Spinning off more otome games from the main list. ‘Miscellaneous gameplay’ is the catch-all term I use to cover borderline cases. Specifically:

1. Otome games with gameplay that doesn’t fit into other categories, e.g. quiz games, card games, misc mini-games (e.g. Hana Awase)
2. Otome games with gameplay I don’t quite know how to classify (e.g. Area-X, Drastic Killer).
3. Otome games with very little gameplay but just enough that I can’t ignore them completely.
4. Life sims with female characters that aren’t necessarily about romance but do include romantic options (e.g. Long Live the Queen, Atelier Annie). Life sims that are explicitly about romancing guys belong either in the simulation game section or stat-raising section.
5. Raising sims where you play a woman raising a boy, with romantic options (e.g. Dear My Sun!!)
6. Raising sims where you play a man raising a girl, but the girl gets to romance guys under your watchful leadership (e.g. Princess Maker, Ranshima Monogatari). This is really borderline and I just might remove those games later, but they can stay for now.

1. Amnesia Memories [English]

Japanese: アムネシア
Developer/Publisher: Idea Factory
Story: You play as a nameless heroine who has lost her memories. A spirit known as Orion helps you recover your memories, but before they come back you’ll explore a familiar world as a stranger. Amnesia Memories has five guys to date and while you’re trying to start a relationship you can’t let on that you have amnesia or you could lose your chance to get your memories back. [from Siliconera]
Gameplay details: Players will have to watch three parameters – affection, trust, and suspicion – which change depending on your conversation choices. If suspicion is too high you might end up with a bad ending. Amnesia Memories has 26 different endings to discover. Players will also be able to try mini games like Air Hockey and Rock, Paper, Scissors which you can play with other characters in the game. [from Siliconera]
Gameplay Screenshots: The three parameters / Mini-game
Official website: http://www.ideafintl.com/amnesia/
Platform: PSVITA (2015)  Steam (2015)
English Reviews: Metacritic / Touch Arcade
Available at: Steam

2. Area-X [English]
Developer/Publisher: Zeiva
Story: In the far future, people live 1000 meters deep underground. Technology is abundant, but life is a constant struggle. An organization sought to end this by sending people back in time to recover lost natural resources. Elcia is one of such people. As a Time Negotiator, it’s her job to travel across various dimensions and negotiate with people of the past.
However, in a strange twist of fate, Elcia accidentally stumbled upon an unknown dimension known as “Area-X” during her very first mission. Following its discovery, more bizarre incidents and conspiracies awaited her one after another – all of this eventually led to discovering the uncanny nature of the world and how it all ties to Elcia’s very own mysterious past… [from official website.]
Gameplay details: Area-X is a blend between Visual Novel and Adventure Game. Follow the story of Elcia as she time travels and solve mysteries of her surroundings. The game spans six chapters, of which you can explore multiple dimensions, complete missions and make choices to determine Elcia’s fate. [from official website] Missions seem to involve solving logic puzzles.
Gameplay Screenshots: Time travel eras / Mission screen / Puzzle 1 / Puzzle 2 / Puzzle 3
Official website: http://zeiva.net/otome/area_x_story.html
Platform: Mac (2013) PC (2014)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: You can download the demo here and buy the game here.

 

3. Atelier Annie: Alchemist of Sera Island [English]
Japanese: アニーのアトリエ　～セラ島の錬金術士～
Developer/Publisher: Gust
Story: Use Alchemy and Magic to Build an Incredible Island Resort! The latest incarnation of the Atelier series heads to paradise in this RPG based simulation game! You, as Annie, enter an alchemy competition, where you have to manage your very own island resort! The winner of the competition will earn the right to marry the Prince or Princess of the kingdom. Help Annie make her dream come true by going on quests, collecting, creating, and selling alchemy items, and managing your slice of heaven! Do you have what it takes to make your resort village a success and make Annie’s dream come true?
Gameplay details: Item crafting, since Annie is an alchemist. She has to go foraging for items regularly, engaging in relatively simple turn-based battles in the process. The game also has a (rather pointless) store where you can sell stuff plus 6 story quests you have to pass to stay in the game. Annie can get one of 7 endings depending on her performance in alchemy, in quests and in battle.
Gameplay Screenshots: Battle / Battle 2 / Facility
Official website: http://nisamerica.com/games/atelierannie/
Platform: DS (2009)
English Reviews: My impressions
Available at: Atelier Annie at Amazon

 

4. Ayashi no Miya
Japanese: 妖ノ宮
Developer/Publisher: Kogado
Story: The main character is a half-demon princess whose father sought to bring peace between demons and humans but met an untimely death before he could do so. Now the king is dead and the princess is harried on all sides by factions (mainly 4 bishie generals) seeking to use her as a tool. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to chase bishies while trying to bring about the peace your father never achieved.
Gameplay details: You have 48 turns to talk to people enough to get a good ending. Most of the game consists of talking to bishies, talking to bishies and talking to more bishies.

You have an “influence” bar that depletes as you talk to enemy generals and select certain options. You can also train up your character’s “influence” (by being contrary all the time) and “demonic power”, which gives you different spells that you can use to affect conversation choices… the explanations on the official website are really long-winded. ^^;; Increasing your influence so you can break out of puppetry and shape your own destiny sounds interesting though.
Gameplay Screenshots: Menu screen / Using demon power in conversation
Official website: http://ayashinomiya.kogado.com/
Platform: PC (2008)
English Reviews: Otome Gaming Diary
Available at: Ayashi no Miya at Amazon / Free demo from official website (654MB exe file)

 

5. Cute Knight Kingdom [English]
Developer/Publisher: Hanako Games
Story: Story? We don’t need no steenking stories! You’re a foundling who was given to your parents by a magical being, what more do you need to know? Cute Knight Kingdom (the sequel to Cute Knight Deluxe below) is a raising sim a ala Princess Maker except you raise yourself and decide what you want to become. Has lots of marriage options so it kinda counts as an otome game.
Gameplay details: Lasts 3 years. Travel the kingdom to meet new friends, find treasure, and encounter monsters! Choose your outfit, jobs, and classes to raise the skills that you need for success. Explore 4 dungeons and collect several skills and stats (like cooking, artistry, strength, magic) and magical spells.
Gameplay Screenshots: Training / PM-inspired Combat / PM-inspired Inventory
Official website: http://www.hanakogames.com/ckk.shtml
Platform: PC (2009)
English Reviews: Gamezebo / Jay is Games / Gamertell / Liesel’s Game Reviews
Available at: Demo and purchase link both at official site. / Cute Knight Kingdom at Amazon (U.S. only)

 

6. Cute Knight Deluxe [English]
Developer/Publisher: Hanako Games
Story: An orphan girl searches for her destiny…
Gameplay details: Train in jobs and classes to raise skills, make friends, and find romance – then use those skills to conquer the monsters in the dungeon.
Gameplay Screenshots: Combat / Combat 2 / Stat-raising
Official website: http://www.hanakogames.com/ckd.shtml
Platform: PC
English Reviews: None yet
Available at: Demo and purchase link both at official site

 

7. Dear Girl ~Stories~ Hibiki: Hibiki Tokkun Daisakusen!
Japanese: Dear Girl~Stories~ 響 響特訓大作戦！
Developer/Publisher: ASCII Media Works
Story: Dear Girl Stories, the top ranking radio show, has now become a game. Hiro C and Ono D are here to solve all the ladies’ problems.
Gameplay details: You are the new assistant of these two heroes. Design a training menu for them and take them through the mini games. The higher the score, the better they become at the skill. See if your training pays off, listen to the troubles of the girls and send the duo out solve their problems. Take a break on the weekends and spend time with the two cool guys.
Gameplay Screenshots: Mini-game / Mini-game 2 / Mini-game 3
Official website: http://d-game.dengeki.com/hibiki/
Platform: DS (2009)
English Reviews: None yet
Available at: Dear Girl: Stories at Amazon

 

8. Dear My Sun!! ~Musuko Ikusei Capriccio~
Japanese: DEAR My SUN!!～ムスコ★育成★狂騒曲～
Developer/Publisher: HuneX/D3 Publisher
Story: An archaeology professor knocks up one of his students, marries her, then abandons her to go digging in Egypt. You play as the student, now the mother of twins. While raising them you can seek help from other characters and maybe even choose to partner up with one of your sons (!) instead of waiting for your husband to come back. Yes, the kind of character who would have an affair with her professor does sound mentally unbalanced enough to do that sort of thing.
Gameplay details: Raise one of two sons for 15 years, from age 3 to 18. Use ‘produce cards’ to raise their stats. There are various cards which can be used in different combinations for various effects. There are over 100 endings available. Each year is broken up into 4 seasons, so you enter 4 actions per year. You also get to choose a job for yourself every 3 years, which affects what kind of produce cards you can get.
Gameplay Screenshots: Simulation / Reward or scold
Official website: http://www.d3p.co.jp/dms/
Platform: PS2 (2007)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Dear My Sun!! at Amazon

 

9. Drastic Killer
Developer/Publisher: Tenky/Bandai-Namco
Story: On her sixteenth birthday, the main character meets a mysterious man called Gleude. He tells her that she is a princess candidate and has a special power, then carries her off to another world. However, she needs to improve her power to become princess…. She makes up her mind to improve her power by attracting target boys and stealing their love… [from VNDB]
Gameplay details: Talk to guys and make them like you, adopting an Angelic or a Devilish attitude to suit the guy’s tastes. When a guy goes all doki-doki for you, you dive into his body and suck up all his love (wish I could put it in a less dirty way, but that’s the way the game expresses it) to power up your magic, learning more about their innermost secrets in the process.
Gameplay Screenshots: Map / Molesting boys
Official website: http://www.d-killer.jp/
Platform: PS2
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Drastic Killer at Amazon/Drastic Killer at Play-Asia

 

10. Fantastic Fortune
Japanese: ファンタスティック　フォーチュン
Developer/Publisher: Cyberfront
Story: The story is set in medieval times, in the planet Warando. Diana, the second Princess of the Kingdon of Klein (her hobby is collecting hats), has been summoned to the Royal Academy of Magic from the human world where she was studying as a high school student. There are three main characters to choose one at the beginning of the game and play with (Diana, Sylphis Castries & Mei Fujiwara), and during the game the player’s character will spend a year at Klein to achieve the proper magic abilities. The fate of the heroine is in the hands of the player. [from VNDB]
Gameplay details: Seems like a regular stat-raising system. I might have to move this to another page.
Gameplay Screenshots: Pending
Official website: None, apparently.
Platform: PC (1998) PSX (2001)
English Reviews: None yet
Available at: Amazon.co.jp

 

11. Fantastic Fortune 2
Japanese: ファンタスティックフォーチュン2
Developer/Publisher: Cyberfront/Gen-X
Story: This love simulation title features three female main characters: Marine, Aqua and Aoi. You select one of these girls and play as her through a seven month training period as you work to become the “Star Girl.” The game features lots of interactive conversation sequences as you choose to fall in love with a guy, make friends with a girl or work towards your stardom. [from IGN]
Gameplay details: Seems like a regular stat-raising system. During weekdays, you attend classes, building up your character’s parameters. When the weekend comes around, you’re off on the town, hunting for men.
Gameplay Screenshots: (tiny) Shot 1 / Shot 2
Official website: http://web.archive.org/web/20100213020859/http://www.fortuner.net/
Platform: PS2 (2007) PC (2003)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Fantastic Fortune 2 at Play-Asia

 

12. Hana Awase
Japanese: 華アワセ
Developer/Publisher: WoGa
Story: Hana Awase revolves around “Kasen”, a card game played by using Hanafuda (Japanese flower cards). Among all the players, only a few can bring out the power hidden in the cards. In Kasen National Academy, the students who possess this power are known as the “Five Brights”—the figures who are admired by all students. This is a story of the “Five Brights” and the maiden who dedicates herself to them. [from Love-colored Sky]
Gameplay details: Strategic card battles. Seems to be based on a traditional Japanese card game called ‘hana awase’. I don’t understand a bit of it.
Gameplay Screenshots: Card battle
Official website: http://hana-awase.net/
Platform: PC, Mac (2012)
English Reviews: Sandeian / Yume miru sekai / Otome Jikan / Un mondo caotico
Available at: Amazon.co.jp

13. Hanayoi Romanesque~ Ai to Kanashimi – Sore wa Kimi no Tame no Aria

Japanese: 花宵ロマネスク 愛と哀しみ―それは君のためのアリア
Developer/Publisher: Vridge Inc./Marvelous Entertainment
Story: The player character, Kirihara Tamami, is a teacher at the historical Gekka Academy, where various male members of the Houshou family reside as staff and students. This family has the ‘Logos’ curse on them, and Tamami is able to see this curse. Gameplay revolves around Tamami taking various forms of the curse and hopefully releasing them in the correct way to free the guys from it. [from VNDB]
Gameplay details: The game works like this – you have to read dialogue sentences – and certain sentences act as a “stat” raiser. When a certain sentence comes up in the dialogue box you need to press X to collect that stat point. If you miss this sentence, have fun starting that entire chapter over. [from Hinano’s Game babbles]
Gameplay Screenshots: Raising affection / Freeing guy from Logos
Official website: http://www.marv.jp/special/game/ps2/hanayoi/game.html
Platform: PS2 (2008)
English Reviews: Koorinokokoro / Hinano’s Game babbles
Available at: Hanayoi Romanesque at Amazon
14. Harajuku Tantei Gakuen Steel Wood
Japanese: 原宿探偵学園 スチールウッド
Developer/Publisher: Otomate
Story: In the past, the achievements of a certain detective changed Harajuku into the “Detective District.” So for detectives Harajuku became a place to aspire towards. Many detectives in training come to visit, and many retired detectives live there. In that “Detective District” there is also an academy. [from VNDB]
Gameplay details: You have one year to graduate as a detective. Take part in school activities plus exams with your team mates (immediate game over for failing exams). Visit crime scenes and carry out investigations and interrogations to get the ‘keywords’ you need to solve each mystery. Present your results to your teacher and find out if you were right or wrong.
Gameplay Screenshots: Menu / Keyword / Mystery chart
Official website: http://www.otomate.jp/steelwood/
Platform: PSP (2010)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Harakuju Tantei at Amazon

 

15. Heileen: Sail Away [English]
Developer/Publisher: Winter Wolves
Story: Heileen is a cute 18 year old English girl. She has a quiet life, without any real problems. But one day, her uncle Otto, a famous merchant, decides that it is time for a change and forces her to follow him on a journey to the New World. During the voyage, she’ll meet old and new friends and discover lots of secrets, and ultimately find what really wants for herself. [from VNDB]
Gameplay details: Take quests and earn points for them. The ending you get depends partly on how you did in the quests. Find romance, avoid dangers and life your life to the fullest!
Gameplay Screenshots: Quest results
Official website: http://www.winterwolves.com/heileen.htm
Platform: PC (2008) / Android (2013)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Click on the ‘Buy’ links on the official website. There is a free demo of the first 3 chapters as well.

 

16. Heileen 2: The Hands of Fate [English]
Developer/Publisher: Winter Wolves
Story: The game takes place on a mysterious Caribbean island where Heileen discovers a deck of tarot cards representative of the seven deadly sins and the seven heavenly virtues. The cards have the power to change both her dreams and her reality, and will help Heileen discover many hidden things from her past, and ultimately what she wants to be? A saint, or a sinner?
Gameplay details: Take quests, fill quests, earn points for quests. I’m not really sure how the quest system works.
Gameplay Screenshots: Island map
Official website: http://www.winterwolves.com/heileen2.htm
Platform: PC (2009) Android (2012)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Click on the ‘Buy’ links on the official website. There is a free demo of the first 3 chapters as well.

 

17. Heileen 3 [English]
Developer/Publisher: Winter Wolves
Story: In Heileen 3 you’ll have to traveling side by side with Morgan the pirate and Juliet the Quartermaster, searching for Heileen’s missing friends, hoping to reunite with all of them. But that’s only the beginning, because the story continues! You’ll have a fixed amount of in-game time to unlock a romance or a profession ending! Do you have what it takes to make it?
Gameplay details: Dating sim gameplay, with lots of unique skills to learn and “level up”. It seems to have stat-raising activities you can do in addition to questions/actions that tip you towards the side of either Sin or Virtue.
Gameplay Screenshots: Job classes? / Activities / Virtues and Sins / Stat-raising / Praying
Official website: http://www.winterwolves.com/heileen3.htm
Platform: PC
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Click on the ‘Buy’ links on the official website. There is a free demo of the first 3 chapters as well.

18. Kaeru Batake de Tsukamaete
Japanese: カエル畑DEつかまえて☆彡
Developer/Publisher: Takuyo
Story: A girl and some of her school mates are cursed to turn into frogs because they defiled a sacred shrine. A mysterious cat turned them human again, but on condition that they help clean up the city. The game is heavy on the environmental messages and rather light on the romance.
Gameplay: Play mini-games such as sorting trash for recycling and hosting a radio program that solves people’s problems. There’s an in-game tracker that tracks how close you are to purifying the whole city.
Gameplay screenshots: See my impressions below.
Official website: http://www.takuyo.co.jp/products/kaerubatake/
Platforms: PS2 (2010) / PSP (2010) / PSVITA (2014)
English reviews: My impressions / Majinken! / Hinano’s Game Babbles
Available at: Kaeru Batake de Tsukamaete (PSP) at Amazon / Kaeru Batake de Tsukamaete (PSP) at Play-Asia / Kaeru Batake de Tsukamaete (PSVITA) at Play-Asia

19. KLAP!! ~Kind Love and Punish [to be added later]

20. Koi Sentai Love & Peace the P.S.P.
Japanese: 恋戦隊LOVE＆PEACE THE Ｐ.Ｓ.Ｐ.
Developer/Publisher: Broccoli
Story: Fall in love and save the world. Strange monsters are roaming the streets, and people are living in constant fear. The heroine is one of the victims. However, she is saved by the men of the ‘koisentai’, a.k.a The Love Rangers. Recruited into the team, she becomes the Heart Pink Ranger, and her powers are Love and Romance. Use your powers to battle evil and use your charms to get closer to the men.
Gameplay details: Fight through mini-games. Win ‘heart energy’ through the mini-games which you can exchange for pointless omake. It seems like the mini-games are optional, which means gameplay is optional as well…?
Gameplay Screenshots: Mini-game / Mini-game results / Butterfly Store
Official website: http://koisentai-psp.com/#&slider1=1
Platform: PSP (2012)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Koi Sentai at Amazon / Koi Sentai at Play-Asia

21. Library Cross

Japanese: ライブラリークロス（ラブクロ）
Developer/Publisher: Otomate
Story: The protagonist wakes up in a room with 9 strange guys. Alcohol is not involved, it’s a worksafe game. They’re locked in a library and can dive into some of the magical books to look for clues to escape (some books are based on past Otomate visual novels like Norn9, Amnesia and Hakuouki). They have 13 hours to fill out a mysterious white book. Failure means death. Success means romance.
Gameplay details: Mystery/Room escape/Puzzle game. Choose up to 5 guys to form a team, enter a book and defeat evil spirits to progress the game. The more you choose a guy, the higher his affection grows until you get his ending or die trying. Partners can level up and even evolve along one of two paths. The path you choose changes the ending you get.

The puzzles are Tetris-like/Candy Crush-like affairs. Match stones of the same color to destroy them, which somehow hurts the enemy at the top of the screen.
Gameplay Screenshots: Puzzle gameplay/Partner skill
Official website: https://librarycross.net/
Platform: App Store / Google Play (2017)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Library Cross in the App Store / Library Cross in the Google Play Store

22. Long Live the Queen [English]
Developer/Publisher: Hanako Games
Story: Being a Princess is not an easy job. Being a Queen is even harder. Especially when you’re only fourteen years old, and the reason you’ve inherited the throne is that your royal mother has just met an untimely end.
Now power is up for grabs. You may be the official heir, but much of the country’s nobility would love to steal the throne for themselves. Aggressive neighbors will take advantage of any weakness to enlarge their borders at your expense. And that’s not even mentioning the magical dangers which are lying in wait…
Can you survive long enough to reach your coronation? [from official website]
Gameplay details: Keep yourself alive for 40 weeks until you are crowned queen. Unlock outfits, take lessons to master dozens of skills, raise your stats and navigate the dangers of political intrigue. Oh, and die a lot.
Gameplay Screenshots: Studying / Classes to take / Castle map
Official website: http://www.hanakogames.com/llq.shtml
Platform: PC (2012)
English Reviews: Metacritic / PC Gamer / Eurogamer
Available at: Official site. Free demo available as well.

 

23. Magical Diary: Horse Hall [English]
Developer/Publisher: Hanako Games
Story: You have been invited to attend a magical school. Here you can make new friends, learn dozens of spells, face exams in the school dungeons, run for class office, and try to find a date for the May Day Ball. But be careful! You might end up in detention, be lured into a secret society, be forced to marry your professor, or even be expelled! Every puzzle has multiple solutions, and the path you choose is up to you. Are you a good witch or a bad witch?
Gameplay details: Stat-raising. Learn spells and build relationships, romances and rivalries. There also seems to be a basic battle system that plays out in the school dungeon.
Gameplay Screenshots: Learning spells / School dungeon?
Official website: http://www.hanakogames.com/magical_diary.shtml
Platform: PC (2011)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Official website. Free demo available too.

 

24. Memoirs of an Angel [English]
Developer/Publisher: Anigrams Productions
Story: Upon being framed for the murder of the mighty Emperor Osirus, the princess Zuleika is forced to rely on the help of a mysterious elven assassin to escape her doom and find the real culprit. All the while, she watches as her precious nation is taken over by Osrius’ sadistic younger brother, Nefferon, who seems intent on watching the empire crumble beneath him.

Tensions mount as more people become dissatisfied with the new regime and call for Osirius’ “true heir” to return to the throne, sparking rebellion and pitting the provinces of the east against those of the west. As the empire succumbs to a bloody revolution, both sides seek the former princess to lead them to glory… but which side will she choose?
Gameplay details: Seems like a regular stat-raising otome game. I’ll have to move it later. There seems to be a remake, but I have no idea how it differs from the original.
Gameplay Screenshots: Princess status
Official website: http://anigrams-games.tumblr.com/memoirs2010
Platform: PC (2010)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Freeware at official site (117MB)

 

25. Ouji-sama Platonic Keikaku
Japanese: 王子様プラトニック計画
Developer/Publisher: half
Story: The main character’s parents have died, leaving her to fend for her many siblings alone. One day she sees a poster advertising a high paying position for women at the palace… And that is how she becomes private tutor to pervert prince Chester.
Gameplay details: Raising sim. Range of possible romantic endings depending on how you raise the prince.
Gameplay Screenshots: Training / Training 2
Official website: http://half.chips.jp/game/prince/
Platform: PC (2013)
English Reviews: My impressions
Available at: Free game. Click the ‘Download’ link on the official website

 

26. Pandora ~kimi no na wa ore ga shiru~
Japanese: ＰＡＮＤＯＲＡ ~君の名前を僕は知る~
Developer/Publisher: Otomate
Story: Our heroine Isora Kanna wakes up after a bomb attack to finds herself in some military base with a man named Maximillian who tells her that she’s in some other country now because the world’s at war with suicide bombers running left & right. The totalitarian army is fighting the freedom army and Kanna’s home town is somehow caught in between. On top of this, Kanna’s parents hid the on-switch for a weapon of mass destruction in her genes! She’s now their ultimate weapon girl whether she likes it or not, but at least she has hot army dudes protecting her. [from Hinano’s blog]
Gameplay details: You have missions in the form of… timed quizzes? Your quiz results affect your stats (wisdom, willpower and sociability IIRC) and your stats in turn affect what kind of ending you get with your chosen guy.
Gameplay Screenshots: Stats / Quiz? / Map
Official website: http://www.otomate.jp/pandora/
Platform: PS2 (2010)
English Reviews: Hinano’s Game babbles
Available at: Pandora: Kimi no Namae at Amazon / Pandora at Play-Asia

 

27. Princess Maker [English]

Japanese: プリンセスメーカー
Developer/Publisher: Gainax
Story: Play as a fantasy hero who raises a young girl from an orphanage from age 10-18. Juggle a large number of stats and activities to arrive at one of a staggering number of endings (up to 74 depending on the version). Received an English version on Steam in 2016
Gameplay details: Stat-builder. Make your child take lessons or jobs or go out roaming as an adventurer. Her stats and what she chooses to do (activities, meeting people) will affect what she grows up to become and who, if anyone, she marries. Everything costs money so be prepared to make her do a LOT of work.
Gameplay Screenshots: Everyday life / Combat
Official website: http://www.gainax.co.jp/soft/primas/pmaker1.html
Platform: PC (1991) PC-Engine (1995) SNES PS2 (2004) PC (2016)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Princess Maker Refine on Steam (English) / Princess Maker at Amazon

 

28. Princess Maker 2 [English]
Japanese: プリンセスメーカー2
Developer/Publisher: Gainax
Story: Play a country-saving hero who is given a young girl by the gods and tasked to raise her from age 10-18. As usual the way you raise her affects the endings you get.
Gameplay details: Stat-raiser. Lessons, jobs, adventuring. LOTS of stats. Approx 70 endings. The PC version has some unsafe for work images, the PS2 version is more sanitized but still fanservice-heavy. The Princess Maker 2 Refine version is an updated, cleaned up version of the original PC game IIRC.
Gameplay Screenshots: Stats / More stats / Schedule / Study results
Official website: http://www.gainax.co.jp/soft/primas/pmaker2.html
Platform: PC (1993) PS2, PC Steam (2017)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Princess Maker 2 (PS2) on Amazon / Princess Maker 2 Refine on Steam (English)

 

29. Princess Maker: Yumemiru Yousei [English]
Japanese: プリンセスメーカー ゆめみる妖精
Developer/Publisher: Gainax
Story: The third in the Princess Maker series, though it doesn’t have a 3 in the name in the original Japanese. The English version on Steam has it as “Princess Maker 3: Fairy Tales Come True.” Instead of playing a hero you can choose one of 6 professions at the start. These affect your daughter’s starting personality, which in turn affects how she grows. They also affect how much money you get every month, but you can still use your daughter as chief money-earner.
Gameplay details: Stat-raiser. Make your daughter take lessons or get a job. All combat and adventuring has been taken out, unfortunately. Schedule system allows players to select 15 days of scheduling. The interface has been made simpler than previous Princess Maker series, and album mode allows you to view images from vacation or ending within the game.
Gameplay Screenshots: Stats
Official website: http://www.gainax.co.jp/soft/primas/pmakery.html
Platform: PSX (1997) PC Sega Saturn, PC Steam (2017)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Princess Maker 3 on Steam (English) / Princess Maker: Yumemiru Yousei at Amazon

 

30. Princess Maker 4
Japanese: プリンセスメーカー 4
Developer/Publisher: Gainax
Story: The story begins with the player as a soldier. He falls in love with a mysterious woman but she disappears only to reappear a few years later. She hands you the child along with Cube (the butler). And so your journey to fatherhood begins…
Princess Maker 4 is highly drama-oriented. Throughout the game, there are various event scenes that offer clues about your daughter’s past and demonic roots, not to mention the war between humans and non-humans. This is probably what differentiates it the most from previous PM games. [from Wikipedia]
Gameplay details: Stat-raiser. No adventuring, just lessons and part-time jobs. Maybe it was just me, but my daughter was extremely frail and kept getting stressed out all the time. Also the talking scenes dragged on for ages, it was really boring to read.
Gameplay Screenshots: Stats / Schedule of activities
Official website: http://www.princessmaker4.com/ (offline and up for sale)
Platform: PS2 (2005) PC (2006) PSP (2006) DS (2008)
English Reviews: My impressions
Available at: Princess Maker 4 DS at Amazon / Princess Maker 4 Portable at Amazon

 

31. Princess Maker 5
Japanese: プリンセスメーカー 5
Developer/Publisher: Gainax
Story: The player in this game is a retired hero of a human realm parallel to the modern world. The daughter is a girl from a royal heritage, and one of many candidates to assume the role of princess. However, following the assassinations of the other candidates, she became the target as well. Her entire family is killed during the attempt on her life. As her protector, Cube saved the player’s daughter and requested the player to take care of the daughter until she reaches the age of 18. So the journey of parenthood unfolds with Cube’s help [from Wikipedia].
Gameplay details: Raising sim. Make your daughter takes lots of lessons and, once she’s older, any of several part-time jobs. Adventuring is back in a limited, unsatisfying fashion. Commands are entered in weekly instead of monthly fashion, so each playthrough takes a loooong time to complete.
Gameplay Screenshots: Stats / More stats / Scheduling / Battling
Official website: http://www.princessmaker5.com/ (down)
Platform: PC (2007) PS2 (2008) PSP (2008)
English Reviews: My impressions
Available at: Princess Maker 5 Portable at Amazon / Princess Maker 5 PS2 at Amazon

 

32. Ranshima Monogatari Lair Land Story
Chinese: 兰岛物语 少女的约定 (Lán Dǎo Wùyǔ Shàonǚ de Yuēdìng)
Japanese: レアランド 蘭島物語～少女の約定～
Developer/Publisher: Circle Entertainment (Chinese) Arc System Works (Japanese)
Story: Originally a Chinese game, later got a Japanese remake for the PSP. A mysterious girl Chilia appeared in a war torn country and wiped out the monsters that were ravaging the land with a miraculous light. You, the war hero, are entrusted with the mission to take care of the amnesiac girl and bring her up into a charismatic lady.
Gameplay details: The game is separated into two parts. Use the nurturing commands to bring up transform Chilia into your dream girl in the nurturing part and develop your friendships and romantic relationships with the cast of loveable characters in the adventure part. It’s basically a raising sim where you can woo a girl of your own on the side while raising Chilia. You also get to play dress-up and interior designer, which is unexpectedly fun. One of my favorite raising sims.
Gameplay Screenshots: Main menu / Activities / Working
Official website: http://www.arcsystemworks.jp/lls/
Platform: PC (2007) PSP (2009)
English Reviews: My impressions
Available at: Ranshima Monogatari at Amazon

 

33. Scared Rider Xechs
Japanese: スカーレッドライダーゼクス
Developer/Publisher: Rejet/Red Entertainment
Story: Troops of otherworldly aliens are invading earth. To protect the planet and humanity, six chosen youths are recruited into the Scared Rider team under you, their commander. The game comprises of 13 episodes, at the end of the day, will you be united with the man of your dreams or will you perish with the rest of the world? [from Play-Asia] The PSP port includes both the original game and the ‘Stardust Lovers’ fandisc.
Gameplay details: Gameplay is split into the adventure part and the battle part. Peer into the boys’ everyday lives and get to know them better during their free time and send them to fight when the siren calls. You can’t directly affect combat, but there are ‘Love or Death’ choices that affect how they fight in battle. There’s a ‘Love or Death’ gauge under each character’s name which affects how the story progresses…?
Gameplay Screenshots: Screenshot / Love or Death choice
Official website: http://scared-rider-xechs.jp/srx/
Platform: PS2 (2010) PSP (2012)
English Reviews: Pending
Available at: Scared Rider Xechs PSP at Play-Asia / Scared Rider Xechs PS2 at Amazon

34. Tengai ni Mau, Iki na Hana
Japanese: 天涯ニ舞ウ、粋ナ花
Developer/Publisher: ichicolumn/Otomate
Story: the main protagonist of the game is a girl named Ritsu Azumi. Her family owns a Japanese Inn business located in the countryside along the coast. Then, one day, the protagonist’s fiancé, Kousuke Yajima, sends Ritsu a marriage proposal. Everyone in their respective families is extremely happy about this arrangement, except… Ritsu.
Gameplay details: Standard visual novel stuff. Each day is divided into morning, afternoon and evening with different events to see at different times. Gameplay comes in the form of optional (?) minigames. As your remward, you get wallpapers, character sketches, drama CD cuts, etc.
Gameplay Screenshots: Cooking minigame
Official website: http://www.otomate.jp/tengai/
Platform: PS VITA (2018)
English Reviews: Chic Pixel
Available at: Tengai ni Mau, Iki na Hana at Amazon