Gaming Review: Is ‘UncleNeighbor’ As Good As ‘Dream Daddy?’

Image via Game Uncle

Need something small and gay to play? We might have the perfect game for you.

Back in 2017, gaymers united to celebrate the creation of Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator. The game, made by YouTube channel and online content creators Game Grumps, was a dating sim where players could date a series of dad archetypes: the sporty dad, the church dad, the frenemy dad, the artsy dad, the loner dad, and more. And it seems Dream Daddy was so beloved that it inspired a new game called UncleNeighbor.

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The Good

Created by Chinese indie developer Game Uncle, UncleNeighbor: Uncle Dating Simulator is a lot like Dream Daddy. In this game, you move to a new neighborhood and meet a series of uncles who live nearby. From a cop to a jock to a florist, a farmer, and your boss, there are plenty of date options out there. In fact, Uncle Neighbor has more dating options than the original game!

But how does this new game work? Well, this is a dating sim. This type of game is a visual novel that is primarily text-based. You make story-altering decisions through text choices and follow along with a largely text-based narrative. UncleNeighbor, however, tries to expand on the player’s experience, so you’re not just reading for hours and hours. The game does this by including several mini-games.

Once your character has gotten through the first 20 minutes, or so, and greeted the eligible bachelors in your area, you can explore their love stories by interacting with the main menu. Like Dream Daddy, the player can choose a moment (like DD’s dates) with one character before hoping to a moment with another character.

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But possibly one of the BEST aspects of the game is the fact it’s NSFW. While Dream Daddy was made by a mainstream YouTube channel, they strived to keep the gay romances as representative as possible. That said, it’s mainstream appeal meant keeping the game SFW (for the most part). NeighborUncle is not so limited, so gaymers can enjoy uncensored sex scenes in every character route. Even better, players can decide whether their character is a top or a bottom in those scenes. We love the versatility! And if you aren’t a fan of NSFW content, you can switch that feature off in the game’s settings.

Image via Game Uncle

The Bad

Though, UncleNeighbor isn’t a perfect game. It does come with limitations. For instance, the game is fairly basic visually. While a lot of attention was given to gameplay features like diverse mini-games, the game’s backgrounds are pretty bland. In addition, the 12 romance options are all pretty sparse in variety. With just one Black man and all the men having muscular builds, there’s not much of a dynamic experience with UncleNeighbor’s visuals. Even Dream Daddy had men of multiple ethnicities and body shapes.

Another unfortunate factor of this game is that the English translation needs work. With clear grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, you can tell that this game wasn’t originally made for English readers. To be fair, this is something that the developer is actively trying to fix. Game Uncle has hired a new translator to correct the English text and will continue to update the game for free. This includes offering new features to the game.

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Image via Game Uncle

Get The Game

Overall, the game is simple but an interesting experience that’s worth a play. Even better, it’s just $14! That’s cheap for a gaming experience that can last you several hours. Imagine spending those $14 to play for a few weeks instead of buying a movie ticket or some other temporary form of entertainment. And with the game getting updated regularly for the foreseeable future, you’re guaranteed to get a better experience over the long run.

If you’re interested in playing UncleNeighor: Uncle Dating Simulator, you can buy the game on Steam for $14.00 or download the demo at  itch.io.

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