Month: January 2025

This is ninth of ten essays contained within the second issue of the Adult Analysis Anthology, an experimental collection of longform writing that seeks to expand the breadth of critical discourse around adult games and adult game culture. I will be re-publishing the web versions of all essays from the first two issues of the anthology to this blog over the course of the next few months, but if you’d like to support the creation of more high-quality writing about adult games the full anthology is available for purchase on Itch! Anthology logo by Pillow!

Written By: Laney Norman

Growing up with unfettered access to the internet in the early 2000’s gave me an early introduction to the wide world of adult media, especially games. They’re engaging, creative, and sometimes taboo with how they depict sex and intimacy. The best part is that they’re interactive, giving the stories an extra level of immersion. Porn games aren’t often seen as therapeutic, but in my adult life they ended up being a strategy to repair my personal relationship with sexuality.

Following an experience of sexual trauma, I wasn’t really focused on my own physical and mental safety when I pursued intimate relationships. This is a common coping response in those who have experienced sexual assault or other types of sexual trauma. According to the 2019 study “Navigating Sex and Sexuality after Sexual Assault”, victims of sexual assault often experience changes in sexuality in response to their assault. “Changes in sexuality included loss of interest in sex, increase or change in sexual partners, engaging in sex work, and increased sexual behavior.” (O’Callaghan) There’s no one way of coping with sexual trauma, so there are many ways this can present in survivors.

I would go on “Tinder binges” where I’d be on my phone for hours, swiping and chatting with almost anyone who spoke to me, looking for any sense of connection. Every time I’d get a notification, I’d feel a little thrill of potential and throw caution to the wind to pursue these kernels of intimacy. Dating apps are becoming more and more game-ified. In “The Brain and Swiping for Love”, Samantha Beck describes gamification of dating apps as “the idea of applying game elements to non-gaming situations—like dating. This unhealthy environment of unlimited swipes convinces users that there are always new people to meet and potential matches to be made, even if that is not necessarily the truth.” (Beck, p 111)

Disregarding my safety completely, I would go out, putting myself in risky and dangerous situations in an attempt to feel some sort of connection. Most of these encounters left me with more baggage to unpack rather than anything that felt like a fulfilling way to be intimate. I was hurting in many ways and how I was engaging with any form of intimacy or sexuality was harming me rather than helping me.

Continue reading ““I’m Game If You Are” – Reclaiming Consent Through Porn Games” →

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This is eighth of ten essays contained within the second issue of the Adult Analysis Anthology, an experimental collection of longform writing that seeks to expand the breadth of critical discourse around adult games and adult game culture. I will be re-publishing the web versions of all essays from the first two issues of the anthology to this blog over the course of the next few months, but if you’d like to support the creation of more high-quality writing about adult games the full anthology is available for purchase on Itch! Anthology logo by Pillow!

Written By: Leo G.

It’s 2004 and you’re horny. So you type into Internet Explorer the naughty words “porn game boobs” and click the first result. It’s a Macromedia Flash game! And it’s using the crustiest jpegs of anime girls you’ve ever seen.

It’s 2007 and you’re horny. So you type into your Wii Opera browser the naughty words “porn game boobs” and click the first result. It’s an Adobe Flash game! And it’s using the most obviously traced vector art of anime girls you’ve ever seen.

It’s 2024 and you’re horny. So you type into your VPN enabled Firefox browser the naughty words “porn game boobs” and click the first result. It’s an HTML5 Unity game! And it’s using the most beautiful art of anime girls you’ve ever seen.

The game says it’s got 50 girls to romance, each with 9 unique sex scenes. That’s 450 drawings of women getting railed, not counting any possible portrait or talk sprites. And all this for only $9.99? Before, those adult flash games were free, but if there’s this much content maybe it’s worth shelling out a couple of bucks. However, maybe I’m an experienced shopper, but where one might see a great deal, I see nothing but red flags.

Then it hits: something’s wrong. Maybe it’s how the same girl never has the same exact design details. Or maybe it’s the way her musculature will be off that’s questionable. And whoever the artist is seems to only know a handful of poses despite their masterful grasp on painterly renders. No, your intuition is actually working, that feeling is your gut instinct taking a trip through the uncanny valley. A human didn’t make this, a machine did.

Continue reading “The Quality And Quantity Quandary Of Adult Games” →

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PICTURED: Splash art from Opportunity of Juniper encouraging Jacqueline during a workout.

Juniper

My intention when setting out to produce Opportunity was for Jacqueline to be supported by a pair of her best friends: Olive and Juniper. In the finest traditions of fictional trios, if Jacqueline was our Fairly Average One and Olive was The One Who Is Short And Round, it naturally followed that Juniper would need to be The One Who Is Tall And Thin. I had originally planned for Olive and Juniper to have roughly equal prominence in the story, but things didn’t really work out that way – Olive wound up enjoying much, MUCH greater prominence than originally envisioned, while I think Juniper unfortunately fades into the background somewhat. In some ways, I think this perhaps mirrors the three women’s friendship. Yes, it’s true that Jacqueline, Olive, and Juniper are a group of three best friends, but I think they all privately understand that Jacqueline and Olive are the capital-B capital-F Best Friends in the equation.

(Reminder: significant plot spoilers to follow below the cut!)

Continue reading “Opportunity Retrospective Part 5: Juniper, Rose, and Kate” →

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This is seventh of ten essays contained within the second issue of the Adult Analysis Anthology, an experimental collection of longform writing that seeks to expand the breadth of critical discourse around adult games and adult game culture. I will be re-publishing the web versions of all essays from the first two issues of the anthology to this blog over the course of the next few months, but if you’d like to support the creation of more high-quality writing about adult games the full anthology is available for purchase on Itch! Anthology logo by Pillow!

Written By: blit

Heads up: this essay contains mentions of bondage, transformation, extreme size differences, and complicated consent.

Coziness in Games; An Exploration of Safety, Softness, and Satisfied Needs was published in 2017, and still shows up in gamedev discourse today. The business part of the title (aafer the semicolon) tells the reader what’s up: we’re here to talk about feeling safe, satisfied and soft.

  • Coziness, to the authors, is safe. Cozy experiences are low risk, and often stress familiarity, reliability or openness to vulnerability.
  • Coziness is, to the authors, abundant. Basic needs are being fulfilled – things like shelter, food, and water. This gives cozy experiences the time to focus on other needs, like connection, belonging, and intimacy.
  • Coziness is, to the authors, soft. They’re talking about an aesthetic sense of softness here, the ways we use art to signal to someone that they can let their guard down, relax and move a little more slowly. Communication is authentic, sincere.

So, then, how do porn games help foster experiences like this? I’d like to talk about three adult games I’ve played and how I’ve found them cozy:

Continue reading “This Abundance Of Sex Is Kinda Nice, Actually” →

PICTURED: Diogenes and Nadia enjoy a quiet moment.

Happy January, everyone! For better or for worse, we’re in 2025 now! Sorry for being a couple of days late with this one – my only excuse is that I’ve yet to get a new wall calendar and it completely slipped my mind. Let’s get to the update. (This update is crossposted from the monthly BP Games newsletter.)

Continue reading “January 2025 Update: Kicking Things Off Late” →

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This is sixth of ten essays contained within the second issue of the Adult Analysis Anthology, an experimental collection of longform writing that seeks to expand the breadth of critical discourse around adult games and adult game culture. I will be re-publishing the web versions of all essays from the first two issues of the anthology to this blog over the course of the next few months, but if you’d like to support the creation of more high-quality writing about adult games the full anthology is available for purchase on Itch! Anthology logo by Pillow!

Written By: LewdNeko

It’s the end of a long day… I strip out of my work clothes, grab my Lovense vibrator, and sit myself in front of my computer to boot up some of my favorite porn games. And once I’m settled and ready for some well-deserved stress relief… I hit the “go live” button.

I’m LewdNeko, a virtual camgirl, and I stream porn games.

Continue reading “Cumming Together: Lewdtubing, Eroge, And Community” →

PICTURED: Earliest piece of Roman’s concept art, showcasing what would become his default look for the first three chapters, plus some sample facial expressions.

Roman

Being far and away the most visible of the story’s two straight male characters, and the only one who gets any presence in sex scenes (sorry, Clayton), Roman bears a lot of responsibility across his broad shoulders.

A lot of things about Roman as a character were approached from the angle of specifically considering a type of frustrated-straight-Millennial-woman wish fulfillment. Roman is older than Jacqueline (44 to her 32), old enough to convey a sense of maturity and wisdom, but not so old as to put him far beyond the age range that women identifying with Jacqueline might consider dating (and not so old as to make his sexual stamina feel unbelievable). He’s wealthy, but not to an absurd, unimaginable degree, and his wealth came to him at least partially via his own ability (all of which soothes the conscience of anyone dating him). He’s gentle, kind, and respectful of Jacqueline’s boundaries – but can be assertive when it’s hot for him to be so. Despite his fabulous wealth, Roman isn’t a sleazy playboy or weird grindset hustler or an anti-aging-mumbo-jumbo freak – he’s sort of a dorky homebody whose primary hobby is fixing up old transistor radios (while also being tall and muscular with a great head of hair). A lot of what makes Roman Roman has been fine-tuned to make him into the sort of sugar daddy where someone could look at him and say “well… if it were HIM, I suppose I wouldn’t mind…”

(Reminder: significant plot spoilers to follow below the cut!)

Continue reading “Opportunity Retrospective Part 4: Roman, Olive, and Olive’s Family” →

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This is fifth of ten essays contained within the second issue of the Adult Analysis Anthology, an experimental collection of longform writing that seeks to expand the breadth of critical discourse around adult games and adult game culture. I will be re-publishing the web versions of all essays from the first two issues of the anthology to this blog over the course of the next few months, but if you’d like to support the creation of more high-quality writing about adult games the full anthology is available for purchase on Itch! Anthology logo by Pillow!

Written By: MadCreativity

As the developer of a erotic visual novel, I’ve had my fair share of difficulties when it comes to properly marketing and publishing. Initially deciding to sell it on Steam, Itch.io, and DLsite, I later reached out to Fakku and Kagura Games for the possibility of publishing it there. Throughout my research and interactions, I couldn’t help but notice some incredibly glaring issues that seemed to me to be somewhat discouraging for the sale of games such as my own.

Even just after the release of the demo, we received a few complaints from players who had been expecting a female-on-female game or who wanted an option to make the protagonist male. More surprising, though, was that Fakku, Kagura Games, and DLsite required various states of censorship, with one not even permitting NSFW screenshots on the game page.

The way things currently stand, NSFW games (and porn games, hentai games, etc.) are at a unique disadvantage in the games market. For instance, many platforms and systems, such as Nintendo consoles, downright forbid NSFW games. The same applies to many mobile app stores, resulting in a significant decrease in potential customers. For PC games, there are several different storefronts to choose from. The most popular option is likely Steam, as it has a user-base so large that it borders on a monopoly, with recommendation methods and guaranteed refunds that put it at the top of the industry. For many indie developers, another popular option is Itch.io, for its easy, free uploads. If you make indie games, you’ll probably want your games on at least one of these platforms, if not both.

Continue reading “What Makes A Game Storefront NSFW-Friendly?” →