or negatively, without having played it first.
Why don't you try it my fellow Lagooner and let us know how you feel about it?
(PS: I have absolutely no affiliation with the game just in case you're wondering. Like you, I just enjoy encouraging game developers).

[ExLibris]

All in all, this game feels more like a "game", because it's based on game mechanics (getting achievements by improving your stats). While most of the adult titles are more like interactive stories where you choose dialogs and get different outcomes.

You can also visit the game's forum to read more reviews, if you want.

I will paraphrase my previous comment then... Since when have "game mechanics" such as these had any relevance to a person's desirability?

It is too much of a stretch to imagine why being lucky in playing simple card games would make you appear to be more desirable to these characters - and if you actually met anyone who was that shallow you'd probably feel more like shooting them than having sex

As has been mentioned several times already, the card games are not literal, they are abstractions. For example, if you want to flirt with a character, you play a card game that represents that flirting. How successfully the *PC* flirts in the game, is determined by how well the *player* does at the game. Each of the interaction types have different minigames, the rules of which try to reflect that kind of interaction. One of the things that threw me initially was the fact that for most of the minigames, your aim is not to accumulate the highest score but to get a similar score to your opponent. Yes, luck does play a slightly larger part than I'd prefer. Yes, I'd prefer more dialogue with the characters. But I don't agree that the game mechanics are as irrelevant as you seem to be assuming.

[kessie8yl]

All in all, this game feels more like a "game", because it's based on game mechanics (getting achievements by improving your stats). While most of the adult titles are more like interactive stories where you choose dialogs and get different outcomes.

You can also visit the game's forum to read more reviews, if you want.

I will paraphrase my previous comment then... Since when have "game mechanics" such as these had any relevance to a person's desirability?

It is too much of a stretch to imagine why being lucky in playing simple card games would make you appear to be more desirable to these characters - and if you actually met anyone who was that shallow you'd probably feel more like shooting them than having sex

As has been mentioned several times already, the card games are not literal, they are abstractions. For example, if you want to flirt with a character, you play a card game that represents that flirting. How successfully the *PC* flirts in the game, is determined by how well the *player* does at the game. Each of the interaction types have different minigames, the rules of which try to reflect that kind of interaction. One of the things that threw me initially was the fact that for most of the minigames, your aim is not to accumulate the highest score but to get a similar score to your opponent. Yes, luck does play a slightly larger part than I'd prefer. Yes, I'd prefer more dialogue with the characters. But I don't agree that the game mechanics are as irrelevant as you seem to be assuming.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

[MisterU]

from what i've read so far this doesn't look good... i was very interested on this game, but if those mini games rely heavily on the luck factor it's pure laziness of the game designers and it'l back fire to them, it'll only frustrate the players, which i can already see from some comments here...
unless there will be a demo version which may convince me or not about the sense and the weight of the luck factor of the mini-games i guess i'll save 10 bucks and buy something else...

[ExLibris]

from what i've read so far this doesn't look good... i was very interested on this game, but if those mini games rely heavily on the luck factor it's pure laziness of the game designers and it'l back fire to them, it'll only frustrate the players, which i can already see from some comments here...
unless there will be a demo version which may convince me or not about the sense and the weight of the luck factor of the mini-games i guess i'll save 10 bucks and buy something else...

I think it's an exaggeration to say that the minigames rely heavily on luck. Random chance certainly does play a part, as it does with most games, but the skill of the player is much more important. Once I got my head around how the minigames worked, I found them more challenging than frustrating. You won't win every time, but losing a minigame isn't a big deal within the context of the larger game. It also gives the game some replayability, since you can't just do exactly the same thing you did the first time round.

I think the main problem with the gameplay is the initial learning curve. Until you've worked out how the minigames are supposed to work and what some of the basic strategies are, it does seem pretty random and therefore frustrating. Unfortunately, the ingame tutorials only tell you what to do, not why you're supposed to do it, which makes the learning curve steeper than it needs to be.

[tlaero]

I haven't played the game, but it sounds like the cards are like the minigames you find in most games. In Mass Effect, the locked doors didn't REALLY have red, blue, yellow, and green buttons that you had to press in the right order. And in gears of war, when you and your opponent each try to chainsaw the other, red buttons don't REALLY pop out for you to mash. These are just abstractions intended to increase the fun of playing the game. It sounds like this game uses the card minigames as that abstraction.

Don't think of it as a dating simulator. Think of it as a card game where the reward for winning is nude pictures. Kind of a more interesting strip poker.

Tlaero

[outrider9]

Don't think of it as a dating simulator. Think of it as a card game where the reward for winning is nude pictures. Kind of a more interesting strip poker.

I'd say it's an erotic adventure game. The card games are the mainstay of the gameplay, but they are a means, not an end. So I woudn't call it a card game.

Take a typical dating sim for example. The gameplay in such a game would consist of clicking on different locations (gym, work, bar) in order to improve the character's stats. It would probably be incorrect to call such a game an "icon clicking game", because that's not what they are played for.

Ironically, some people don't mind clicking icons too much, but are somehow opposed to (well thought-out and way more interesting) card games

[outrider9]

Anyway, I guess it comes down to whether the game is worth its price or not.
The answer is: it depends. I think you will like the game if:

- you enjoy hand-drawn erotic art where the characters are very much life-like (e.g. no huge breasts or blue hair )
- you enjoy a realistic plot (e.g. no dragons to slash or goblins to save princesses from - no offense to GoblinBoy - GoblinBoy (if you're reading this) you're the best! )
- you enjoy detailed environments (a nicely rendered villa on a sunny coast, with beatiful interior)
- you don't mind that there are not too many erotic pictures (but they are very hot)
- you don't mind that the majority of time will be spent playing card games with the NPCs (but the card games are pretty interesting on their own)
- you don't mind spending some time mastering the minigames before you get any of the endings
- you don't mind spending the price of a movie ticket on a game like this.

[Yamato]

Nicely put Outrider.

[kessie8yl]

Don't think of it as a dating simulator. Think of it as a card game where the reward for winning is nude pictures. Kind of a more interesting strip poker.

I'd say it's an erotic adventure game. The card games are the mainstay of the gameplay, but they are a means, not an end. So I woudn't call it a card game.

Take a typical dating sim for example. The gameplay in such a game would consist of clicking on different locations (gym, work, bar) in order to improve the character's stats. It would probably be incorrect to call such a game an "icon clicking game", because that's not what they are played for.

Ironically, some people don't mind clicking icons too much, but are somehow opposed to (well thought-out and way more interesting) card games

There are plenty of games that involve playing cards but if you read the intro to those the game is usually given a back story of some kind of challenge having been made. I've yet to hear any reason why these women feel inclined to make the beast with two backs with someone they've only just met because he played Mr Bun the Baker to trump her Mrs Sole the Fishmonger's Wife.

Dating games are all more or less stories - and as in any story a good author is one who is best at allowing the readers (players) to immerse themselves in the situation he/she has imagined. This is much easier in the scenarios you describe (gym, work, bar) and the actions required of the player usually bear some resemblence to life (ok, sometimes it may be as seen from the point of view of a 14 year old virgin - but we can remember what that was like too, right? lol)...

Games mentioned by Tlaero and others usually take place in some alien/sci-fi future environment where red buttons have been developed to have fabulous powers, etc.. These are accepted "norms" for the genre. There is no such thing as a dilithium crystal but it is easy for us to accept them as the main power source of the USS Enterprise because that's "future tech" and to imagine a history of their discovery and development isn't much of a stretch for most people.

However a situation where one's ability to play whist (whether to win/lose or draw) could lead to even one fabulously beautiful woman getting her kit off doesn't strike me as being at all likely.

[ExLibris]

Don't think of it as a dating simulator. Think of it as a card game where the reward for winning is nude pictures. Kind of a more interesting strip poker.

I'd say it's an erotic adventure game. The card games are the mainstay of the gameplay, but they are a means, not an end. So I woudn't call it a card game.

I'm not quite comfortable calling Seduce Me an adventure game because to me that term implies more plot than is actually present. The basic plot is that the PC (who may be connected with the fashion industry in some capacity) is invited to stay at a villa where there are a number of attractive women, who he then decides to try and seduce simply because they are attractive and despite the fact that

he has no prospect of a long-term relationship with most of them

The individual NPCs do have personal narratives, but the PC/player doesn't interact with them. Personally, I'd describe it simply as an adult game.

Otherwise, an excellent summation (although in my nitpicking way I would note that Goblinboy has made realistic games; SD3 is arguably the most realistic piece of AIF ever made because the PC has a girlfried who objects to him having sex with other women and he actually has to deal with that).