Date Z

About

Date Z is a single player casual role playing game with romance, drama, mystery and comedy themes. It was developed by Mass Creation and was released on August 30, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Date Z" - a captivating mix of high school drama, romance, and mystery. As a transfer student, your challenge is to navigate relationships and secure a date by Friday to survive a deadly virus outbreak. Unravel the hidden secrets. Every choice you make counts.

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71%

Audience ScoreBased on 24 reviews

story6 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

Engaging and branching narrative that combines high school romance with an apocalyptic mystery, offering multiple endings and replayability.
Stylized, hand-drawn comic-inspired art style that effectively balances lighthearted dating sim moments with darker thematic elements.
Innovative time loop mechanic that allows players to revisit choices and explore alternate story outcomes, enhancing strategy and immersion.

Significant portion of content, including multiple romance routes, is locked behind paid DLC, limiting the base game's completeness and choice variety.
Short overall gameplay length with limited post-apocalypse interaction, leading to a feeling that the story is incomplete or rushed.
Occasional inconsistencies in character development and some typographical/visual glitches, along with lack of features like voice acting or CG gallery.

story
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
65%
12%
The story of Date Z is an engaging, choice-driven narrative blending high school romance, mystery, and apocalyptic tension, featuring branching paths and multiple endings that encourage replayability. While players appreciate the intriguing premise and character depth, the true ending requires completing all romance routes and is somewhat unresolved, leaving some narrative threads open. Overall, the story offers a distinctive experience but may feel limited without purchasing additional DLCs, and it has received mixed comparisons to similar visual novels in terms of depth and conclusion.
- “Date Z is a narrative-driven adventure developed by Mass Creation and published by We Dig Games that merges high school romance, mystery, and apocalyptic tension into a single branching story experience.”
- “Developing trust, making the right conversational choices, and prioritizing certain interactions over others can unlock different storylines and endings, giving the game considerable replay value.”
- “Rather than simply unlocking different romantic endings, players can uncover new plot threads and hidden context about the virus and its origins.”
- “With the base game you are limited to just one of the romance options, and considering your fourth and true route is locked behind completing the rest of the endings it means that you are forced to buy all the DLCs if you want to actually complete the story.”
- “As for how the story ends in the true route (which is unlocked after you've obtained all possible endings for the romance options), it can be a bit of a mixed bag.”
- “It does a bad job in comparison with other games, be it on the storytelling or the overall feeling of the game.”
gameplay
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
55%
27%
The gameplay centers on a time-loop mechanic allowing players to experiment with choices and alternate outcomes, enhanced by a skip feature to reduce tedium. It mainly involves building relationships over four days before a zombie apocalypse, with minimal additional activities or complexity. While the mechanics run smoothly and offer some strategic depth, many find the gameplay limited and not engaging enough to warrant purchase.
- “The story introduces mechanics that allow events to shift or replay under different conditions, enabling players to experiment with choices and observe alternate outcomes.”
- “I love the time mechanic that allows me to fix my mistakes because talking to women is hard!”
- “The groundhog day mechanic of repeating the entire loop seemed a bit tedious at first.”
- “There is no other meaningful gameplay though, no inventory or minigames or anything after the outbreak.”
- “The gameplay consists of spending 4 days cozying up to the girls in preparation for the imminent zombie apocalypse while also investigating its cause.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The game's hand-drawn, comic-style art is widely praised for its aesthetic appeal and ability to complement both lighthearted and darker story elements, creating a seamless tone shift. The cute, animated characters enhance the visual experience, making the graphics a standout feature that draws players in. Overall, the visuals significantly contribute to the game's charm and engagement.
- “The art style supports both the lighthearted dating elements and the darker mystery components, allowing the tone to shift fluidly without feeling disjointed.”
- “This game has one of the most beautiful art styles I have ever seen; its hand-drawn comic-style design was the selling point for me.”
- “The artstyle is aesthetically pleasing and the characters are all fun to look at due to their cute 'bouncy' animation as you scroll through text.”
- “For comparison, Henchman Story, which has a hand-drawn art style too and the same price range, became overshadowed by Date Z design.”
- “The rest of the game would be okay so far, while nothing special in way of graphics, text or whatever.”
- “A game is more than its visuals.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is generally lighthearted and effective, offering plenty of comedic moments alongside the romantic and thrilling elements. However, some players find certain character portrayals and stereotypes problematic, feeling they detract from the humor. Overall, the humor adds a playful tone to the otherwise tense setting.
- “Although there is impending danger (even if the main character doesn't realize it), there are plenty of humorous moments along the way.”
- “If you enjoy visual novels, like hot romance options (although you'll need to get the completionist pack if you want to experience them all), and enjoy the concept of the zombie apocalypse with plenty of humorous moments, then you should take a look at Date Z.”
- “While some tracks have that adrenaline rush feeling going on, others clearly have that humorous moment.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers significant replayability through branching narratives and multiple endings unlocked by different conversational choices and interactions. Players are encouraged to replay to explore alternative storylines and character-driven drama, making it especially appealing to fans of narrative depth and variety.
- “Developing trust, making the right conversational choices, and prioritizing certain interactions over others can unlock different storylines and endings, giving the game considerable replay value.”
- “Players cannot see every event in a single run, encouraging replayability for those interested in exploring alternative narrative paths.”
- “For players who appreciate branching narratives, replayable storylines, and character-focused drama set against a tense backdrop, it offers a distinctive experience.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game's music offers a good variety of tracks, though one track tends to loop repetitively and can become obtrusive at times. Overall, the music is decent and complements the gameplay without being overly distracting.
- “Regarding the music, there's plenty of track variety.”
- “The game is pretty fun, it has good art, decent music although it can be very obtrusive.”
- “In addition, there is one music track that loops over and over.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's emotional impact centers on relationships with five unique romanceable characters, each offering distinct personalities—from Patty's sweet and wholesome nature to Alicia's rough, tomboyish demeanor—creating a varied and engaging emotional experience.
- “Relationships with five distinct romanceable characters form the emotional core of the experience.”
- “Patty comes off as sweet and wholesome, while Alicia comes off more as rough and tomboyish.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game involves repetitive loops that can feel tedious, especially when chasing specific achievements, but a skip mechanic helps alleviate monotony. Despite some grind towards the end, players often find the early playthroughs engaging and addictive.
- “The Groundhog Day mechanic of repeating the entire loop seemed a bit tedious at first, but then I noticed there's a skip mechanic for bored gamers.”
- “I 100%'d the game in one 7 hour playthrough and while it did get tedious at the end trying to get the right score for a few achievements, I was hooked into it during my first few playthroughs.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game experiences occasional visual glitches randomly, which slightly affects its overall stability. However, these issues do not appear to severely impact gameplay.