I’m not unfamiliar with dating simulator games. I bought into the Dream Daddy craze back in 2017 when it was all the rage, and—not to immediately out myself as a weirdo already—I even played a pigeon dating simulator game that was pretty good. So, when I heard about a dating simulator version of the horror video game Dead by Daylight, you can imagine how excited and amused I was.
The dating sim, titled Hooked On You, was released by Dead by Daylight‘s developers themselves. It might seem like a prank or a novelty—well, it sort of is—but according to Polygon and a friend of mine who plays Dead by Deadlight religiously, the game “has a notoriously thirsty fan base”.
Hooked On You gives players the opportunity to get to know their favourite notorious Killers. It includes The Trapper—an “apex alpha male and chiseled man-mountain who enjoys killing in caves, beaches, and pools”, The Huntress—a “loveable squirrel-eating lady” with “out of this world” arms, The Wraith—“a quiet, inquisitive, sensitive boy underneath a sinewy man”, and The Spirit—who “isn’t your average goth girlfriend”.
In the game, you wake up on an island surrounded by the Killers. But instead of instantly shanking you and hanging you up on a hook like they do in Dead By Daylight, they want to play beach volleyball and maybe kiss a little. You can choose which Killer you want to spend time with, attend beach activities, and play an occasional minigame.
If you make the right choices, then you get to have a good ending to one of these deadly Killers. But if you’re unlucky and make the wrong chocies… you get stabbed—in good-old Dead By Daylight style.
According to some reviews, the dating sim aspect dissapointed them because it seems to be “a bit tame”. But that’s how a lot of the dating sim games are like—as they concentrate more on story and characters rather than seeing a particularly horny end.
Still, I’m personally very curious to see how it plays out. I’m vageuly familiar with the Dead By Daylight game by watching a few playthroughs, and it’s got a loyal fanbase of gamers who appreciate the horror genre. If there are enough comments under this article or on our social media pages asking for a full review, I will happily play Hooked On You to satisfy your curiousity and for my enjoyment on company time. Let me know!
