Not nearly enough women but multiple non-binary lovelies, which is always welcome. There is also a delightful variety of love interests in the game. This forms an aggressively compelling gameplay loop that’s constantly feeding into itself to keep you going. You can even find Hangout Spots inside the dungeon to take quick breaks with your weapon and give them gifts, which you craft at home using recipes you find in the dungeon. You go on dates to increase Love Ranks which unlock new abilities, which you can then use in the dungeon to get more Love XP so you can go on more dates. That cap is then increased by going on a date with them out in the town and progressing their storyline. You fill up the Love XP bar by fighting in the dungeon until it reaches a cap.
Each weapon has a series of Love Ranks that you climb by spending time with them both in and out of battle.
But what makes the overall experience compelling is how intrinsically the two are linked. To be clear, Boyfriend Dungeon is much more a dating sim than it is a dungeon-crawler, with the character drama and relationships have way more depth and complexity than the combat ever manages. So you work your way through the dungeons as you solve the mystery, find the bad guy, and make some friends (or something more?) along the way. The primary conflict of the plot is a mystery of someone who’s been damaging weapons and leaving them in the dunj.
These lovely people are able to transform into various bladed weapons that you can wield in battle and go on dates with in your free time. Moreover, the weapons you use in these dungeons are actually shapeshifting attractive singles in your area. Going into the dungeon beneath the town (which everyone calls ‘The Dunj’) and fighting monsters born of your deepest insecurities is apparently the best way to gain confidence and strength. The first step to do so, it seems, is to get fit and the latest fitness fad in Verona Beach is… dungeon crawling. You have moved to the coastal town of Verona Beach to spend your summer vacation with your cousin Jesse who, at your mum’s request, has decided to help you become a more outgoing and social person. The premise of the game is as simple as it is absurd.
Cheekily referred to by the developer as “shack-and-slash”, Boyfriend Dungeon is part dungeon crawler and part dating sim. Since the overwhelming success of its Kickstarter campaign, developer Kitfox has been quietly working on their bizarre genre mashup. Well, this was just delightful! The name Boyfriend Dungeon has been pottering around the internet ever since it was first announced in 2017.