Bokuhime Project

Bokuhime Project is a single-player mystery adventure game in which the player takes the role of a young man who infiltrates a school for refined young ladies to investigate an incident. As part of the investigation, the player aims to improve their character's cuteness to get a seat in a school organization, and to interact with characters including the currently elected students in the organization while maintaining their composure.

To do so, the player takes part in cross-dressing lessons called "Bokuhime Project" to improve three character statistics – Visual, improving feminine appearance; Culture, increasing knowledge as a woman; and Spirit, increasing resistance to feeling ashamed – and partakes in various activities including swimming lessons, tea parties, cosplay, and physical education, to increase their character's femininity; some such training activities unlock character customization options, such as the option to wear a maid costume after training at a maid café.

The story follows Minato Ikusa, who infiltrates Yuriai Private Academy – a school whose student body consists of 99% women – to save his sister Marika who has fallen into a coma after being involved in an incident at the academy, which Yuriai tries to cover up. To do so, he takes his cousin Akira's place at the school while she stays at home, and enrolls as a female student under the name Erika; he additionally attends the school on the boys' side as Minato, living a double life. At the school, there is an organization known as the Four Princesses, which wields considerable influence; Ikusa aims to get a seat in the organization to investigate the incident his sister was involved in, and as such must work toward becoming the most beautiful woman in the school and winning the princess election, overcoming the other candidates and the current Four Princesses. Akira, who is very knowledgeable in male-to-female cross-dressing, helps Ikusa with this, training him in "cross-dressing skills".

Among major characters are Hiyu Shinosaki, a student who supports Ikusa and sees him as a sister, and who is attracted to women; and the misogynist Ouga Rokujou, a student who is the representative of a major company. The students in the Four Princesses include the gyaru princess Lira Hoozuki, a charismatic model; the shrine maiden princess Uran Ryuguuin, a yamato nadeshiko who has been isolated from the world; the imperial princess Hermes Himegami, who appears friendly with Ikusa; and the knight princess Daria Himegami, the protective older sister of Hermes who was friends with Ikusa's sister. Nemesia Himegami, the school director and the mother of Hermes and Daria, also appears, giving Ikusa advice.

Bokuhime Project was developed by Wizard Soft, and was directed by Tatsuya Shiina and written by Kento Jobana, with character designs by Fumika Matsushima. It was originally teased in July 2017, but put on pause due to uncertainties over the number of people who would be interested in a game about cross-dressing due to how the publisher Nippon Ichi Software had not released any games with the theme before; they set up a Twitter account for the game to gauge interest, and greenlit the project two years later after holding polls on the account and after it had gained over 10,000 followers, announcing it in July 2019 with a first trailer. The planning phase took about half a year, and the main production took place over the course of a year.

The game was initially conceived as an action game, but was changed into an adventure game due to budget concerns. The story was originally just themed around the embarrassment of the situation the protagonist finds himself in as he is forced to dress like a woman; Jobana described the finished game's main theme as overcoming gender divisions and understanding people. Because the game follows an "average man", the developers chose to begin the story with carefully setting up the character and the situation leading to him having to wear women's clothing before introducing the cross-dressing elements, despite how players might think that it takes long to get to that part.

Bokuhime Project was well received by video game publications, who thought that its themes were unique and left a big impression, and that it was understandable that the publisher would be hesitant in greenlighting a game like it; Famitsu were positively surprised that a game with cross-dressing themes could be published for a mainstream audience. What's In? recommended the game both to fans of otokonoko works, and to people new to the genre.

IGN, Famitsu and What's In? liked the game's story, with Famitsu praising the characters for being easy to empathize with and having a lot of personality, although criticizing the flow of the story for being intense, and the setting for feeling unbelievable; What's In? liked the balance between seriousness and comedy, praising the story's at times unexpectedly dark tone and its manzai humor, and found the supporting cast strong. Dengeki Online liked the game's atmosphere, calling it "refreshing", and thought this was reflected in the cuteness of its opening theme. Gamer, too, liked the music.