discussion Unpopular opinion: If I have to play through 60min of your game to even get a hint of sexual content the game is trash

[AlBetGam]

• Jump into the "action" within the first 10–15 minutes. (after that can slow down again but theres just so much out there nowadays that you need to distinguish if its worth your time)

Have to disagree. If a dev has to shoehorn sex into the first 15 minutes just so I don't get bored, it means the game really isn't that interesting to begin with. On the other hand if the dev has made a genuinely interesting game with engaging characters I won't mind if there's an hour before any sex happens.

You're right that there's 'so much out there', but to me that just means there's plenty of options if I just really need to see boobs in the next five minutes.

• Introduce mechanics naturally as you play, rather than overwhelming players with long tutorials.

This of course I do agree with. And I'll go a step further and say please do not open your game with a character giving a tutorial on how visual novels work.

 

[Clunk676]

I like the idea of having some action in the first 15 mins of the game to get you hooked and then start the world building to give depth to the characters and the settings

 

[verybadboye]

agreed. enough buildup can be done within 20 minutes, there is no need for an hour worth of buildup.

 

[IFF01]

I am in the middle I like a bit of a build up but like your title an hour may be too much.

 

[MLT]

If you like the story you won't notice that the 60 mins have already passed, BUT
if it's a sandbox or you have to grind something then you better be jumping to action straight away.

 

[User_111574]

I really dislike fuckfests, for that reason I consigned Grandma's House and Reunion to the waste basket. Everything else is decided by the plot and whether the characters are interesting. 90% of the stories are on the level of teenage fanfic, but there are VNs that grab your attention and don't give a damn when it comes to sex. In VN, which I rate very high, the first sex happened an hour and a half after the game started (The Entrepreneur), but there's a really good plot, although I'm sure it will enrage many users - the MC is surrounded by very pretty girls, but he has to choose only one, no harem (and no incest)! Everyone has different tastes and preferences, which is quite natural, as our proverb says “there is no such thing as taste and color”.

 

[creepypantsman]

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good story and world-building, but when a game spends hours on tutorials, exposition, or slow setups, it can be frustrating.

Personally, I think games should:

• Jump into the "action" within the first 10–15 minutes. (after that can slow down again but theres just so much out there nowadays that you need to distinguish if its worth your time)
• Introduce mechanics naturally as you play, rather than overwhelming players with long tutorials.

It’s fine to have a rich story or deep mechanics, but hooking players early is so important. Some of my favorite games grab you right away and keep you invested without making you sit through hours of setup.
What’s your take on this? Do you prefer a slow build-up, or do you agree that games should kick things off faster? I’d love to hear your thoughts and examples of games that do this well (or not so well).

It's hard, I don't want to wait forever but I'm also sick of the obligatory "early sex scene with MC and his partner who won't return until Act 2"

 

[algizteiwaz]

I say get to it if I wanted to play a story rich Clean game I would and I do but if I am playing a game that claims to be adult get to the adult content already.

 

[orphan]

fr fr

 

[vandura]

This is why I regularly rely on recommendations. If I know it's good, and the good content is coming, I can burn for quite a while and like it. When it does hit, it feels more satisfying.

 

[justayt]

If you like the story you won't notice that the 60 mins have already passed, BUT
if it's a sandbox or you have to grind something then you better be jumping to action straight away.

Sure. I'd just grab a CG rip on panda if I wanted a quick fap.

 

[paparas123]

Depends. If the first release is 2h, I can go the first hour immersing in

 

[zrah]

Sometimes, the slow burn is worth it though.

 

[KPIG_TV]

If its really annoying and taking a long time, then yes

 

[herot32]

If the game has good writing I don't mind a bit of a delay - but a lot of games do not have good writing. And a LOT of devs think that they're the next Tarantino or Guy Ritchie and every game is about crime syndicates or gangs or whatever and our MC is some "relentless badass" who has to also fuck every woman in his family....for reasons.

One of my favorite recent MCs is the guy from Found in Translation. He's just a random software dev who happens to have a bit of cash, and shit happens to him. He's making what he thinks are the right decisions but he's not some insane hardass former spec-ops dude or something. He's not winning fights against random street thugs.

Another MC I kinda liked was the guy from Midlife Crisis, he starts as kinda pudgy and overweight, depressed, and decides "eh, fuck it" and embraces the desires to fuck his family and his friends and corrupts his wife....yeah he's also a powerful rich guy but he's also kinda relatable.

As much as Iove the Blackheart games, almost all the MCs fall into the "inexplicable badass" of role. I love the games anyway despite that, I don't really care for the MCs in The Guardian, Blackheart Hotel, or Secrets of Whispering Pines. But I like the characters and situations enough to overlook them. It's one of the few cases where I think the story saves the character.

I could do without the murder/crime syndicate plot entirely though, which is cool because he offers that option.

 

[LewisCarroll]

Like other's have said, it isn't A or B, but somewhere in the middle. If you're goal is to get-off on the story, then yeah, the quicker the better I guess. However, if you want something that is going to 'edge' you for a while, then it need to be creative and erotic. Personally, I hate VN's that just get to the sex. It's jarring. I like buildup for at least fifteen to twenty minutes (I read pretty fast so that's probably 500+ frames). Stories should have a payoff. If they blow their wad too quickly I just shut it down and move on.

 

[Beegee]

My gut says, "It Depends."
As others have said,
If the game is good, if I like the writing, I generally like a slow burn.
A good story can afford to take its time getting to the juicy bits.
Even a management/trainer game still needs some setup or worldbuilding before it can get the ball rolling, but if there's some fun DURING the worldbuilding, so much the better.
Either way, I want to earn my reward.
If it feels rushed and gratuitous, I could have just fapped to a video.
If it feels like the dev is just being a tease to keep the patreon bucks flowing, then they're not respecting my time.

 

[Bananana73]

I'd say it skews like, 95% not worth it, 5% actually well written and worth the build up. The vast majority of games are just padded though to claim that they have long play times. Definitely not worth going through slowly. There's the rare 5% where the gameplay and/or story are actually worth slowing down and enjoying though.

 

[LewisCarroll]

I like the idea of having some action in the first 15 mins of the game to get you hooked and then start the world building to give depth to the characters and the settings

I don't know, for me it's far better to 'hint' about a future sexual encounter rather than just something to tide me over. But, it has to be something worth grinding for. You know, a payoff kind of thing.

 

[ツSisterSexualシ]

Summer Memories is a good example of what I mean. You can see sex and nudity in the first 10 minutes, but it'll take you 1-4 hours

And now I have a name of one to never, ever, ever under any circumstances download.

True, i just downloaded 100% save file and didn't give a damn about the plot or story.

If it takes more than 2 or 3 minutes to skip all dialogues to see nudes, it's a no no. I came here for the lewds, not to read Dostoevsky
@fthegovernment we're talking about hentai porn games, what kinda "sexual" thing do you mean? Of course it has to have nudes and sex scenes duh

My gut says, "It Depends."
As others have said,
If the game is good, if I like the writing, I generally like a slow burn.
A good story can afford to take its time getting to the juicy bits.
Even a management/trainer game still needs some setup or worldbuilding before it can get the ball rolling, but if there's some fun DURING the worldbuilding, so much the better.
Either way, I want to earn my reward.
If it feels rushed and gratuitous, I could have just fapped to a video.
If it feels like the dev is just being a tease to keep the patreon bucks flowing, then they're not respecting my time.

I played many 3d, third person "open world" games, those got many content from the beginning, sadly other games with different genre don't have such intensive progression