Hatoful Boyfriend - Pigeon Dating Sim Localization Incoming

Hatoful Boyfriend_Feature

The videogame industry attracts no small amount of jaded critics decrying stagnation and lack of innovation. And in many ways they have a point, but sometimes a game comes along that’s so bizarre it makes you do a double take. Pigeon dating-sim Hatoful Boyfriend is one of those games.

Those greaser pigeons aren’t a bad photoshop, that’s official artwork from the upcoming PC and Mac release. Romance-hungry players assume the role of the only human in St PigeoNation, a prestigious school for winged wooers. Here they’ll be able to pursue the pigeon of their dreams whilst juggling classes. It’s a concept so bizarre that, to be honest, we’re having trouble wrapping our heads around it; but publisher Devolver Digital must see promise in the premise to not only localize the game but essentially remake the 2011 Japanese release.

The title ‘Hatoful’ is a play on the words ‘Heartful’ and the Japanese word for pigeon (or dove) ‘Hato’. It’s being described playfully as game that will have “Hardcore pigeon dating sim fans everywhere [..] cooing with delight”.

Romance stories aimed at women that portray relationships outside of the usual male-female (and human!) relationship aren’t anything new to Japanese media. This is evidenced by the popularity of Yaoi content where homosexual relationships are used as a stand-in for heterosexual relationships as a way to help the female audience focus on the emotional subtext, instead of the surface-level sexual tension. So perhaps dating pigeons isn’t that strange after all.

Okay, maybe it’s still a bit strange. In any case, Hatoful Boyfriend will be out later this Summer on PC and Mac through Steam, GOG.com, Humble and other (as yet undisclosed) digital stores. In the meantime, here’s some screens to help you overcome your confusion… they won’t help.

Shehzaan Abdulla

Shehzaan Abdulla

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Shehzaan grew up playing SEGA consoles and has a soft spot for retro games seeing as he was playing the Master System his parents bought him when all his friends had Playstations (this was also around the same time he realized he was probably adopted).
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