‘Love And Deepspace’ Broke Records Last Year. There’s One Big Reason Why

This guest post is written by Taffeta Chime.

Roughly half of gamers around the world are female, according to a recent study from the Entertainment Software Association. Yet female gamers still have to deal with harassment, objectification, and a male-centered industry. Though there is a growing amount of strong female representation in games, there are still not many examples that truly help women feel accepted and seen.

Enter “Love and Deepspace,” a mobile dating simulation game released at the beginning of 2024. This is an “otome” game, meaning it’s targeted toward a female, (typically) heterosexual audience and features (typically) male romanceable characters. At first glance, “Love and Deepspace” is a “gooner game,” meant to be primarily sexually arousing. Or another first glance impression is that it is a “gacha game” focused on pushing the user to use scaffolding microtransactions in order to unlock exclusives in gameplay.

And while there are elements of truth to these assessments — sex sells, after all — there’s a lot more happening with “LaDS.”

More Than Meets The Eye

When I first started seeing ads for “LaDS” in 2024, I dismissed it. It was advertised as an immersive dating sim, and the snippets of storytelling just didn’t grab me. However, one detail fascinated me: “LaDS” is made by Infold, based in Shanghai. My husband is Chinese, I lived abroad in China, I’m fluent in Mandarin, and I have been a part of Chinese culture both in the US and China since 2007.

I’m familiar enough to know gaming is a big part of Chinese culture — especially in younger generations — even though it’s still disparaged as a fruitless or even dangerous hobby. Chinese culture is still recovering from its mistreatment of girls in past generations, so this disparagement is especially true toward female gamers. A Chinese-made game that catered specifically to a female audience was eye-catching to me.

I downloaded “LaDS” this past summer, and it quickly became apparent to me this was more than a dating sim.

Lore Time

For one thing, there is extensive lore and character development, and the way that the story unfolds keeps it from getting too confusing. The story interweaves elements of fantasy and sci-fi while incorporating many romance tropes.

Essentially, in 2038, a tunnel from Deepspace opens above the earth, bringing energy fluctuations that cause dangerous creatures called Wanderers and elements of Deepspace energy called protocores some of which can cause changes in human physiology to create superhuman-like powers called Evols.

The main character (MC) is just a child when the Deepspace tunnel opens, and she loses all of her previous memories and any knowledge of her home or family. MC is adopted by an elderly woman, and raised with a boy also affected by the Deepspace chronorift: Caleb.

The protocores cause MC to have the rare resonance Evol, which allows her to amplify Evols of others around her, but the protocore in her, an aether core, is more powerful and rare–and more dangerous, requiring more extensive medical supervision (from a cardiologist who was a childhood friend, Zayne). When MC grows up, she becomes a Deepspace hunter, trained to fight Wanderers. Her partner is one of the best Deepspace hunters around (Xavier), and during her work, she protects a renowned artist (Rafayel) and confronts a mob boss who is illegally manufacturing protocore weapons (Sylus).

As the game continues, you learn MC has connections to each of these men already, and while it seems like they are all in the same timeline, she actually has various lives with each of the men at the center.

Part of the gameplay is pulling memories from Deepspace signals, which allows her to remember more and more about each love interest–some of which transcend time and space. Each love interest has an Evol, and each one has at least one mythic side. They are each complex and well-rounded, and each memory reveals more about their backstory, quirks, attraction, and more.

Finish Him

Because MC is a hunter, there are many elements of combat; a large part of leveling up is by battling Wanderers with your chosen companion, using their Evol and then adding MC’s as part of their ultimate attack. (An example of a female-centered detail: though MC can handle combat by herself, there are times when the companion will step in to block an attack. Chivalry isn’t dead!)

So, yes, MC is a strong and independent badass, but she can also be cute and feminine. “LaDS” has many aspects of customization and collection that shows this off, including the “With Him” rooms, the journal, outfits, photo booth, and even the new very Sims-like home feature that all allow players to design, customize, and be creative. MC can even go with one of the guys to the arcade and play the claw machine to collect plushies (and you can choose if you or he gets a turn), or you two can play Kitty Cards in the cafe together to collect badges! Special events also often involve mini-games and chibi versions of MC and the LIs.

A note about the outfits too: many have commented at how tasteful MC’s outfits are, saying that they are designed not for the male gaze but for female empowerment. MC is clearly not objectified; she is a complex character with many different sides, and even her outfits reflect that. But beyond outfits for her, there are plenty of outfit choices for the boys as well!

Infold is leaning more and more into companionship features, with aspects like quality time (including working out, working/studying, and even sleeping–just sleeping–with the guys), and players can even talk with them about their days and have them introduce themselves to their friends and family. There are audio-based stories as well that act like ASMR, some of which can get pretty spicy!

But the guys can be practical too, like assistants. In addition to the ability to have the guys be an alarm clock for you, reminding you to take your medicines, go to appointments, meet deadlines, etc, you can use them as a period tracker! And for me anyway, “LaDS” has actually been my most accurate period tracker, reminding me days in advance that my period is coming and encouraging me to take care of my body in different ways during different parts of my cycle.

Raise Your Voice

Because of the way the developers at Infold take their often-overlooked audience into consideration, and genuinely apply features that women gamers are looking for, “LaDS” won 2025 Mobile Game of the Year at Gamescom.

Better yet, it’s topped the charts in China as the most-played game and top-grossing game more than once through 2025. Over and over, this is proving that women, especially Chinese women, are appreciating finally being heard in the video game world.

Image Credit: “Love and Deepspace”