Crush Crush | Mixing Idle with Bishojo

"Crush Crush is a Idle Bishojo game developed by Sad Panda Studios and is Distributed on Android and Steam"

While I firmly believe that not every game should receive a mobile port there have been some great games that have been translated well to on-the-go gameplay, (such as Minecraft: Pocket Edition or COD:Mobile) so when I saw Sad Panda's Genre-Bending idle dating sim Crush Crush appearing on the app store I was interested. Idle games are oversaturated in the game market but variety in dating sims leads much to be desired. With the exception of fellow mobile port Dream Daddy, the app store is filled with carbon copy dating sims filled with generic Anime Waifus and Husbandos with pay to play gameplay and choices style VN elements. Crush Crush, (while admittedly is also filled with anime waifus.) is a fresh take on the genre with a fusion of idle mechanics, meta-humor, and personality. 

The Layout of the mobile version is much more streamlined then its PC counterpart which is expansive with a large amount of negative space. The art for each of the "main girls" occupies the right of the screen while the actions and requirements for advancement are to the left. You can chose which girl to talk to with a horizontal slide bar as well as switching between various tabs to select which stats to focus on.  Overall the layout is very easy to menuevar and intuitive accurately condensing the experience that made the original version so fun.

Dating Sims, (like many casual genres), are often accused of having minimal gameplay due to frequent use of Visual Novel mechanics. While some games break the mold, ( such as Honey Pop with Match-3 gameplay), most dating sims involve the cycle of meeting cute girls, choosing the correct dialogue options, and gifting them an asinine amount of their favorite items, (such as 15 frying pans) ad nauseam. Crush Crush follows this formula but instead of the standard Visual Novel format it lets you date all the girls simultaneously with the help of idle mechanics. Crush Crush follows the resource management style of idle games where you have a limited amount of "time blocks" that you can spend on both jobs, which give you money, and hobbies, which increase your base stats, (of which there are 11). Each of the girls paths require different requirements such as expensive gifts, a certain job promotion, or a high level in a certain stat meaning you have to carefully chose which goal to grind for.

To Complement the base game Sad Panda introduced "Phone Flings" a mini game where you talk to additional cute anime girls through text messages often with contrived reasons for messaging you. The conversations are a bit more risque than the base game but still manage to maintain a PG-13 rating. Phone Flings also includes a photo mechanic where through the process of the conversation the girls will send you snapshots of themselves. Except for the first character Peanut none of the side characters appear in the base game but the mechanic does provide a bit of fun and variety while your checking to see if you can afford to buy your latest waifu a brand new car.

One thing that makes Crush Crush unique is its acute sense of genre awareness. From one of the characters making a neckbeard joke to a large amount of meta-humor Crush Crush manages to satirize a lot of the cliches of the genre while also utilizing the elements that make these games enjoyable in the first place. Crush Crush is in turns funny, wholesome, and risque and it works because it doesn't take itself too seriously.

Now, giving the eccentricities of the genre one may wonder about the certain "artwork" that is typical of the games. Crush Crush for mobile is completely SFW due to both the platforms guidelines, (there's a reason why its not on Apple), and the fact that such artwork is only available through Steam DLC. The art for all of the girls is well done with unique and interesting character designs. The phone flings photos are a bit more risque then the base art but still incredible tame by fan service standards. Overall Crush Crush's graphics are well polished providing interesting character design and attractive character art in all senses of the word.

Crush Crush is a fun, flirty deconstruction of the Bishoujo Dating Sim Genre combining everyone's favorite pastime of chatting with cute 2-D girls with robust idle resource management mechanics. Like other great contenders such as Honey Pop or Dream Daddy, Crush Crush manages to create a refreshing take on the genre that works for both Mobile and PC.