I honestly don’t know what to think of KFC venturing into gaming. It seems like the weirdest pairing. Recently KFC announced a new gaming ‘console’ which can cook chicken and play games, but people forget KFC was already involved in gaming before that point.

In 2019, a game called I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger-Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator was created out of nowhere, published by none other than KFC.

To call this a strange move is an understatement. There have been collaborations between video game companies and fast-food restaurants before. Mcdonald’s has previously had MC Kids, and Global Gladiators, and Burger King had the trio of Sneak King, Big Bumpin’, and PocketBike Racers that could only be purchased from their restaurant.

Yet I Love You, Colonel Sanders is an otohime, or as it’s known in English, a dating simulation, one in which you attempt to romance Colonel Sanders, and attempt to win his heart.

Though even with that, I Love You, Colonel Sanders contains one of the most bizarre stories I’ve ever seen. Rather than a straight dating simulation, I Love You, Colonel Sanders feels like it’s almost a parody of the genre having whacky characters, unique situations, and a story that keeps the players’ attention because anything can happen.

Players start by giving their character a name, though the rest of the character is left nondescript, so players can immerse themselves in the role. The story is the main character is going to a famous and prestigious academy for cooking with three-day semesters. On that first day, players meet all the main characters, including a quirky best friend, villains, and a mysterious student is teased. The student is of course Harland Sanders, who asks everyone to call him “Colonel”.

And with that, the teacher who turns out to be a dog, and CEO of the academy starts to teach the class, a class with a young child and a robot as a student.

I Love You, Colonel Sanders seems to take the bizarre concept of dating a mascot for a fast-food franchise and steer into the concept so6 hard that it almost normalizes the fact you’re attempting to romance Colonel Sanders.

The entire game takes about two hours to play and it is a rollercoaster ride. There are many twists and turns to the story, and I found I couldn’t guess what would happen next, to the point I was riveted to the story just to see where it would lead.

The finale of I Love You, Colonel Sanders arrives with multiple endings. Throughout the game, players can attempt to romance Colonel Sanders, though players will have to be careful if they want the true ending, which I sadly missed.

It’s easy to imagine a version of I Love You, Colonel Sanders to be a shallow advertisement for KFC and to be fair, there are moments of the script that talks up KFC’s offering, whether it be a bucket of chicken, biscuits, or mashed potatoes and gravy. Yet those are the exceptions to the game. However, the big finale for the story does end with the “reveal” of a new menu item that was already out for a month when the game was released.

Yet, even if ultimately reveals itself as a promotion for the new menu item, it’s not a shallow promotion. Someone spent a lot of time developing I Love You, Colonel Sanders, but there was also love and care put in. Someone took what was likely a shallow request of making an advertisement and ran with the concept to the point that a unique and enjoyable game was the result.

Ultimately, play I Love You, Colonel Sanders, if you want to see a crossover of fast food and gaming, or if you love the dating simulation genre and want to see a strange but enjoyable story. It’ll be interesting to see if this is followed up by more video game fast food crossovers.

For now, since it’s a free title, I can recommend this to almost anyone just to see the bizarre experience. Since there’s not a high time commitment and the experience is enjoyable I rate this a little higher than I would normally.

I give this an arbitrary

8/10

I enjoyed the ride, and that’s what counts, it was worth my time and of course, the price(free) was great. Check it out if you want to see one of the strangest marketing stunts from a fast-food giant.

If you enjoyed this and want to see more from me, you can check out my youtube channel at
https://www.youtube.com/c/KinglinkReviews