bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Josh Ye

This article originally appeared on ABACUS
So, exactly 100 days before the college entrance exam -- or Gaokao -- in China, you can’t hold back any longer.
You confess your love for a girl, and you two are a thing now. Yeah, doing it just before exams was risky, but how bad can it be?
Spoiler alert: Real bad.
We played the game Gaokao.Love.100Days on Nintendo Switch, based on the do-or-die exam in China. And according to the game, getting a girlfriend before the exam can possibly result in running away from home after flunking the exam and becoming a gaming addict… or you getting sent to a military training academy by your tiger parents.
So yeah, the stakes are high.

The truth is we didn’t actually get that far with the game during our stream on Friday. But the game apparently has more than 60 different endings. Some good, others... catastrophic.
To its credit, the game takes on a very interesting subject matter, which alone managed to pique our interest. But on the other hand, it’s really dull to play.
Gaokao.Love.100Days is essentially a mildly interactive visual novel, with an array of different endings to the story depending on the choices you make in the game.

There are many factors that you have to consider before making each choice. You have to balance the intensity of your study (I can feel my Asian parents glaring at me to pick this right now), the time you spend with your girlfriend and your level of stress.
OK, enough about boring game mechanics. There are multiple girls to woo here. Your starting girlfriend, Muxin, is shy and sweet… with a side of madness.
You see, she’s crazy about food, to the point where she’ll skip school to get a cake if she catches even a single whiff. On your first date, you go to an aquarium with her… but to her, this isn’t an underwater zoo. It’s a seafood market, where she threatens to devour everything in sight.

Then there’s the spectacle-wearing, soft-spoken female neighbor Xiaohan. She always — and quite conveniently — shows up whenever you are alone and vulnerable. (Apparently, you end up with her if the stress gets to you and you decide to break up with Muxin.)

The problem is, besides being a bit weird, there isn’t anything more exciting or gripping about this game.
That is not to say that it has no appeal. If you are ever intrigued by the notoriously strict education system in China, this game is a very good simulation, littered with translations of Communist-esque terms unique to Chinese schools.
Maybe we expected too much from this game. It’s a small-budget visual novel, after all. And while it’s not great, it’s not deeply flawed either.

And for all the things it doesn’t do right, the concept isn’t one of them. The premise to me is pretty irresistible.
“Getting a girlfriend before the National College Entrance Exam, I know it's crazy… Is there still room for love in this 100 days, or am I just ruining my life, or worse, her life?”
The moment I saw a tagline like that, I knew I was in.
The game, published by NVLMaker, is currently available on Nintendo Switch and Steam. Want to find out more? Check out our stream here!

This hit anime schoolgirl game looks Japanese, but it’s from China

For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.



How Seoul became the world’s esports capital and is using it as a key tourism strategy

Next level: why China’s game makers are quietly bankrolling generative AI

Incarnations of the word avatar – from visiting deity to sci-fi hit and online personality

Call of Duty co-creator Vince Zampella dies in US car crash

Video gaming

Game forces you to balance love with China’s notorious college entrance exam

She’s Xiaohan. Maybe she’s just sweet. Or maybe her convenient appearances are too convenient. (Picture: NVLMaker)

Abacus

Games

Tech

Gaokao.Love.100Days on Nintendo Switch has a neat premise but is mediocre at best


Nintendo

Game reviews

Abacus - China Tech News

Game forces you to balance love with China’s notorious college entrance exam

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Gaokao.Love.100Days on Nintendo Switch has a neat premise but is mediocre at best

Gaokao.Love.100Days on Nintendo Switch has a neat premise but is mediocre at best