Gift Guide: Favorite Free Mobile Otomes – 12 days

Are you still looking for the perfect gift for that special someone? Something unique and thoughtful that will let them know exactly how much they mean to you. You are going to be thrilled to find out that your long search is finally over! You can now give them the truly best gift of all – the gift of love! With these wonderful otomes for their mobile device! Make sure you let them know, they owe you big!

We all love a free game, I mean we all love a free anything really. No matter how many times we get tricked by the word and end up spending more on hidden costs than we ever would have agreed to upfront or sitting through extended commercials like somebody is doing *us* a favor, we still jump at the chance to get something for free. It’s become some weird unatural imperative, almost instinctively weaved into our mindsets.

I’m no different, except for possibly being worse than average. As such I’ve gone through a bevy of supposedly free visual novels and otomes for mobile platforms. They’re usually time locked and add ridden, necessitate in app purchase for progress, so badly written/translated as to be almost impossible to understand and, most commonly, all of the above. In the end the old adage holds true: you get what you paid for…. except in the case of these little treasures.

These games are 100% free, have no in app purchases and although some may have the odd advertisement, the do not make you sit through one to progress. What’s more, they’re good. Like really good. I have no clue how this business model works but if I can support companies that put out this type of product I would be thrilled to do so.

Oh and since they’re not trying to syphon your hard-earned buckaroos, you can even play offline!

 

Alrighty, so here are my current favorites:

The Locked Heart

This is a classic otome with a fairy tale theme (more precisely Goldy locks). You get three very different routes that come together to weave a sad and foreboding tale of regret and loss, but a happy ending is still be within reach. As Aura, you stumble unto the strange D’Lock residence and find yourself trapped by the same curse that plagues the family. Can you bring to light the secrets that binds the mansion in shadows?

Honestly, I really enjoyed this one. The story is very good and well written, with a central mystery that will compel you to keep reading. The heavy fairy tale themes was pleasant and inviting making the story as enjoyable to read for it’s own sake as for the potential romances. 

 

The boys here are a little tropy, each representing a pretty well-established stereotype, but still very pleasant. I once again got sucked into trying to please the gloomy tsundere character (hint he’s wearing a buter uniform) against my better judgement!

However, the best part was Aura, the heroine, who is an actual fully developed, independent and witty young lady who doesn’t take kindly to rudeness. You go girl!

With 3 very different routes, 6 unique good endings, as well as a variety of not so good ones, and a great collection of pretty nice CGs, it’s a pretty impressive game that will keep you entertained on your commutes. I have paid for much worse.

I’m not sure why I’m still here trying to convince you to get a free game. Go!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=lockedheart.vn&hl=en

 Otome Game: Ghost Love Story

 

The “my dead boyfriend” game! You (you choose your name) are just starting your first job right out of university. For years you’ve been carrying the pain of loosing your best friend to an accident, while you were both in high school but suddenly he’s back! Well what now? 

Here we have a much more straight forward otome. In line with something you’d expect from Voltage for instance. Our MC is properly timid and unassuming but she avoids being downright stupid (believe me, that’s a win!). She’s also never seen so you can imagine yourself in her place, if that’s your thing (and you happen to be brunette. Otomes are biased against blondes)

A fairly short game, you only have two suitors to choose from but they’re drastically different from each other, making each route feel completely unique. The story is a little cheesy and predictable, but all the characters are so charming that even their little mundane adventures are entertaining to follow along. I even felt an actual little pang at choosing one guy over the other in both routes since their characters are fully integrated in all storylines.

 

Two routes, a variety of sprites for each guy and 2 happy endings and a surprising amount of feels. When’s the last time you got that much for free?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.hanabimedia.android_ghostboyfriend&hl=en

Once upon a Hallow’s Eve

You (Cara and you can change it) are out on a road trip with your friends to celebrate your last year in college when a landslide knocks you unconscious.  Upon regaining consciousness, you realize that you are in a dark forest al alone. Looking for a way out of the forest, or at least for your friends, you come across a haunted-looking mansion in the middle of the woods. Desperate for shelter and help with your injuries, you ask for sanctuary, but what did you just get yourself into?

​This title is just as much mystery as romance, as you try to figure out exactly what is going on! This one had me second guessing myself and going over old routes quite a bit and I loved it. Our potential love interests here are three brothers in their early 20s (Vern, Vonn and Viktor…I know!), who all seemed determined to get you better and on your way before you stick your nose too deep in their business. They were all surprisingly well developed and become much more relatable and realistic as their stories progress. 

Our heroine may be faceless again, but she certainly has a voice. You actually get a chance at some interesting banter with the boys, and the twists in the narrative makes this one very replayable. Maybe too much in fact. Despite it being relatively short, it took me weeks (of bus trips) to unlock it 100%.

One upon a Hallow’s Eve has good, normal and bad ends for each guy and let me tell you, those bad ends are real heart breakers! You have been warned.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ran08.vn&hl=en

Otome Game: Love Mystery Story

Another game from Hanabi Media, Love Mystery Story follows your adventures as you learn that you are actually a witch, after your grandmother’s death. How will you wield your new-found powers? Discover a world of wonder and cat boys as you learn that power attracts danger.

This is an episodic otome, and you will have to wait between chapters (not long though). Each chapter is of decent length so you’re not spending your entire time waiting either. As you can tell from the description, this one has a slight Harry Potter feel to it as it weaves a world of magic with modern every day school life.

The three potential suitors are all quite interesting here and there is more diversity than is any of the other titles with a possible Yuri flirtation. The story is also full of twists and turns, some f=more effective than others, making the entire narrative shift significantly from one moment to the next. A bit of self-aware humour also rounds up the experience nicely.

If you’re a fan of magical settings this is a great one for you. Also…free game guys….

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.hanabimedia.android_lovetrianglecatandwitch&hl=en

Cinderella Phenomenon

Fairytale heroines do not traditionally get along all that well with their step mother but

Lucette (you) takes the cake. This time however, it is not the step mother who’s evil. After her beloved mother’s death, Lucette now only cares about her dolls, not her family, or her subjects or even her kingdom, and that’s…well it’s a little unsettling.

As these things go however, one of the dolls turns out to be a witch and curses Lucette  into living in a twisted version of “Cinderella” that causes her to go from Riches to Rags, and for everyone to forget her.  Lucette must break the curse by performing the worst thing imaginable: three good deeds. Along the way, she comes into contact with a variety of characters afflicted by the Fairytale Curse too — her stepbrother Rod who’s rendered mute by the Mermaid Curse, a puppeteer named Waltz who’s trapped in a child’s body by the Neverland Curse, an amnesic man who calls himself Rumpel after his Rumpelstiltskin Curse, a flamboyant crossdressing man named Karma who refuses to divulge the full details of his curse, and her knight Fritz who’s always been kind to her but may have a hidden dark side — who she can work together with to undo each other’s curses and even fall in love with. 

However, it turns out that there is far more at stake than a princess needing to learn compassion, and Lucette getting her fairytale ending with her man of choice will require a lot more work than three good deeds.

I got a lot of the description from the official site – this is a great visual novel, guys! Lucette is snippy and sarcastic and just a pleasure to embody after so many weak-willed and ineffectual heroines. There are also 5 completely different routes available and a huge amount of choices, side characters, endings, CGs…al that good stuff. By far the most massive game on this list, it even has a complete opening video and original song.

Sadly, the mobile port is a little glitchy and can be very difficult to read on some devices. However, the PC version is also available on STEAM and well worth it.

• Mobile: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dicesuki.cp&hl=en
• PC : http://store.steampowered.com/app/568770/Cinderella_Phenomenon__OtomeVisual_Novel/

 Anime Love Story Games: ✨Shadowtime✨

OK’ I’m going with the developer’s description here but there’s a reason:

✨Curious to become a heroine whose life changes at the same time when the most popular video game is released? Torn between your old school friend and a new popular guy, you’re about to encounter various difficulties that this secret romance game carries along the way. However, you should know one thing: there’s no mistake with our “avatar games” with virtual worlds and “English otome games”! If you love to play “manga love games” that you can date in or “interactive story games”, we have a perfect app to keep you entertained for hours. Hurry up to find out your ideal love in Anime Love Story Games: ✨Shadowtime✨ FREE! We guarantee that both girls and boys will be thrilled about our new “simulation games”!

Yes friends, this is the type of mind-blowing literary masterpiece you’re in store for here! Ok so the translation is somewhat clunky but it made me smile. You have two pretty obvious routes along with some obvious and a little more tricky choices. And two fun endings.

The hook here is that both visually and gameplay wise Shadowtime is very unusual. Yes the gameplay mechanics are standard otome multiple choice but the in-game RPG lets you actually go through a character customization screen which I spent half an hour playing with. This is also an episodic game with new episodes currently coming out. So keep in mind that the story is not yet finished. 

Visually, it’s AMAZING. The stills most definitely do not do it justice. Not only is your character full 3D model but she’s inflicted with some completely insane rag doll physics making her insanely expressive (both as in very expressive and as in looking insane half the time) and constantly jittery. It’s really hard not to get hypnotized by it.

It’s just plain fun and often very funny (although rarely intentionally so). And did I mention free? It’s free!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Anime.Love.Story.Games.Girls&hl=en

 Well there you go. You should have something for everyone on your list now!

 So, have you played any of these? Did you like them? More importantly, are there any other free games I should play?

Day 4 of 12