Why did the dating sim genre die off?

I just realized I don't really know any stereotypical "dating sims". I've played VNs like Fate/stay night and stuff but I don't think those are "dating sims". I mean, they feature dates sometimes but is that really all that it takes to be considered a "dating sim"?

Actual dating sims are pretty hard if you want to get the best girls.

So they became Visual Novels that don't need any planning whatsoever

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galaxy angel sim date hard mode

I still haven't recovered from playing that game like over 15 years ago. Why must life suck so much ass bros...

>tfw no gf

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Not a sim date but that one game from newgrounds where you have to undress the girl and make her orgasm without waking her up is the dark souls of hentai games.

True Love. Good luck trying to save all the girls from their terrible fates in a single playthrough.

Dating Sims usually are stat management games, similar to Princess Maker games (but the "princess" in this case is the main character, so I guess you could call them "Boyfriend Maker" games). You need to obtain a specific set of stats before the (often hidden) deadlines via daily tasks by managing your daily/weekly schedule (working, getting Any Forums, studying, and of course meeting the girls by figuring out where they hang out outside of school).
There are dialogue choices as well but nothing is immediately obvious. For example, if you don't get Any Forums enough before the school's sports competition to defeat the short-haired tomboy in her favorite sport, she won't give a shit about you no matter what dialogue options you picked while talking to her before this scheduled event.
Stat management often requires commitment. For example, if you go full Any Forums and fail your exams by not studying regularly (sacrificed your studies to work and get cash), that cold and distant class representative won't even realize you exist. But hey, your tomboy girlfriend will love that gift you purchased during your date.
To "win" a girl, you usually need
>correct stats
>best outcome in all key events with her (be careful to not miss events)
>enough intimacy points via dating and gifting
If you fail, you get a rejection/break-up ending. If you win, you get a wife and two kids that look like loli versions of her.

>Good luck trying to save all the girls from their terrible fates in a single playthrough.
I'm pretty certain it's outright impossible, since at least two of the routes involve you doing diametrically opposite actions in roughly the same timeframe, or something.
Can't really remember, It's been over 20 years since I last played it.

Alright, you lot have got me interested in playing a real dating sim, but I have rather specific tastes. Are there any good dating sims with absolutely no sex (not even fade-to-black) and as few references to sex/sexual behaviour in the dialogue as possible? Ideally at least one love interest would be a little girl, but this I'm willing to compromise on.

newgrounds.com/portal/view/144166

Let's give this a go.
Meet Samson: the magic man who's almost as weak as he is stupid

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I actually did it once. While it's not possible to 100% the game in a single playthrough (unlocking some specific CGs in some two-choices events), it's possible to make all girls' endings available on the final day.
There is a small time frame between the events of rich girl that loves studying and your dumbfuck tomboy childhood friend that you can use to "swap" your stats by grinding them. Perfectly balancing the stats during the whole playthrough is absolute hell, though.
It's honestly a pointless effort because the game never acknowledges it and God fucking kills one of the girls if you don't pick her after starting her storyline (because she told God you would pick her, and God decided to play "IGNORE FAST" with her life for shits and giggles).

>tried to go lower than age 18
hmmm

While there's an appeal to grinding stats, sometimes you just want to sit down and unwind to a solid narrative, putting a wall of stats behind the content means you're going to miss stuff or maybe do things out of order so it's hard to tailor a strong narrative compared to just writing a book with a couple of branches like in a Visual Novel.

Oh fuck I remember that shit. I couldn't figure it out back then and I can't be fucked to figure out now.

>It's honestly a pointless effort because the game never acknowledges it and God fucking kills one of the girls
So, basically, even if you put in all the effort to grind the correct stats/events, the game still bad-ends at least one of the girls, because lol not intended.
This is even bigger bullshit than the Darkest Dungeon devs trying to patch out one-hit KOs on the Heart of Darkness.

>If you fail, you get a rejection/break-up ending. If you win, you get a wife and two kids
life isn't that black and white. could have added some sort of bittersweet ending where you remain friends with her or something.

isnt this game still in active development?

No it hasn't try playing any modern jarpig