noun
1. A video game subgenre, usually Japanese but slowly seeing exposure abroad, that simulates a romantic experience. The game play can have a multitude of mini-games and puzzles, but most have the objective of playing as a character that is courting several characters to try and achieve a romantic relationship.
EX. The pic above doesn't really sum up a "dating sim" although it is a simulation of courting in a video game. For a hilarious dating sim, check out...
Hatoful Boyfriend is a dating sim where you are a human girl going to highschool with and dating talking pigeons. This is a satire of the often silly/bizarre/just plaid odd subgenre that often crosses the line into various perverse fetishes (like a game where all of the prospective dates have disabilities (I might talk about this one sometime)), stereotypical anime cliches (harem anime, tsundere, etc.), and odd translations that create something that to the "irony"-- I do not think that word means what I think it means-- loving gamer is a goldmine of humor.
