Boyfriend Dungeon Review (Game, 2021)
content warning: stalking, romantic content, blood, violence against animals
In Boyfriend Dungeon, you are spending the summer at Verona Beach. You’ve never dated anyone before and your family thinks it’s about time you set out on your own and get some experience. Your cousin introduces you to the Dunj, a new sort-of dating hotspot where people can meet up and fight monsters in the abandoned mall. Your potential partners can transform into weapons with varying special abilities that grow stronger as you explore dungeons and go on dates. The stronger your romance, the stronger your battle skills.
Boyfriend Dungeon is a hybrid dating simulator and rogue-like dungeon crawler. Developers Kitfox Games find a great balance between the two game types. The difficulty in the dungeons ramps up at a good rate to teach you how to play the game, and the dating interactions are very forgiving, as well. You do not die in this game, and the worst that can happen to a relationship is you become great friends instead of a perfect romantic couple. There is even an easier mode option in the menu for the combat. Enable the “Goddess Shield” to take 50% less damage in combat.
The game did have a bit of a rocky release for a very specific reason that has already been addressed as best as it can be in game. The content warning in the review mentions stalking. This is because of the main villain in the game. You go one date with him and he becomes obsessed with you, following you throughout the town, interrupting your dates, and sending you creepy and eventually threatening text messages.
While Boyfriend Dungeon has a lot of flexibility in the dating simulator and combat styles, you are literally forced to follow through this storyline. You reach a point that every dialogue option you have forces you to confront this character and his big evil plan. The content warning in-game has been updated to better reflect this, but it is still the primary plot in this game. Be safe and understand that there is nothing wrong with choosing not to interact with a piece of media that can potentially cause you harm.
I give Kitfox Games a lot of credit for how they approach the game at all. For one thing, there are credited sensitivity readers who worked with them on how to handle the content in the game in a responsible way. The main story is upsetting, but it did not feel exploitative or overbearing for me as I played.
For another, this is a queer dating simulator in a way I haven’t seen handled this well before. You get to choose your pronouns at the start of the game and change them anytime you choose to. The characters in the game are all open to dating you regardless of your gender expression and are programmed to adapt to your identity as the game goes on. You also have access to all hairstyles, clothing, and accessories you unlock. Did I choose to dress as a magical girl for a while because I could? Absolutely I did.
There are non-binary and cisgender characters in the game, as well as characters on the aro/ace spectrum. The game can get spicy if you want it to, but those scenes are all presented as white text on a black background; none of the explicit content is actually shown. You are more in control of that than the overriding plot, as you always have a non-physical option when your dates have the chance to get more intimate. Consent is huge in the game, as the other characters will always ask you for permission before they do anything; they will also treat any of your choices as their opportunity to say no to you.
You can even avoid romance all together with any character, and there’s even a friendly neighborhood cat you can go on playdates with that is never a potential romantic partner. The cat is one of the last characters you’ll unlock, but I’m already committed to starting another playthrough to speedrun to best boy Pocket and go on all our possible outings to pet cafes, museums, and fancy restaurants.
Each possible partner is a different style of weapon that handles combat in varying ways. You start with Isaac the Estoc, a fencing sword who gains power by blocking. You’ll soon unlock Valeria, a dagger who gains power by dodging out of sight for sneak attacks, and Sunder, a talwar fueled by blood. Other characters give you a laser sword, brass knuckles, a scythe, or a glaive. They all have their own advantages and disadvantages and you can trade out partners between the floors in the dungeon.
The dungeons are themed after you fears, which you unlock and learn to cope with as you descend further into the Dunj. The mall is filled with phones and kisses that become more menacing as you progress. You find blueprints along the way for special moves and gather coffee drinks to refill your life meter. Keep your eyes open for breakable walls that bring you either to challenge rooms filled with safes to unlock or a special store in the mall for rare supplies. Finally, you can unlock little mini-dates at mall staples, like an ice cream stand or an arcade, that let you build up your relationship faster. Seal the deal with a gift you build on your workbench, but be warned that each character has their own tastes and will straight up reject a gift if they’re not interested.
Boyfriend Dungeon is a fun, novel hybrid dating sim/dungeon crawler with a lot of replay value. Kitfox Games has confirmed that two more dateable characters will be patched into the game soon. They also want to potentially add a third dungeon to explore, but want to make sure the fear actually fits the story they want to tell. The developers are listening to feedback and addressing what the players want to see in the game.
Boyfriend Dungeon is available on PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. You can play it for free on Xbox Game Pass.
