Dinner Date

Dinner Date is an experimental game, pushing at the edges of what a game can be. You play as Julian Luxemburg, a 27 year old British man who has been set up on a date with a 20 year old Japanese woman named Meiko. As the evening wears on, it becomes clear that Meiko will not be arriving for that date, leaving Julian alone with his thoughts. This is not a game with gameplay in the traditional sense. While the player can move Julian’s arms through a series of keyboard inputs and decide how much bread Julian eats or how much wine he drinks, none of these progress the gameplay in any way. The only progression through the game is the slow tick of the clock above the table and the meandering of Julian’s thoughts through possibilities, fears, and sorrow. It’s not a happy game in any way. It’s an experiential game, meant to convey a specific narrative and sensation of being engrossed in that narrative, and a way to experience an event in a safe and empathetic way. It’s in the assumptions this game makes about the universality of the experiences it depicts that I really struggled and why, perhaps, the game fell flat for me. Rather than empathising with Julian, I felt a softer version …

i liked the bread it was really good with both the soup and the dipping

oh my god i cannot believe that i finally found a nostalgia game from when i was 15! i would sit and play this time from time at the school pc´s and i remember i would get into trouble for playing this game! thank you alot stout games for not have removed this game from steam and had it kept here after all these years! as the game is very short it still hits nostalgia at me :)

BEST GAME EVAR

If it's super cheap and you want a short narrative experience, this is an ok and an original one. I'll be honest, I only vaguely remember it, but I do remember thinking it was interesting at least!

Nice experience, but not a game. The dialogue is compelling and you feel for the poor guy. It's nice controlling his reactions to what is happening. Not much more interaction though. But the music and the experience are nice.