Crush Crush is an indie anime-themed F2P idle dating simulator by Sad Panda Studios that has players in the usual quest of capturing all the heroines’ hearts. However, the storyline and actual gameplay that leads up to the union between the player and the female characters have quite a quirky setup of their own. For one, all the characters the player meets are due to an “unfortunate” event. Avoiding any spoilers, the player will cause some form of major disruption to whatever the character was doing and start at a rock-bottom relationship. But… with all things at the bottom, the only way is up. This is where the journey starts for the player to win over the many hearts to be encountered.
How to Download Crush Crush
To download the game you should click on the Download button which is placed towards the end of this review. The game is free to play.
The Game Review
The “idle” part of the game is when the player reaches the jobs and hobbies section where both parts are used as a currency of sorts to be spent on the girls. More specifically, jobs will earn you money for things to be spent on when trying to hang out with different characters and hobbies align with different traits that each character likes that the player can level up to further speed up relationship progress. Additionally, some thinking must be made as to where to allocate time on certain jobs and hobbies that will obviously affect how close the player gets to certain characters.
Apart from the idle waiting past the certain allocations the player has made, there are also time blocks serving as the game’s action points which must be carefully managed as there would be no point in investing time to level up hobbies or earn money if there is never a chance to use them.
Going on dates with characters takes up some time blocks in addition to the activities mentioned previously. These time blocks can be extended with achievements that grant extra or added multipliers so that the speed in which the player can work towards either a hobby or job can be faster.
Similar games that some may find recognizable are Sakura dating sims as well as the NekoPara dating sim series. And while this similarity could be extended to the rest of all dating sims in the current industry, I personally considered the polished nature of the games compared to be fitting for Crush Crush. And Luckily for Crush Crush, it is still an early release, so its room for growth with community feedback is well expected that may take it beyond what it is now and further prove its uniqueness among dating sims in the gaming industry currently. For those wanting to venture on a new adventure with a fresh concept for a dating sim, be sure to check out Crush Crush on Steam.
