Best Switch Dating Sim Visual Novels

The place for all of the best visual novels and dating sims used to be the PlayStation Vita, but following its tragic demise the Nintendo Switch has more than stepped up to the plate. Of all the modern consoles, the Switch is the place to go to play games with romance options, meaning that players are spoiled for choice. If you’ve been browsing the Switch’s library looking for your next dating sim visual novel to play, we have ten of our favorites that we want to recommend.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!

The original Doki Doki Literature Club launched in 2017, so it’s likely that you know the twist by now. Aside from being a romance visual novel, it’s also a horror game with plenty of meta, and fourth-wall breaking techniques that work to make you feel uneasy, and chill your bones. However, the horror elements of Doki Doki Literature Club make for a more touching and overall more emotional story and game.

The original was free-to-play, but the Switch version Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! adds so many more touching moments. There are a number of additional episodes that show our four main characters interacting with each other outside of the titular literature club. You get to learn more about their backstories, as well as their relationships to each other. Doki Doki is so much more than a visual novel, and for those who love puzzles and easter eggs, you’ll find a lot more by exploring the in-game PC.

Collar X Malice

On the surface Collar X Malice is your standard otome visual novel, but the themes are intriguing enough to carry the story by itself even if you aren’t into dudes. Collar X Malice is set in a time where mass police and government incompetence has led to the rise of a vigilante group, Adonis, which has pledged to sort out the crime and inequality that is rampant throughout the city. The group holds an eye-for-an-eye mentality, and Collar X Malice brings up the moral dilemma of how to get justice when the system doesn’t work.

Our protagonist is a cop living at a time when confidence in the police is almost zero. She approaches a private agency and asks them for help getting to the bottom of the current vigilantism crisis. What’s interesting is that the game doesn’t tell you what to believe, instead it is portrayed as the morally gray topic it truly is. Each route leads to the true ending, giving you a sense of accomplishment as you make your way through the story. One of the best overarching stories in any romance game.

Chaos;Child

Chaos;Child is part of what I like to call the semicolon series that includes the hugely popular Steins;Gate. Just like Steins;Gate it has an intriguing story you can enjoy without the romance, but there are also romantic undertones between our protagonist, and the many women in his life. In Japan they released a side story that is exclusively a dating sim to tie in with the game called Chaos;Child Love Chu Chu. However, you can experience romance without learning another language.

Chaos;Child is set in a world where several people have awoken to their psychic abilities. While these superhuman talents should be seen as a benefit, a serial killer is on the loose targeting those who have these powers. Knowing several people with these special abilities, our protagonist is desperate to solve the murders before everyone he loves is gone. Just like Steins;Gate it has multiple endings, and you’ll want to play through several times to see all of the positive and negative outcomes.

Nurse Love Addiction

There are two games in this series available on Nintendo Switch, but they are both stand alone tales, and Nurse Love Addiction is our favorite of the two. The Nurse Love stories are yuri dating sims, meaning that they are based on the relationships between two women, and they play very differently to your standard heterosexual romance. Each route and romance shows a deep tenderness, and is (mostly) cemented in reality rather than an emotional rollercoaster.

Our protagonist Asuka is floating aimlessly through life like a jellyfish on the waves. She decides to join the nursing school where her younger sister studies. She even moves into the same dorm as her sister as she feels like she can’t manage on her own. It’s not just about the romantic partnerships that she forges along the way, but Asuka’s personal growth as she tries to stand on her own for the first time.

The House in Fata Morgana

The House in Fata Morgana is very strict on the meaning of visual novel. There is almost no player interaction with the game, but the story is so intricately woven, and expansive that you don’t need to have an impact on it to improve the experience. The master of the house wakes up with no knowledge of their past, and the manor’s maid by their side. She guides you through the doors of the titular house telling various stories from throughout the domicile’s history.

The thread between the stories is a young person with albinism who appears in every tale no matter the time period. You have to figure out how your past ties to the house’s other residents, and why history has repeated itself time after time. It is both one of the longest and highest-rated visual novels of all time, and once you have played it for yourself, you’ll see why it is worth every word.

Muv-Luv

People say that the Muv-Luv trilogy reaches its stride with the second game Muv-Luv Unlimited, however, we recommend that players start where it all begins with Muv-Luv. The first game in the series is a simple slice-of-life adventure where our protagonist Takeru can choose between the many women in his life. The main two love interests are Takeru’s childhood best friend, and a rich but sheltered girl who is new to town, but there are other girls in his class he can date too.

This simple setup is vital for fully understanding and enjoying the next two entries, Muv-Luv Unlimited and Muv-Luv Alternative. It introduces you to most of the characters to the story, and lets you see Takeru’s normal life before things go off the deep end. Without spoiling what is in store, it’s an epic adventure dating sim that is worth sinking a hundred hours or so into.

Gnosia

If you’ve ever played Among Us you know the basic plot of Gnosia. You are out on a space station with various others, and some of them are infected with Gnosia, which turns them against their crewmates. You use social deduction to figure out who has the disease and put them in cryogenic stasis before they wreak havoc on the ship. The twist here is that you will be reliving the experience over and over with increasingly more complicated mechanics.

Not everything continues between loops, but your knowledge of each crewmate, the things they like and the things they do will expand each time you meet them. This means that every loop your deductions – in theory – become more accurate as you get to know how people work, and how they would act in certain situations. Once you have met all the characters Gnosia opens up, and you can control different factors in each loop and get closer to certain cohabitees.

Jack Jeanne

One of our favorite recent otome games, we almost considered putting it on the list of dating sims that aren’t visual novels. Unlike many of the other games on this list, Jack Jeanne has a number of gameplay modes that don’t surround player choice, most notably the numerous rhythm sections. You play a promising upcoming actor, but the best acting school where you live only accepts men, and you’re a woman. However, amazed by your talent the director approaches you and asks you to enroll while disguising your gender.

In an all boys acting school, males have to take on the female roles in the performances. This is why students are split into the mascs, the Jacks, and the femmes, the Jeannes. Because of this the characters of Jack Jeanne are used to people challenging the typical gender norms, and a new normal emerges in this enclosed society. The play on gender, and inclusion of rhythm game elements leads to a truly unique otome experience.

Slay the Princess

Unlike Jack Jeanne the gameplay in Slay the Princess focuses heavily on the choices you make. That being said, it gives you seemingly endless options to choose from. Each fork in the road has literally dozens of options you can choose from, making you feel more in charge of where the story goes than most other games. Each decision you make has a drastic outcome on the story in a way that feels refreshing when compared to the majority of dating sims.

There are only three characters in Slay the Princess: the Princess, the Narrator, and you. The Princess changes based on things you say, how you treat her, and how you react to her. Sometimes you go past the point of no return, and there is no way to undo the things you have done, but that is the point. While the Princess and you wrestle over and over in ways that can range from sweet, to slaughterous, to sad, it truly is a love story.

VA-11 HALL-A

VA-11 HALL-A’s catchphrase is “It’s time to mix drinks and change lives” and that describes the game precisely. You play Jill, a bartender in a futuristic saloon, whose job is to make drinks and talk to customers. Players can influence the story by giving the customers the drinks they want, rather than the ones they ask for, because in the world of VA-11 HALL-A the customer isn’t always right.

It’s a deep character study surrounding not just Jill, and the affection she holds for her boss, but each person that comes to the bar, and the effect that just having someone to talk to has on their lives. Outside of the story, you can use the wages from the bar to design your room and make things feel more homey, making Jill just a little more upbeat. It’s a story about caring for others, but also taking care of yourself.

What are some of your favorite visual novels? Or which visual novels are you looking forward to getting your hands on? Let us know in the comments below.

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