Yoshiwara, Red Light District - a historical brothel management sim [Adult] [Historical] [Simulation]

[Deimos96]

Hello everyone,

I've been working on a brothel management game called Yoshiwara, Red Light District set in the pleasure district of Yoshiwara during the Edo period. The game takes inspiration from goldo's Brothel King. Though I wouldn't classify my game as an h-game, it does tackle many adult themes. One of which is your courtesans may get an STD and die lmao. The game tries to depict the real-life struggles of the working girls during those times and, you, as the manager make difficult moral and financial decisions about managing your brothel. Here is a mockup of the game.




Some of the game's mechanics:

• Entourage system. Instead of working individually, your girls will work in groups. The courtesan is the lead of the group, she is the one sleeping with patrons. But she can have assistants and apprentices to aid in her work. These assistants can be a musician, artist, actress, manager, and tutor. - Classy brothels at the time weren't just a sleep in and go type of deal. For high class customers, usually they would spend the whole night partying with the courtesan accompanied by musical and theatrical performances.

• Training system for girls to get skills. Training will cost money as you need an instructor to teach them lessons. Some skills include various musical instruments, art and poetry which increase stats. There are 6 stats; Beauty, Charm, Wit, Refinement, Learning, and Stewardship - Historically, courtesans are highly skilled in the arts, which I try to portray in this game.

• Health system, your girls can catch venereal diseases. - Most girls working in Yoshiwara had very short lifespans sadly.

• Debt system. Girls *sold* into Yoshiwara are usually the daughters of families that are in heavy debt. Once they are free from debt, they gain their freedom. It's your job as the manager to decide whether to keep her in debt by various means or let her go when the time comes. Girls gain debt from their upkeep and lose debt by getting allowances based on how much money they made.

• Building upgrades, items, recruitment/scouting, stress, fear, retirement, apprenticeship and more...

I hope my game interests anyone reading.

[Tenshi-Yoru]

I'm not really into managerial games, but the idea behind this one sounds really interesting. The art is good and I can see you are knowledgeable about this subject, which is actually the main reason I'd like to play this game - to learn something new, as well as have fun in the meantime.

I personally feel like the UI takes the focus away from the beautiful art, probably because it's just a block of solid color, although the color itself blends really well with the background. But it's well organized and I don't feel lost or confused by all the info on screen. This is no easy task, so good job!

I was wondering if this game has an ending or if it's basically endless?

[Deimos96]

I'm not really into managerial games, but the idea behind this one sounds really interesting. The art is good and I can see you are knowledgeable about this subject, which is actually the main reason I'd like to play this game - to learn something new, as well as have fun in the meantime.

I personally feel like the UI takes the focus away from the beautiful art, probably because it's just a block of solid color, although the color itself blends really well with the background. But it's well organized and I don't feel lost or confused by all the info on screen. This is no easy task, so good job!

I was wondering if this game has an ending or if it's basically endless?

Thanks! Yeah I've read books and taken many references to best represent the topic in a nuanced way.

I'm first working on a free-play mode first for the demo. Though it might still take awhile until it is released. But, yes, there will be a story mode/campaign for the game.

[Tenshi-Yoru]

Thanks! Yeah I've read books and taken many references to best represent the topic in a nuanced way.

I'm first working on a free-play mode first for the demo. Though it might still take awhile until it is released. But, yes, there will be a story mode/campaign for the game.

Awesome, then I will definitely follow the development and try the demo once it's available! I love story mode~

[Deimos96]

Snippet -

Personalities!

All the potential courtesans in the game are randomly generated; their stats, traits, etc. To form something from all the randomness, I've tried to create a system that determines the courtesan's personality based on values within the girl's traits, because people love personalities! - and yes certain traits can cancel each other out like being mean cannot make you kind. This system is inspired by Brothel King's personality system. But the way mine is calculated is similar to Paradox Interactive's Crusader Kings 3 personality system, hopefully someone here has played the game.

Basically, the game calculates the summed value of four seperate variables - which can be positive or negative - that each trait has and then takes the two highest absolute summed values. Those variables are; sociability (extrovert/introvert), principles (idealist/pragmatic), demeanor (upright/relaxed), and assertiveness (dominant/submissive) - a la Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. So if her values are: sociablity; 5, principle; -10, demeanor; 12, assert; 6 then it is determined that she is a pragmatic and upright personality. Now, like BK, I decided to tie those two personalities into an archetype. Mainly, to be able to write stereotypical dialogue for each archetype and unlock random events only for certain archetypes.

Below is the table for all possible archetype combinations. The previous example would make that courtesan a Straightforward archetype.


And here are some examples from the game.