Dream Daddy is a dad-dating simulator that was popular in 2018. I remember playing it with my brother as a joke, but it was genuinely a fun game. The premise is that you’re a single dad that has moved to a new town, and your goal is to meet and romance other dads in your neighborhood. The basic mechanics of this game are clicking through conversations with other characters while making dialogue choices and choosing different locations to go to. There are very few other available choices/behaviors in this game aside from controlling your hot dad avatar’s appearance (which is enjoyable). The game leads you down a set of potential storylines with the 8 hot dads in your neighborhood and you can choose your adventure via different dialogue choices. The game works because the characters are well-made (both in terms of visual design and distinct personality types) and because the stories/dialogues are well-written. It’s like reading a choose-your-own adventure book: that’s how I would describe the primary dynamic of playing Dream Daddy. The dialogue and plot lines create a larger, building narrative which encourages you to keep playing the game (to find out/create the end of the story). Being able to customize the appearance of your dad avatar allows for creative expression. The aesthetics of the hot dads also constitute sense-pleasure in some regard. I think there’s a big element of fantasy in this game; envisioning yourself as a hot dad in a world of other hot dads is a fun form of escapism. Overall, I think the most significant types of fun found in this game are narrative and fantasy, which are primarily constituted by the plot lines and characters.
