Video game sex is bad. Whether it be like the comedically cringeworthy ‘ride’ on the back of a stuffed unicorn featured in The Witcher 3, or something more exploitative and unsavoury like the way the Grand Theft Auto games treat sex workers, it feels like video games often miss the mark completely when it comes to exploring sexual relations. Imagine my surprise, then, when I happened upon a video game that not only portrays sex well, but puts ongoing consent, open dialogue with partners, and respecting personal boundaries at the forefront of its design. That game is Cute Demon Crashers.
Cute Demon Crashers is a game made by a small team of developers called SugarScript. It’s essentially a porn game designed to address what the developers call a "need of consent in 18+ VNs (visual novels) for women." Pornographic visual novels and dating sims are notorious for using Japanese animation ("anime") techniques to portray sexual acts and scenarios that, in many cases, would be illegal and unethical to film with real human actors. Many games of this nature have been refused classification in Australia and banned on streaming services like Twitch.
All too many ‘porn games’ ignore consent completely and fetishise sexual assault. While I don’t intend to debate about whether games like this should be made or played at all, I think that in the era of the #MeToo movement, games that fetishise sexual assault feel - now more than ever - grossly at odds with the cultural moment we currently find ourselves in. Consent is important, and with this importance comes the responsibility of ensuring we all understand what consent looks like.
With an understanding of the problems that exist in porn games and a desire to provide an alternative, Cute Demon Crashers turns the expectations of video game sex on its head. It achieves this by allowing the player to negotiate with their virtual partner to ensure that both parties feel safe and respected during their sexual experiences.
The game opens with protagonist (and audience stand-in character) Claire, lamenting her time alone at home while her university friends are out pairing up. Feeling sexually frustrated and depressed at the idea she may remain a virgin forever, Claire inadvertently summons four friendly sex demons into her room, just as she’s getting ready to relieve those frustrations herself. After the initial surprise, the demons make Claire an offer: they will crash at her place for three days while she gets to know them. If at the end of those three days she wants to have sex with any of them, she can.
Each of the demons offers a different sort of fantasy. One is bookish and sensual with a flair for bondage. Another is a warm and experienced macho type with the confidence to lead, coupled with the respect to ask and listen. One is a fellow first-timer; eager to please, but also nervous. And then there’s the lady demon, who is gentle, fun, and feels like a friend to Claire, but becomes so much more. Over the course of the three days you get to know these personalities more, bonding over domestic tasks and building trust.
In the final act of the game you choose which of these demons, if any, you would like to have your first sexual experience with. Choosing a partner will start one of several sex scenes, which the player can choose to stop at any point throughout, or change, according to what you’re comfortable with. The game treats each of the characters, including the players themselves, with kindness. It never shames or casts judgement on what choices are made. Everyone is nice and here to support each other. No matter what, things will always end in a nice warm cuddle.
As a piece of sexually explicit material, Cute Demon Crashers really is very lovely. It’s just unfortunate that the anime aesthetic will turn a lot of people off (or at the very least, not do it for them). But what if mainstream pornography was designed in this way? What if a pornographic film with human actors had small, interactive game elements that could direct the outcome of a scene? Consent is very rarely made explicit in porn, and far too often the fantasies being acted out involve coercion and positions of power being abused. Think student and teacher, intern and boss. It is a consequence of assuming the audience consists of straight, white, cis-men. It is patriarchal porn, and it often panders to misogynistic views.
I think the porn industry could learn a lot from Cute Demon Crashers. SugarScript have not only made a lovely little sex game, they have also given us a template for porn that makes consent clear. It’s an approach that builds trust and intimacy with its audience, empowering them to negotiate their own sort of consent with the material they’re consuming. I’m sure we all know how most pornography looks today, and how it usually ends. What I want you to imagine is the kind of pornography that ends in a nice warm hug instead.
SugarScript are currently working on a follow-up called Cute Demon Crashers Side B, which will focus on all-male sexual relationships. Furthermore, SugarScript are currently looking to pay voice actors for the roles in the game. Information about the job and guidelines for auditioning can be found here.
