A (brief) History of Porn Games

Porn and video games seem like a natural fit – after all, it’s kind of what we do here! But it wasn’t always like this. Once upon a time, video games were strictly kid stuff, and the idea of pushing them in a pornographic direction was seen as a slippery slope. But thanks to a few brave pioneers looking to make a quick buck, even some of the oldest home consoles gave birth to erotic gaming – and the industry has never looked back!

Today, erotic gaming is big business. It’s one of the biggest mobile markets, and has no signs of slowing down any time soon. Porn also helped visual novels boom in the early ‘90s, and flash games thrive in early aughts! Erotic gaming  is here to stay, and frankly, we couldn’t be happier.

But even so, it’s important that we never forget our roots, and pay tribute to the brave pioneers that paved the way for Nutaku to do what we do best: entertain and arouse your wildest fantasies. Please note that when covering 40 years of history, some things get left on the cutting room floor, so we’re sorry if one of your faves got left out. With that said, let’s take a trip down memory lane and give a quick look at some of history’s most important erotic games! 

The Golden Age (Er, Sort Of)

Charles Benton beat the rest of the world to the punch in 1981, with Softporn Adventure for the Apple II. A text-based adventure game, Softporn (Las Vegas in Japan) starred a burnt-out party monster who constantly tries (and mostly fails) to play his cards right and score with a bevvy of lovely ladies. Even though Softporn was strictly text-based, it paved the way for a long line of adult games to follow – and even got a sort-of remake in the Sierra classic, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards!

While Softporn was first to market, three infamous Atari 2600 games would be many gamers’ first exposure to adult gaming. All released in 1982 by Mystique, Bachelor Party, Custer’s Revenge and Beat ‘Em & Eat ‘Em were crudely animated games that game players direct control over the action. Stuart Keston, president of Mystique’s parent company, went on the record to say, “I just don’t believe adults want to shoot down rocket ships.” But while Keston’s titles were certainly revolutionary, they were also controversial – especially Custer’s, which depicted a real-life Old West colonizer assaulting a bound indigenous woman. Numerous activists called out the game for its inherent problematic concept, which proved to be a huge (but justified) blow to the fledgling adult industry.

The video game crash of 1983, however, dealt a blow to the entire industry. Too many publishers and developers to count went under, and Mystique was one of the unfortunate casualties. While their games weren’t of the highest quality, and a few were defintiely morally reprehensible, they made history for being some of the earliest examples of visual-based erotic gaming. Meanwhile in Japan, however, the very industry that would save video games was already making some big moves…

Mahjong, But Make It Horny!

The early Japanese adult gaming scene was dominated by role-playing games. Arguably, Koei found the most success in the area with their lush Seduction of the Condominium Wife, a visual-based PC-8001 RPG that put the prolific company on the map. Many early Japanese erotic games (often referred to with the portmanteau “eroge”) picked up on this success and cashed in on the trend, with massive publishers like SquareSoft (who put out the hard-as-nails Alpha) and Nihon Falcom (with sexy puzzler Joshi Daisei Private, among others) getting in on the action. Bet you didn’t think two of the biggest JRPG publishers had their roots in porn, did you?

But arguably, the most prolific work of interactive pornography to come out of 1980’s Japan isn’t a single game, but a genre: strip mahjong. It’s exactly what it sounds like, as players take the role of an unseen challenger squaring off against a cute anime girl in a game of mahjong. While documentation of this genre is poor, the earliest of these is likely Toaplan’s Mahjong Sisters, released in 1986. It’s a fairly innocent game, featuring cheesecake shots of retro anime girls slowly taking off their tubular ‘80s apparel, but it’s absolutely a vital part of erotic gaming history. After 1986, strip mahjong games exploded in popularity, with countless other publishers sweeping in and trying to fulfill this newfound niche.

Strip mahjong is important simply because of how widespread it was. Early RPG eroge were hits with console and PC owners, but strip mahjong would eventually explode out of that smaller market. Well into the 1990’s, strip mahjong games began to crowd consoles, computers, and arcades alike, which made them some of the first erotic gaming experiences many players had. It also popularized one of the most important aspects of eroge: one-on-one interactions with gorgeous anime gals in intimate settings, with the express purpose of seeing them in their birthday suit.

It was a brilliant idea, and arguably the best gamification of sex to date. But it wouldn’t be until 1992 that one publisher took it a step further…

It’s Like A Novel, But With Pictures

ELF’s Dōkyūsei (or Classmates,) released a decade after Softporn in 1992, is one of the single most important video games ever made. No, really! If you’ve played a dating sim in your life, you can thank ELF for coming up with the concept. While visual novels date back to 1983’s Portopia Serial Murder Case, the idea of a dating simulation with branching paths was something that hadn’t been attempted before.

While the non-pornographic Tokimeki Memorial would refine and popularize the genre, ELF simply did it first – and a bit differently, at that! The game put players in the role of a young man about town, traipsing around and learning about the day-to-day of the game’s charming cast of anime lasses. As you got to know the girls better, you’d learn their schedules and start meeting up with them at their favorite hangout spots. Eventually, you’d get a shot at dating them, and if you played your cards right, you’d unlock some fairly explicit sex scenes… for 1992, that is! This approach was a little different than what other games would eventually do, as it was based more on exploration and timing, as opposed to dialogue choices.

Regardless, Dōkyūsei flung open the veritable floodgates. A slew of developers, big and small, popped up up to capitalize on this novel idea, and soon, the Japanese gaming market was flooded by a deluge of these delightfully smutty dating sims. This boom would give rise to some of Japan’s biggest developers, who would go on to find massive success outside of porn. AquaPlus, for example, released a slew of horror eroge before they exploded with To-Heart – a sappy and sweet softcore game that became one of otaku culture’s most beloved gaming titles, and remained a trendsetter for years after. Key, Overdrive, and numerous others would follow suit, growing massive mainstream success from humble eroge roots.

In the decades that followed this explosion, visual novels became mainstays of the pornographic gaming market. Juggernaut porn gaming classics like Bible Black and Taimanin Asagi owe their existence to that decade of innovation, as there was already a groundwork laid for them to build off.  

Looking To The Future

The 21st century has been kind to erotic gaming, and it continues to be thriving, growing industry to this day. While Western presence in the scene was diminished for quite a bit, early flash sites like Newgrounds hosted indie porn games that helped drive demand for more like them. Puzzlers where players stripped girls down (taking a page from Taito’s earlier Gals Panic series,) crude comedic dating sims that were often satirical, explicit flash animations with simple controls… the creators of these games were pioneers in their own right, and were many younger porn fans’ first exposure to erotic gaming. Today, the Western erotic gaming scene is much bigger, with expensive 3D games and smaller indie projects alike releasing daily on major platforms like Steam.

Here at Nutaku, we like to think we’re the past, the present, and the future of erotic gaming. On our platform, you can find premium dating sim classics, robust role-playing games, devious puzzlers, and so much more! Not only that, but some of our biggest mobile titles are the culmination of 40 years of erotic gaming history – combining successful elements from every conceivable genre. Want an anime dating sim with puzzle game elements and interactive Flash-style animation? Project QT’s got you covered. Feeling a thirst for adventure and booty with simple but challenging RPG gameplay? Lose yourself in Long Lost Lust. In the mood for something strictly text-based, with a focus on meaningful and intimate relationships? Sexy Airlines will help you take flight. However you like to game and get your sexy kicks, Nutaku’s got your back – and will for years to come!

So, the next time you see an ad proclaiming a game that’ll “make you cum in five seconds,” don’t laugh. In the immortal words of Howard “Howie” Ratner… “That’s history right there.”