I know everyone is like wow omg wholesome dad game with all white cast! yay! based!
But I am a father and playing the game makes me profoundly sad. I have real children near the same age and the game nails the mentality so perfectly I feel guilty playing it, like I am cheating on my real family. Maybe in 20 years I'll play through it to reminisce once they are gone. But I can't play it now for more than a couple minutes before feeling disgusting.
No one is realizing how seductive this is. Like porn tricks you into thinking you have endless women and thus defeating your drive to find a real one, Dad-games sap away your energy to have a real family.
I know in the hunter-gatherer sense all videogames are a waste of time and should be avoided, we're all addicts and none of this is healthy. I can't attack anyone for playing this game while I still waste time with other RPGs and shooters. But there's a reason this game came from a country where reclusive shutins are such a problem they have a completely collapsing birthrate.
I don't really get how anyone who has had kids or dealt with them could see games like this and find any parallel to the real thing. They can be fun and fulfilling, but they are selfish little narcists at their natural stage. Unless disciplined to understand the feelings of others, no they are not fun to be around. They are screaming little monsters with limitless stores of energy. I have yet to see a single game that truly sticks to how it really is. The Boy 1.0 in God of War was close... but not quite close enough. If he acted like a real child, there's no world where there wouldn't be a mini game where you're smacking that kid at least once for exp orbs.. because it's fucking Kratos. sorry, I went on a bit of a tangent.
My point is porn gives men the satisfaction of sex, skipping over the whole thing about having to learn to live with a woman. It's work. A lot of work.
And games like this is just the same crap. The fantasy of fatherhood, but absolutely no work in where it counts. Empty calories. And so many guys and gals fall for it. Especially those on the spectrum
I guess I don't know what point I am trying to make, because I am pretty much agreeing with OP, but I don't think he should feel any guilt for playing the game. He got the real world experience. He's been through the trenches. Just learn to kick back and learn to enjoy things. It's a concept so easily lost the older one gets. You know you're eating garbage, but if it makes you happy and if done in moderation, there's really no harm.