Fantasy Date is a creative and risky departure from PressOK’s usual fare. It’s a full-motion video game that is part choose your own adventure, part late night reality dating tv show. The game puts you in the role of a guy trying to score a “fantasy date” with one of a number of beautiful (and eager) women. You choose which woman you want to woo and then are presented with a video clip. After the clip you are given a multiple choice question of what to do in your current situation. Once you make your selection, a new video plays and you see the woman’s reaction to your choice, and this continues until you either get your date or crash and burn.

The full version of the game contains four different women, with the ability to unlock 6 additional women via two paid DLC 3-packs. The women included in the full version are Debbie (whom you meet at a clothing store), Scarlett (a cop), Jessica (an IT nerd), Sabrina (a drunk cheerleader whom you meet at a bar). The scenarios are a bit stereotypical, cheesy and filled with innuendos and double-entendres that may make you blush. Clearly aimed toward a more mature audience, the game will have mixed appeal amongst potential buyers. The humor and the fact that PressOK produced this with a tongue-in-cheek style (no pun intended) keeps this game from becoming just another one of those “sexy girl” apps littering the App Store.

I have to give PressOK kudos for the quality of their videos in both visuals and sound, and the obvious production values that went into making the game. One unavoidable side-effect of having such a video-intensive game is the time needed to buffer the video for smooth playback. PressOK offers players two options, you can either stream each video as you get to it, with buffer times at the start of each video, or you can pre-buffer an entire woman’s “episode” before playing it. I found the full-buffering to be the better option, sure you have to wait a minute or two before starting the game, but then things run smoothly without buffering delays once you start. Depending on the “path” you choose, each story will only take about 10-15 minutes to go through. This means the base game will give you around 40-60 minutes of gameplay. Unfortunately I don’t see much longevity with the title., beyond re-playing a story, the only carrot that PressOK dangles to extend the experience are the additional paid DLC and six OpenFeint achievements.

In Conclusion

Being a happily married man for nearly 12 years now, the only picking up of “chicks” that I do is at a petting zoo or visit to a farm with the kids, so obviously I’m not the target demographic of the title. If you enjoy watching cheesy late night reality TV dating series, ads for 1-900 numbers, or just clips of hot girls flirting with you, then Fantasy Date is definitely for you. Before purchasing the full title for $1.99, you should definitely try out the free version to see what the game is all about. While I admire PressOK for taking a risk, I think they’d do better sticking with their great usual fare. Finger Physics, Gin Rummy or the newly released Spinzizzle being better uses of your App Store dollars as all of these titles offer better longevity and replayability.

Screenshots

Game Trailer