Parenting is not a game. The choices a person's caregivers make deeply impact them well into adulthood, stoking their dreams and shaping their insecurities. Caring for a child is a task that must be undertaken with the utmost thoughtfulness, sensitivity, and love.
I know all of this. And yet, I will still micromanage my virtual daughter like a pageant mum aiming to raise the first Pulitzer Prize-winning astronaut president.
Developed by two-woman studio Egg Catcher, Volcano Princess is a wholesome raising simulator in which you play as the single father to a young girl. With her beloved mother gone, it's up to you to care for and raise your daughter, deciding which classes she takes, what part-time jobs she works, and who she befriends. All of these factors will determine who she eventually grows up to be, whether that's an unscrupulous criminal, a beloved monarch, or anything in between.
Of course, with a crown on the table, my daughter won't aim for anything less.
Building on the raising sim genre
Raising sims are a criminally under-served genre in video games. Gainax's Princess Maker series remains the exemplar of the category, despite its latest instalment being released over 15 years ago. Even then, its most popular title Princess Maker 2 is known to Western audiences primarily through a leaked translation, only getting an official English release two decades later in 2016.
The intervening years have left a lot of room for Princess Maker to be coloured by rosy nostalgia, with only a smattering of largely indie games building on the genre. There will always be a special place in my heart for Princess Maker 2, but I openly admit the 30-year-old stat-raising game feels much more limited now than it did when first released.
Volcano Princess is the experience nostalgic players remember Princess Maker 2 to be.
Like all raising sims, the core thrust of Volcano Princess is to increase your child's stats in various categories such as strength, intelligence, and imagination. While this is primarily done through enrolling her in classes, managing her schedule and stress level, Volcano Princess also has you explore the local area on weekends. And like any driven parent, I made sure this time was filled with extracurricular activities that supplemented her academic profile.
Given a handful of action points to spend each weekend, your daughter can increase her stats by partaking in hobbies such as painting by a lake or listening to stories at the local tavern. Alternatively, she can work a part-time job to pay for her classes, bet on horse races by the harbour, beat up criminals, cook action point-replenishing food, or even go adventuring in one of the nearby valley's four dungeons.
She can also befriend the local townspeople and even go on dates — provided you're willing to sacrifice action points that could have otherwise been spent on studying. Personally, I think my daughter could make better use of her time.
Live, laugh, love
Unlike Princess Maker 2, Volcano Princess has a fairly robust social system. The Volcano Kingdom is populated with several eligible, idealised young singles who your daughter can befriend and romance, from a refugee artist to a noble princess. And yes, neither sapphic relationships nor polyamory are off the cards.
Each character has their own personality, preferred gifts, frequent haunts, and backstory. Some future suitors will even show up in the local newspaper long before you meet them, which is fun to spot in subsequent playthroughs and makes the Volcano Kingdom feel a bit richer.
Keeping track of relationships is easy as well, with Volcano Princess' heart gauge allowing you to check if your daughter's affections lie where you want them. My eventual son-in-law was a quiet, gentle prince who fed my daughter hand-picked chestnuts and strawberries, but there are also more roguish, cool, or nurturing options to suit various preferences. Popular archetypes such as the childhood friend and roguish womaniser are all affectionately depicted, and accompanied by gorgeous artwork.
Also unlike Princess Maker 2, you cannot marry your own daughter. Yet another notable improvement Volcano Princess has made.
Befriending the locals has the further benefit of enabling your daughter to bring them along on her adventures. Up to three friends can join her per expedition, with each offering different skill sets to help her fight through the dungeons' turn-based battles.
Advancement through each dungeon is made by choosing between two branching paths after every encounter, which will take your daughter onward to more battles, treasure, or random events. The battle system isn't as robust as it could be, having no item system to enable health recovery, and animations are largely nonexistent. But they aren't glaring omissions, particularly considering that adventuring is just one ancillary activity in your daughter's busy life.
Sending literal children to fight monsters is perhaps not the most responsible call a parent could make, and much of the loot they pick up is only good for selling. But they do tend to come back with a few useful things, and hey, no-one's ever died. Besides, some would argue that denying my daughter the opportunity to swing a sword is the bigger parenting faux pas.
Inheriting Princess Maker's crown
Even aside from the fact that both are daughter-raising sims that take place in Asian-influenced Western fantasy settings, Volcano Princess shares many other elements and events with Princess Maker 2.
A non-human helper will offer tips to assist your attempts at child-rearing. Occasional mystical visitors will bless your daughter with a stat boost, or ask for her hand in marriage. Dressing your daughter in different outfits will change her appearance and give her various stat boosts. There are also festivals at which your daughter can compete in duelling, debating, or dancing, provided you've properly trained her.
It may be unrealistic to expect your daughter to win every competition, especially when pitted against opponents who are older and more experienced than her. But if I wanted to set realistic goals, I'd have a realistic child.
Despite my best efforts, my daughter's eventual claim to royalty came through marriage rather than merit. Instead she became a generous entrepreneur, establishing a foundation to help fund people's dreams. That's fine, I guess. It isn't a bad vocation. But my beautiful, perfect daughter is princess material. I raised her to be a princess, and I will not stop loading saves until I see her on a throne.
Fortunately, Volcano Princess has significant replay potential, with almost 50 beautifully illustrated job endings you can earn. This isn't even factoring in mixing and matching them with the game's various romantic endings — or mixing and matching her lovers.
Minmaxing your daughter into a genius wunderkind who can out-dance, out-debate, and out-duel everyone also gets much easier in subsequent playthroughs. Earning achievements grants you points to unlock advantages in future runs, such as higher starting stats, relationship levels, or even room decorations that will give your daughter a boost. Create your own generational wealth.
A handmade gift
Volcano Princess is an ambitious game, particularly considering it is Egg Catcher's first title. As such, it's unsurprising that it had quite a few bugs upon release, which the developers have been actively hunting down — though there's at least one exploit which I sincerely hope they never fix. Tip: If you want a bottomless supply of action points, buying fertiliser and working at the bathhouse will be your best friends.
The English translation also had numerous errors, such as multiple disparate spellings for various characters' names and some confusing story events that are best understood by general gist. These translation issues hindered the main story, which can feel nonsensical and lacking in gravity, however the developers have since released a major update containing new content aimed at addressing this.
Yet despite these issues — or indeed because of them — this game has enchanted me. I spent an entire weekend utterly absorbed in my parenting duties, immediately starting a new game once the first had been finished. The game feels richer and more involved than Princess Maker 2, like passionate fans building on a beloved legacy and adding everything they themselves would love to see as fans of raising sims.
Volcano Princess is like a handmade gift. It isn't perfect, and definitely has some very obvious flaws. But it's beautiful and made with heart, which is the very best thing a video game can be.
Volcano Princess is available now on PC.
