Lots of the good lists of Otome games are for individual routes or for pay-to-play games like Hakuouki and Code Realize.

For those of us who don’t want to spend money on our romance hobbies, here’s a list of the best and worst free-to-play otome games out there right now. I’ve put links to the download pages on Google Play for each game, so if you want to try them out, just click their name.

Let’s get to it!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…we’re looking at them all.

Best

These are the games that I find to be the best bang for your buck (so to speak) and the ones that are  most likely to please

Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice

 

Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice, is the best free otome game out there right now (In my  opinion). Lots of events and side-quests keep the player busy when they can’t get past a tough level, and even provide additional free reading material as you go. The writing is top-notch, and it’s got REALLY good Japanese voice actors, (and an available English dub). Plus the art-work is pretty.

The Arcana

The Arcana is one of the most unique otome games available, with no checkpoints, no farming for items, a fun mini-game and even a free weekly tarot-reading option. It allows the player to select their gender and features both male and female routes. On top of all of this the artwork is vibrant and stylish, and the story-line is beautiful.

A must have for the casual player.

Lost Alice

Lost Alice has a ton of routes with different levels and types of writing. You’re sure to find SOMEONE you like in Lost Alice, and it’s easy to play. No surprise elements jump out in this game, and with the exception of some high farming requirements, game-play is usually smooth.

Mediocre

These are the games that aren’t BAD, but aren’t great. If you like the idea, then they’re worth playing.

Blood in Roses

Blood in Roses has lots of routes, but the artwork isn’t cohesive and the stories are rarely anything to write home about. In fact, some of them are almost too boring to read through. They’ve branched out since I began (it was new when I started) to include more than just Vampires and Werewolves and even expanded into a Season 2 with a new MC. If you like the idea of romancing Vampires, but don’t want to spend the money on (shudder) Diabolik Lovers or something similar, then this is a good game.

Guard me Sherlock

Guard me Sherlock is another niche otome game. The artwork is meh, but the characters are basically good. There can be some OOC-ness if you play a season 2 route, but overall, the stories are relaxing and farming isn’t demanding.

I consider Guard me Sherlock as a chill-out game, but if you want a lot of action or a lot of high-powered drama/romance, then this isn’t the game for you.

Niflheim

Niflheim is so pretty, but it has ONE, count it, ONE route that I enjoyed. The rest were contrived and irritating to read. That said, I can see some merit in the other routes and definitely recommend it overall, particularly for new otome gamers. The idea behind Niflheim is pretty unique among otome games, so if you’re looking for that kind of feeling, you won’t get it anywhere else. Also the one route that I did enjoy is one of the best I’ve ever read in free-to-play games, so it’s worth a shot.

Ikemen Vampire

Ikemen Vampire is a good game with interesting characters decent story-lines. It’s here both as an independent game and as a placeholder for ALL the Ikemen series. If vampires aren’t your thing, then you’re quite likely to find a game that suits your interests within the Ikemen series. Not the best, but far from being bad.

Worst

Just a no

Oz+

I really wanted to like this game.

Oz+ has artwork that is usually really pretty and jewel-bright, with a good synopsis (after all, it’s the wizard of oz!). However, it crashes and burns in the story department. Routes are either boring or creepy, and with only a few exceptions, there aren’t even any fun moments to look back on as a “well, at least this wasn’t a TOTAL waste of time”. Do yourself a favor and just skip Oz+, it’s just too cringey.

Scarlet Fate +

I didn’t want to put this here, but I had no choice T_T.

Scarlet Fate+ is a superb game that I enjoy to read, beautiful artwork and interesting characters/setting make the game lots of fun. The reason it’s down here is because it takes SOOOOOOOOO long to get past checkpoints. Scarlet Fate+ can be purchased instead of trying to fumble through it free-to-play and it seems like buying it outright might be the better option.

Essentially it turns you into a farming Nazi, so please don’t.

Special

Not sure where this goes yet…but it needs a ranking

Mystic Messenger

It’s hard to put Mystic Messenger into a definite category. On one hand,  it has an interesting story-line, good plot, nice characters, and lots to do. On the other hand, it keeps you up at literally 3 AM to tell a random guy that you understand his feelings. If my phone is going off at three in the morning, I expect it to be an emergency, not an Otome game notification. I don’t like having to put that much time and energy into constantly messaging and answering “calls” and “e-mails” to really enjoy this game. If it wasn’t so time-intensive, I would love the game, but as it is, I just don’t know where to put it.