This is tenth of fourteen essays contained within the third issue of the Adult Analysis Anthology, a collection of longform writing that seeks to expand the breadth of critical discourse around adult games and adult game culture. 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:MxMorganic
Steam tells me I bought Scarlet Maiden on March 16, 2023. I remember being intrigued by the gameplay, but more than anything I was sold by the visuals: the pixel art and animations were crisp, it was a treat for the eyes, and it was incredibly sexy. It looked hot, it looked loaded with adult content, and between those specifics and my omnipresent interest in new, high-quality porn games, buying was a no-brainer.
When I pitched this article, I knew I wanted to talk about Scarlet Maiden, because despite never finishing it, I thought about it often. I remember appreciating how it didn’t waste my time before letting me actually play it. I woke up as Scarlet, the game’s protagonist, got enough plot to justify sending me into the game’s randomly-generating dungeon, and within minutes was hacking and slashing my way through monsters, avoiding spikes and traps, and repeatedly dying to the Triboob warriors because they hit like a truck and I hadn’t mastered the dodging yet.





