Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Bad Heroes
Pounce Pounce Studios · Published by Pounce Pounce Studios · Official site ↗
Content notice: This game contains non-explicit references to sexual activity, adult humor, and strong language.
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
Save the world and romance misfit heroes in the first-ever dating sim and beat-em-up! When a crime wave grips Gloom City, you and your ragtag band of heroes-for-hire uncover shocking truths about the A-list supers at the top. Fight crime, punch mimes, and kiss six superheroes with supernatural abs!
Indie, Casual · 2027 · More free games
Explore Gloom City's underbelly as you team up with quirky superheroes for dates and battles. Unveil secrets about A-list supers while fighting off mimes and more in this unique dating sim and beat-em-up.
About this game
Search "Bad Heroes" on Kickstarter!
Bad Heroes is the world's FIRST dating sim and beat-em-up!*
*probably
Save the world and romance misfit heroes in the first-ever dating sim and beat-em-up hybrid! When a crime wave grips Gloom City, you and your ragtag gang of heroes-for-hire uncover shocking truths about the A-list supers at the top. Will they turn out to be less A-list and more A-hole? To find out, dial Capes on Call at 698-0085 and join this ignoble band to fight crime, punch mimes, and kiss six superheroes with supernatural abs!
How do you play?
Bad Heroes is a story-driven hybrid game with two main elements of gameplay.
Players will start with a visual novel-style dating sim, with choice-based conversations and branching paths and a love meter. These visual novel segments will consist of office drama and dates with the heroes, and an overarching story that will unfold as the game continues.
Choose among these dateable characters!
Your boss, Whacktivist, weapons expert and punster
Mermangler, hot mess creature of the deep with no brains and all brawn
Blurricane, type-A speedster whose big ambitions get the best of her
Zombi, the mysterious monster coming to terms with their sudden influx of agency
Draculad, suave heir to a vampire fortune
Tweetie Tights, the ninja gymnast working on his solo hero debut
The visual novel segments interplay with the beat em up when you send the heroes on missions to solve the crime spree. Through these beat-em-up segments, you'll earn romance meter points with the heroes AND start to uncover the mystery of how and why the crimes are happening--a mystery that includes the presence of the major league superhero team.
What else do I want to know?
Bad Heroes was made for people who believe that superheroes deserve love, too! It has EVERYTHING* like...
(*some things)
Dating sim tomfoolery
Pick a hero for a playthrough and romance them to your heart's content... then start right over and choose another hero and date THEM. Call it polyamory or just a good old-fashioned fun time... but none of these heroes will bat an eye at your wandering eye! Each hero comes with their own multiple date options that will win you love points and result in either the good or bad ending. And as with all good dating sims, you're encouraged to collect the endings for each and every hero!
Beat-Em-Up levels with multiplayer mode
We know that beat-em-ups are best with friends, so enjoy bringing in a second hero for the fighting levels in couch co-op mode! (Not available for demo)
LGBTQ+ friendly
Our team is diverse in many ways and run by members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community. Because the visual novel narration is in 2nd-person, we defaulted to they/them pronouns for the rare times we needed them, and each hero has his/her/their own gender identity, while each character is into all genders equally! Players also have a choice between a more feminine or masculine presenting player character.
Bad Heroes is an anti-generative AI team, because we believe that humans love stories from other humans!
We're a two-person main team, with support from our circle of friends and collaborators!
Funny writing and meta references
With writing from fantasy/sci-fi novelist Nicky Drayden, games and humor essayist Megan Quinn, and story design by sci-fi/fantasy/horror fictionalist Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, Bad Heroes is a ROMP. We love superheroes, and we love making fun of superheroes, and we love writing narratives that combine humor and heart.
Gorgeous art
All of our art is hand-drawn, 2d-style with vibrant colors, courtesy of William Bastian and Dan Lance.
Ear-worm-y original music
Jazz sax player Jake Dester's fully original soundtrack, inspired by the best retro beat-em-ups, will get stuck in your head for days.
Cause what dating sim is complete without one?!
Note: Bad Heroes is in demo stage, and as such, there may be bugs! Please report any to pouncepouncellc@gmail.com
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Quad-core 2GHz or faster 64-bit CPU
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: DirectX® 11 compatible
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 2 GB available space
Supported Languages
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
First Demo Update! Improved beat em up for max mime time!
Thanks so much to the 1,300+ of you who have played our demo!!! We heard GREAT feedback so far - y'all love the premise, the art, the music, the dating sim... everything but the beat em up gameplayWe're working on making it so much better. We heard that the villains were hard to hit, harder to kill, the controls were unclear, and even though Mermangler's jump attack is adorable, it wasn't enough to make the beat em up feel the best it could beTo address these issues, we've released the first patch of many!-First, we added a "story" mode that will make you invulnerable, so you can play through the beat em up without losing ANY health - and you can turn it on at any point through the settings menu-We added a beat em up tutorial that plays the first time you enter Gloom City, and is replayable at any time from settings, and it tells you how to open settings!-We turned down the boss health. They were kinda mean-We added shadows to the sprites so it's easier to line up hit boxes! -We extended the hero hitboxes... so it's easier to take down the mimes-And, last but not least... we fixed the cursor issues that made it hard to click on stuff. Cause you kinda need to click on stuff! Next up, we'll be adding the THIRD hero; a fun little feature that will tie the beat em up and visual novel sections together; and increased finesse of these pesky beat em up enemies. Keep an eye out, and please do let us know what you like, what you don't like, or what you hate to love and love to hate!All best,The Bad Heroes teamRead full article on Community Announcements (PouncePounceStudios)AnnouncementsOfficial
Bad Heroes is STEAM DECK COMPATIBLE!
Bad Heroes in handheld? Hell yeah! We've done some pretty thorough testing of the game demo on SteamDeck, and we're happy to say she runs, she works, she slays (mimes)!Our game supports:full controller support - trust us, this took a long time to get working with all our visual novel UI, but it should be smooth and seamless! on-screen keyboard for text input - we want you to be able to input any silly name your heart desires resolution support - 1280x800? No problem!default config - the frame rate is great!text legibility - it's readable, and we're hoping to later add the ability to enhance the text size as big as you want/needSo break down your work-life balance and take Bad Heroes with you everywhere you go!Read full article on Community Announcements (PouncePounceStudios)AnnouncementsOfficial
Updated Trailer, Demo Coming SOON, for Bad Heroes
Steam Next Fest is *less than 1 month away* which means the very first downloadable demo for Bad Heroes is *less than 1 month away* and we can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on Dating sim? 🫶 Beat em up? 💪 Office romance? 💘 Hell yeah So wishlist us and get ready Let’s date some superheroes and punch some mimes!Read full article on Community Announcements (PouncePounceStudios)
