What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

This weekend I went to an amazing startup event which got me think what am I doing wrong and what am I doing right with my games and my indie game career. I decided that instead of just sitting and programming something that no one will like I had to take a step back and re-evaluate the process.

I don't know much about the game industry and even less about the adult game industry that's why this week i'll study what people expect from this market, for example, new tecnologies or platforms to do stop doing the games I think you want and start doing the games you truly want.

I'd appreciate if you guys could help me in this process by answering this survey that I created to understand my audience.

Here's the link:

Thank you!

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

Do you have any idea on what kind of game you want to make besides "whatever I think my audience wants?"

If there is one thing I can tell you is that people's taste in H-games are very diverse, you have to have a strong sense of what you want to do to remotely succeed.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

If you want to make a good game, make a game you would want to play. That's the best way to ensure you try hard to make it right.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

If you want to make a game and ask yourself "What do others want?", you've already failed. Quit all attempts and come back next month.
As the two stated, you have to start with what YOU want to bring to the table then go from there.

If you can't decide who your audience is, you've already failed. Suspend all attempts and take another month.
Your audience should always and will always be those who share your own interests. If you aim for those who have an interest you personally don't have, you won't make anything above a half-assed game.

If you think someone telling you their likes/dislikes will help you understand, you've already failed. Destroy all attempts and take a 30 day break.
People have different ways of thinking. Two people who love the same thing, won't love it in the same way for the same reasons. And if you're not on the same page as those people, no amount of explaining is going to suddenly open your eyes. Which is why people asking "Why do people even like (insert topic here)?" is one of the stupidest questions that constantly grace this site.

If you're asking for advice for what to add in your game, good you're heading in the right direction. Proceed with any attempts and work for the next 30 days.
Ask for advice, judge whether or not it fits what you're aiming for, and keeping in what does fit is an awesome idea for game makers. But this first takes a clear vision of what you want to offer....which takes you back to the first point.

Now for the few things you asked for -
Technologies: Whatever you're comfortable using. Even if we like a certain maker (I for one like Unity games and dislike Wolf RPG games) it does you no good if you have a hard time with it.

Platforms: Umm...I seriously doubt you can make games for PS4 or XBOX ONE so I'm going to go with this being a case of common sense that you'll make it for PC.

"I decided that instead of just sitting and programming something that no one will like I had to take a step back and re-evaluate the process.": No offense but....who are you and what have you done? From this sentence it seems you've done something before and I'll have to know this information before I can give any concrete advice. But stabbing in the dark....
How did your game(s) look? If it doesn't look good than it had at least be fun as hell or no one will play it.

How did you promote your game? No one can like something they never played (though "hype" idiots are notorious for it) and no one can play something they never heard of. This could be a reason no one liked it.

What were you aiming for? Making a broad game is one thing but if you make a game for a very specific niche...then yeah, numbers of people liking it will be low. The goal in this case would be to make it as incredible as possible so that even those outside the niche will try it out. I personally hate guro and vore, but I've played games featuring both because they were good games.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

I was just talking about this with some people on reddit.

I have a indie game background. I worked for 2 years on a company that was developing an amazing bullet hell, they decided that bullet hell was the shit and forgot to validate that. "Don't worry, people would like, users don't know what they want, we have to tell them what they want."

20k spent, 5k revenue. bankruptcy.

I'm trying to do something different and for this time, hear what people have to say, this is a new market, do you know what's the most used language or what is the average age on NSFW players? how about i spend 10k on 3D assets and what people want is a 2D game. Or i develop a great NSFW endless runner, because that would probably be the first, but that is what people want?

Understanding the people is the first step on understanding the market. I prefer getting criticized by doing that, than spending another 2 years on something that will only make me loose money.

Now, i understand that what i'm asking looks like a "recipe" and I don't know nothing so i should take 30 days break. But is it so wrong that a content creator wants to hear what the players want?

Call me stupid for trying to listen to people, but I prefer being stupid than loosing time or money on something that i think is pretty cool and people will find terrible.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

A must have for a good nsfw game is good art, it doesn't really matter if it's animated, 3d or 2d, but it needs to be appealing.

Everything else should be AT LEAST worth playing to get the content.

There's no type of gameplay all people enjoy, I personally like to play RPGs which rely on good writing and a proper context for all scenes, but I also enjoy challenging arcade games which are already fun to play without the content (content is just the icing on the cake).

Oh yeah and plattformers are also pretty nice, especially metroidvania types of games.

Check out these games to have an idea of what's great about nsfw games:

Meridiana's magical investigation
Future Fragments
Roundscape
If Adventure Time Was A 3D Anime Game
Monster Girl Island
Cloud Meadow

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

While I agree with a lot of what has been said here, I do think some catering to the audience needs to be done to be truly successful. You could be the best damn guro H-game maker out there, but you're probably not going to sell nearly as much as the games with more popular fetishes. It's pretty easy to figure out what is generally popular among the masses here at ULMF imo.

To me a truly outstanding H-developer needs to possess some affinity for most fetishes, and be able to apply them in a playable and coherent game(perhaps with the more outlandish fetishes as clearly optional, but still accessible). I definitely don't want to speak for "most people" but I think I'm safe in saying "most people" don't like seeing the cute heroine get chopped up into bits and fed to the dogs. For just core game-play, I for one don't really care that much, but there needs to be a balance between too easy and too hard in progressing the H-content. Producing a proper build up and context is key. I think that's why corruption games are so popular.

If you don't have some sort of passion for H-games I don't really see you being successful as an indie developer though. It almost looks like you jumped into it because the English market is still in its growing pains and there is such a high demand for actual good English hentai games. If that's the case it's going to be really hard getting anywhere. You can tell almost at first glance which games being developed actually have someone who cares behinds the scenes, and ones that are just money grabs (most 3D games >.>).

Krystallize<3 said:

A must have for a good nsfw game is good art, it doesn't really matter if it's animated, 3d or 2d, but it needs to be appealing.

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This here is almost an absolute requirement, and it's why it's so obvious that a lot of the 3D games being produced are just money grabs or people trying to take the easy route (games like Monster Girl Island are an exception, but it still seems pretty early in development). I also think it's a huge roadblock in a lot of prospective developers' plans. No art, no play, is my philosophy. If I wanted to read an erotic novel I would.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

Yea thats true for stuff like gore and dismemberment. But what about "popular" fetishes like futa and furries? You will be surprised how polarizing it can be. Feel free to look at the vote results in my blog.

As for 3D games, as far as I know there isnt that much actual 3D titles. There are a bunch of 2D games that use renders from a 3D modeling program, like Daz, but I wouldnt consider them a 3D game.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

dumai12 said:

While I agree with a lot of what has been said here, I do think some catering to the audience needs to be done to be truly successful. You could be the best damn guro H-game maker out there, but you're probably not going to sell nearly as much as the games with more popular fetishes. It's pretty easy to figure out what is generally popular among the masses here at ULMF imo.

If you don't have some sort of passion for H-games I don't really see you being successful as an indie developer though. It almost looks like you jumped into it because the English market is still in its growing pains and there is such a high demand for actual good English hentai games. If that's the case it's going to be really hard getting anywhere. You can tell almost at first glance which games being developed actually have someone who cares behinds the scenes, and ones that are just money grabs (most 3D games >.>).

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Well, I consider myself a passionate game developer, been working as a hobby for a while and as a job for almost 5 years. I decided to try new things and give it a try on adult games. Sincerely, the games made by akabur inspired me to try.

As I said i'm not a market expert so i'm trying to take babysteps to not make a huge mistakes, if I manage to do that i can focus myself on this kind of game, hopefully.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

Enlit3D said:

Feel free to look at the vote results in my blog

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You managed to gather a great amount of votes, congratulations.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

Enlit3D said:

Yea thats true for stuff like gore and dismemberment. But what about "popular" fetishes like futa and furries? You will be surprised how polarizing it can be. Feel free to look at the vote results in my blog.

As for 3D games, as far as I know there isnt that much actual 3D titles. There are a bunch of 2D games that use renders from a 3D modeling program, like Daz, but I wouldnt consider them a 3D game.

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I would almost say furry games fit in their own category of H-games. I'm curious though, do monster girls produce the same reaction as furries?

I'm surprised futa is that polarizing unless it's like a game with ONLY futa characters.

Also, I should have been more specific(or accurate ), but the 2D games using renders from 3D modeling programs is exactly what I was talking about. The "real" 3D games like Monster Girl Island look like they have a lot of potential. I hadn't seen your game that's currently in development, but the models and concept seem like they'd work, even though pure yuri isn't my thing.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

figvigames said:

I don't know much about the game industry and even less about the adult game industry that's why this week i'll study what people expect from this market, for example, new tecnologies or platforms to do stop doing the games I think you want and start doing the games you truly want.

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Find a game from the Atari/NES era and make a cheap copy of it, just to prove you can make -something-.

If you can't do that, nothing else matters cause research is meaningless without execution.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

figvigames said:

You managed to gather a great amount of votes, congratulations.

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Naturally I feel obligated to say beware of the bias in the polls. Those that enjoy the game are far more likely to vote.

dumai12 said:

I would almost say furry games fit in their own category of H-games. I'm curious though, do monster girls produce the same reaction as furries?

I'm surprised futa is that polarizing unless it's like a game with ONLY futa characters.

Also, I should have been more specific(or accurate ), but the 2D games using renders from 3D modeling programs is exactly what I was talking about. The "real" 3D games like Monster Girl Island look like they have a lot of potential. I hadn't seen your game that's currently in development, but the models and concept seem like they'd work, even though pure yuri isn't my thing.

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I think people who are open to furries are also open to monster girls and vice versa. They are one very frequently requested feature but I am unable to fully realize in game currently due to lots of difficulties associated with them. But its the reason why the last girl was a wolfie-girl and the next girl is gonna be a cat girl.

For futa, I was surprised as well. Mind you Heroine Rumble have a futa toggle which switch on/off all futa content. Yet that is still enough to piss people off in either camp. I suspect it will have a similar reaction if/when adding males to game.

3D is sweet, but it is difficult, treacherous and full of pains: .

Generally its much harder to get something started and running in 3D but in return it is far more flexible. For example, adding more outfit, implementing outfit destruction is fairly straight forward in 3D game but it is almost infeasible in 2D.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

What do we like? See threads with over 20 pages.
What do we REALLY like? See threads with 70+ pages.
The stuff.

That said if you jump hentai bandwagon because you think there's money you will fail heavily, don't even attempt if you aren't into hentai, you need to understand this culture to make game for us.
Hentai is supposed to be main selling point of your game so it's need to be good and for chosen audience, appeal too wide and everyone will be disappointed, too thin and you won't be noticed.
In opposite to greenlight where sending your game to dozen popular youtubers could bring you thousands of sales here only your product will speak for itself.

dumai12 said:

(games like Monster Girl Island are an exception, but it still seems pretty early in development).

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Redamz's 3d models can easily compete with "AAA" Japanese anime games though, with proper body physics and even vagina opening there's no comparing to these cheap 3d renders of the same reskinned models that most pateons are using. On top of that he works tirelessly and still communicates with fans a lot, simply deserves his top spot.

Enlit3D said:

I think people who are open to furries are also open to monster girls and vice versa.

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Sorry, I'm all for monster girls but furries are just no ...no, really no.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

Enlit3D said:

I think people who are open to furries are also open to monster girls and vice versa. They are one very frequently requested feature but I am unable to fully realize in game currently due to lots of difficulties associated with them. But its the reason why the last girl was a wolfie-girl and the next girl is gonna be a cat girl.

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When you say furry are you talking about Krystal level furry or "girl with cat ears and cat tail" level furry?

devvah said:

Sorry, I'm all for monster girls but furries are just no ...no, really no.

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I assume devvah here doesn't like Krystal level furry, but does like MGQ level furry like the fox girls. Actually I don't consider just something like only having cat ears and a tail furry in the first place. Personally I have a wide range of tastes, so I'm fine with Krystal too.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

dumai12 said:

I assume devvah here doesn't like Krystal level furry, but does like MGQ level furry like the fox girls. Actually I don't consider just something like only having cat ears and a tail furry in the first place. Personally I have a wide range of tastes, so I'm fine with Krystal too.

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Yeah simply monster girls are women with some "monster" body parts or additions.
Furries are anthropomorphic animals, there was no women to began with.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

dumai12 said:

When you say furry are you talking about Krystal level furry or "girl with cat ears and cat tail" level furry?



I assume devvah here doesn't like Krystal level furry, but does like MGQ level furry like the fox girls. Actually I don't consider just something like only having cat ears and a tail furry in the first place. Personally I have a wide range of tastes, so I'm fine with Krystal too.

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I dont consider cat ears and cat tail furry. But the reason why these are in game is to cater to those who like furries. Should have made that more clear.

I was provided with this lovely image:


I personally consider body fur + snout = furry. And yes, I was referring to people who want to see at least that. I also have people screaming at me because they consider cat ears + tail = furry and they hate it.

I think people really underestimate how diverse other's taste are in H-games, I certainly did.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

gameplay, intruding story, replay-ability
lotsa memes, even more jojo references
basically everything other than the H content

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

Enlit3D said:

I dont consider cat ears and cat tail furry. But the reason why these are in game is to cater to those who like furries. Should have made that more clear.

I personally consider body fur + snout = furry. And yes, I was referring to people who want to see at least that. I also have people screaming at me because they consider cat ears + tail = furry and they hate it.

I think people really underestimate how diverse other's taste are in H-games, I certainly did.

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I can't imagine it's a whole lot of people complaining about cat ears + tail. That sounds like a backlash from people who are overly sensitive and hate furry culture or anything that comes even CLOSE to touching it. In other words a minority in the h-game community. I can almost go down to 3 I guess...at least it wouldn't really bother me. Perhaps I'm alone here, but I think there is a huge difference in liking furries in RL and liking #4 in that list. I have no RL furry inclination at all, but #4 is fine for me. I think you have to always take in consideration the vocal minority. How many people actually hate the cat ears/tail? Is it just a small group of people that are overly vocal about it? Who knows.

Re: What do you expect from a adult game? Help me understand!

dumai12 said:

I can't imagine it's a whole lot of people complaining about cat ears + tail. That sounds like a backlash from people who are overly sensitive and hate furry culture or anything that comes even CLOSE to touching it. In other words a minority in the h-game community. I can almost go down to 3 I guess...at least it wouldn't really bother me. Perhaps I'm alone here, but I think there is a huge difference in liking furries in RL and liking #4 in that list. I have no RL furry inclination at all, but #4 is fine for me. I think you have to always take in consideration the vocal minority. How many people actually hate the cat ears/tail, and is it just a small group of people that are overly vocal about it.

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Yeah ears/tail is the safe option and thats why I went with it. But I am pretty sure there will be an uproar if I tried to do a #4 yet many people wants that. Perhaps sometimes I can do a furry poll to test the waters .