Polygamy Question: Why aren't there any or more VN games about Polygamy?

[XCIX99]

Why aren't there any or more VN games about Polygamy?

Does it even have a tag? Besides, harem, I mean.

If its possible to sexualize "my little pony," put male members on women, urinate on another person as a sex act, and use them as the base of a game/VN, then why isn't the very alpha male act of courting, marrying, and managing/protecting multiple wives more popular in these type of games?

Do you think it is because marriage is not very erotic?

And/or is polygamy stigmatized due to religion and so it's not considered a fetish?

So, now we are aroused by the idea of a harem-- having sex with a group of committed but unmarried women--and find it erotic, yet as soon as we add the idea of marriage to them it stops being porn?

I think there are some interesting stories that could be told in a VN/game, but maybe I am too weird even for a site like this! Ha!

 

[BakaChan]

My Opinion- A lot of animes have harem and polygami stuff in isekai world. its rather considered normal (kind of not so erotic?). people usually like taboo stuff... so more games on it.

 

[XCIX99]

My Opinion- A lot of animes have harem and polygami stuff in isekai world. its rather considered normal (kind of not so erotic?). people usually like taboo stuff... so more games on it.

Yeah, I like to overthink things, so that is why it is so interesting to me. As soon as you make the informal relationships formal with fictional legal structure--polygamy is not very legal in most places--, the taboo element seems goes away.

 

[Unnerving3260]

Have you tried Reunion? MC starts in a poly relationship with two women and then tries to convince the others to join in, to which they initially react with the kind of horror you'd expect from such a wild proposal.

As for why harem and not polygamy, my personal guess is that it's easier to write and justify, and when you're really in it for the sex, you don't need to over complicate it with marriage and legalese and all that stuff, when the story's far more likely to end long before that.

 

[Umatsu]

Erotic VN are mostly based on phatasms, on relations outside of marriage or hypothetic marriage settings.

 

[Unknownadd]

I think you're getting things politically mixed a bit. Polygamy and Polyandry have nothing to do with marriage and marriage has nothing to do with relationships. There is also nothing on the books that make polygamy illegal. Heck, polygamy is practiced in the US to this day.

Strictly speaking marriage and monogamy are in place because it make legal inheritance easier to manage by a governing body. If you're speaking in the past and the Christian concept of marriage it is because the church managed bloodlines and lineages of royalty so it was easier to determine who inherited what country or land by limiting the partners of the women and making partnerships official. Then the common people would mimic the royalty and the old styles of relationships faded out of favor. In England a common man would treat women like livestock and could have several if they could support them. It was also a common story that a method of breaking off a relationship legally would be to hitch the woman to a post in the town square and auction her off to her next 'husband'.

Harems and polygamy still existed in the religious and legal systems across the world. That's where mistresses, multiple wives, and concubines comes from. Heck, bastards were still a thing since polygamous relations would still occur after people were married.


The reason why the concept of having and managing multiple wives does not pop up too often in games is simply because it's boring. Just like how the tedious aspects of having and raising children is commonly glossed over.

 

[Umatsu]

I think you're getting things politically mixed a bit. Polygamy and Polyandry have nothing to do with marriage and marriage has nothing to do with relationships. There is also nothing on the books that make polygamy illegal. Heck, polygamy is practiced in the US to this day.

Strictly speaking marriage and monogamy are in place because it make legal inheritance easier to manage by a governing body. If you're speaking in the past and the Christian concept of marriage it is because the church managed bloodlines and lineages of royalty so it was easier to determine who inherited what country or land by limiting the partners of the women and making partnerships official. Then the common people would mimic the royalty and the old styles of relationships faded out of favor. In England a common man would treat women like livestock and could have several if they could support them. It was also a common story that a method of breaking off a relationship legally would be to hitch the woman to a post in the town square and auction her off to her next 'husband'.

Harems and polygamy still existed in the religious and legal systems across the world. That's where mistresses, multiple wives, and concubines comes from. Heck, bastards were still a thing since polygamous relations would still occur after people were married.


The reason why the concept of having and managing multiple wives does not pop up too often in games is simply because it's boring. Just like how the tedious aspects of having and raising children is commonly glossed over.

Good points.

 

[zombiedaddy]

I'd play a serious non-harem poly game, if only they existed.

 

[Unknownadd]

I'd play a serious non-harem poly game, if only they existed.

Paradox games and Europa Universalis. LOL
You can have recognized polygamous marriages if you run the cultural body that you a part of. Then polygamous marriages gets REAL political as you get casus belli on territory depending on which of your wives popped out the kid and who they were related to.

Its...not very sexy

 

[zombiedaddy]

Well, that's not quite what i had in mind, but thanks.

 

[TheVampirate]

Why aren't there any or more VN games about Polygamy?

Does it even have a tag? Besides, harem, I mean.


Do you think it is because marriage is not very erotic?

is polygamy ... not considered a fetish?

I think there are some interesting stories that could be told in a VN/game, but maybe I am too weird even for a site like this! Ha!

Marriage in games especially to multiple people happen in the endings/ epilogues. 90% of games are harem, most games let you get in 3+somes and very few games penalize you for dating multiple women, thats not polygamy? If you make your own game, you'll probably find the more niche the fetish the less the general public wants it and this is a very niche subset of a genre that is popular. Usually putting in a change like that will cost you supporters who dont like how you've changed the story and characters you've invested in just like adding in NTR is like touching the third rail.

TLDR: you might lose more supporters by adding it in and messing with the story that people like.

 

[XCIX99]

Have you tried Reunion? MC starts in a poly relationship with two women and then tries to convince the others to join in, to which they initially react with the kind of horror you'd expect from such a wild proposal.

As for why harem and not polygamy, my personal guess is that it's easier to write and justify, and when you're really in it for the sex, you don't need to over complicate it with marriage and legalese and all that stuff, when the story's far more likely to end long before that.

Thanks for the recommendation. Also, yeah, I agree that it would complicate the story a lot: probably too much, lol.

 

[TheVampirate]

Paradox games and Europa Universalis. LOL
You can have recognized polygamous marriages if you run the cultural body that you a part of. Then polygamous marriages gets REAL political as you get casus belli on territory depending on which of your wives popped out the kid and who they were related to.

Its...not very sexy

EU4 has no Polygamy if i recall the game you're thinking of is Crusader Kings 3. You might be able to have multiple royal marriages with countries in EU4 but that doesn't necessarily mean the king is marrying everyone, its just mixing the royal families like they did in europe back in the day and you play as a country not as a character like in CK3

 

[XCIX99]

I'd play a serious non-harem poly game, if only they existed.

Me too. I bet it would very challenging to write and as some have said here, not very popular for most people. Another weird VN concept that would be as challenging that is similar is one between just a newly married husband and wife. In theory it could be done, but it would have to have super amazing writing.

The only reason I mention anything like this is because visual novels bring so many great stories to life. I think if we did a poll and got honest answers, most folks would confess that almost all porn is lame. The reason, I think, is because there is no story.

Maybe I am just projecting, but I personally hate porn but visual novels with great story are "more" than porn, Right?

 

[Unknownadd]

EU4 has no Polygamy if i recall the game you're thinking of is Crusader Kings 3. You might be able to have multiple royal marriages with countries in EU4 but that doesn't necessarily mean the king is marrying everyone, its just mixing the royal families like they did in europe back in the day and you play as a country not as a character like in CK3

Oops you're right. It was CK.

Anyhow, anything that deals with multiple marriages tend to have a deep political aspect to it. Otherwise it's just 'balance the relationship number' and gets boring.

 

[3dloli]

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[madrigal1826]

part of it may be how games are rarely fully completed. A harem game may become a polygamy game in the epilogue or later chapters. It just gets abandoned until it hits that point.

 

[Hakacu]

Most of the games not even harem.
They are just unfinished projects with man whore root.

 

[Unknownadd]

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Your family tree is a Celtic knot...


Another scenario that sounds sexy but is extremely tedious and boring...

Step 1) Play as a Danish lord (IE Viking)
Step 2) Raise levies and create a raiding party
Step 3) Sail to and conduct raids on Constantinople. Depending on some dice rolls you have a chance to take hostages when you succeed
Step 4) Get REALLY lucky and keep raiding Constantinople till you have the entire Imperial family hostage (Emperor, Empress, and their direct line children)
Step 5) Return to your lands and throw the hostages in prison. Succession is not calculated unless the leader is dead or is replaced so the Emperor and Empress will remain in office in jail. If you took only the Emperor then the Empress (which has the Imperial blood) will remarry and crown a new Emperor and if you took only the Empress the Emperor will stay in power.
Step 6) 'Offer' the position of consort to the Empress and her daughters. As they are prisoners they cannot reject and you now have a forced harem of Imperial Roman wives. This will piss off your culture
Step 7) Ritualistically sacrifice all the men you took hostage and leave the Emperor in prison without ransom. This will leave the Roman empire with their Emperor in prison without a wife and your culture will now be happy with the sacrifice of heretics
Step 8) Get BUSY with your harem. If you started with the historical year the Imperial bloodline should be matrilineal where the Emperor married into the royal family of Rome
Step 9) Have kids with your Roman Harem. If you got the former Empress pregnant and they have a son that child should be first in line for the Imperial Throne. Having children with your son's stepsisters will just fill up the Roman court.
Step 10) Try to keep the Roman Emperor alive in jail until your son comes of age.
Step 11) Sacrifice the Roman Emperor.

Your son from your Roman harem should now be first in line for the throne and since the Emperor is now dead it will pass the throne to them.
You've conquered the entire Roman empire with a raiding party of levies and forced marriage of the women you kidnapped.
The Roman empire will quickly implode into a mass of assassinations as the culture clashes cause relationship spikes the AI can't handle, but pretty neat way to take down the biggest Nation in CK3.

 

[Vlbc]

I don't have much to add, but i 100% agree. The "Harem" tag are most about cheating or random sex with random women.
And even when there is agreement between the characters, there is always a "oficial" wife over the other female leads...