Earl's Musings: Making Sex Games

Okay so, lordmou requested this topic, so here we go, a few thoughts and ideas about making sex games. I should note before I start, I was also asked about the market for them, but honestly, I have no clue about the market. Shield High is a game made to my interests (with the exception of donated content), that just so happens to be enjoyed by a lot of other people. Perhaps in the future I'll look into the market more if I aim to make something else, and will be able to muse about it then.

So, making sex games. I had a huge section here starting off about Shield High, then I realized it was all useless. Making sex games boils down to a very, simple concept, which seems to be missed by a lot of people. The goal of a sex game is to both be a game, and be sexy, at the same time. Something a lot of games don't fully grasp. I'll use a very obvious example. Tacky strip poker games. I'm sure at least some of you have played them. They're awful. Why? Because they don't combine the gameplay and the sex. First, you play poker. If you win enough poker, you're rewarded with a woman stripping. Great. You could do that with a poker simulator and any porn site in the world. Which is where the sex game has to differentiate itself. A sex game cannot be replaced by a normal game with some porn thrown in, it has to invoke something more than that. To use a rather vain example, Shield High aims not just to give sex, but a sense of achievement, a sense of power and earning the sex. Or making the sex a form of punishment, if not for you the player than for the character. The idea is to spice the experience with your own personal success or failure. That, I think, is the biggest challenge in making a sex game.

Well, that went on a bit longer than I expected, but hopefully you get what I've been trying to say. The question now turns to how do you make gameplay and sex co-exist? A common, and generally terrible, answer I've encountered is to replace combat with sex. The idea being to make your opponent cum before you do, using kissing, groping, and outright fucking in place of "attacks" and excitement in place of "health". The problem with this is it turns the sex into a numbers game. How can I best fuck my opponent so I can continue the game? Lets down the whole aspect of sex, in my opinion, and turns the game into a dull grind. Really, any game that requires levels, or any other form of grinding isn't a good sex game, mechanically speaking. To use an example that might cop me a little hate, Corruption of Champions is a game I've played, and forgotten was supposed to be about sex. Sure, the sex was there, but I didn't care, I wanted to level up, buy some new gear and keep killing shit. Don't get me wrong, Corruption of Champions is a great game, but it's mechanics do not tie into it's intent very well.

Now that I've covered a system that doesn't work, I'd like to touch on some that do. To make a good system in a sex game you need to go for one of two options, though both might work. Abstract mechanics or emotive mechanics. For instance, Shield High uses abstract mechanics in it's fights. Yes, everything is based off an RNG, but you're not aiming to inflict damage, you don't have a number to push down to zero. Instead the goal is to strip your opponent, using spanking and tickling to weaken their defenses. It's not the best system, but I believe it does the job of presenting sex and conflict entwined, without turning it into a numbers-focused combat game. Abstract mechanics can be anything like this, any method of resolving conflict, or playing the game that does not focus around visible numbers, or have an immediate point of comparison. For instance, I wouldn't say using an FPS segment would be an abstract mechanic, even though it isn't numbers based, it still draws on skills, and demands that the player not focus on the sex, the greatest sin of a sex game.

And now for emotive mechanics. Emotive mechanics are sometimes abstract, sometimes normal, however they serve a simple purpose. Make the player feel something as they do it. In a sex game, that's usually either a panic, or a feeling of power. To use an example from a game I love, Princess of the Ring does a good job of being emotive with only two simple tricks. It's a basic fighting game, in which two girls attempt to make each other cum. When you're being hit with a sex attack, to escape you have to mash buttons. It's a crude mechanic, but watching as your characters gets closer to cumming, while you're desperately hitting the keyboard trying to escape certainly drives home a sense of panic. The second mechanic is even more simple. Whoever was attacking in the last grapple has a very small opening in which they can attack before the other. It means that if you're in the lead, you have a sense of power, as you continue to dominate your opponent, and when losing, a feeling of helplessness, as you can never take the initiative. It's really simple stuff, but it strikes home.

And I just realized how long this got. So uh, I'm gonna stop now, before I write like, a whole fucking thesis. Want more? Let me know, I'll write a part 2 or something. I probably missed a lot. In fact, I think I only talked about mechanics and there's a lot more to it. Mechanics are just like, the big stuff,

Pudding Earl

P.S. More requests please~