Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator is a game filled with positive vibes. There are a variety of different happily ever after moments you can reach, depending on which dad you decided to go after and even the so-called bad endings aren’t anything too horrible. Most of them end with you and the other dad remaining friends or just simply going your separate ways. The darkest the game gets is with the inclusion of a few secret death ending and, in all honesty, even those are rooted in comedy. But there is one dad who just doesn’t seem to fit in with all the rest and fails to present a truly happy ending like the other dads. He’s also at the very center of an eerie, secret cult ending that data miners have uncovered in the game. Believe it or not, we’re not talking about Damien. It’s actually Joseph that is believed to be at the center of a secret cult ending that isn’t currently playable in the game.
Spoiler Warning! It’s impossible to explain the cult ending without spoiling some content from the game. Please be aware that these spoilers do involve more dads other than just Joseph.
That’s right, the resident clean-cut dad of the bunch may be up to the something pretty sinister. Dream Daddy players had long suspected something was off about Joseph but it wasn’t until a group of Dream Daddy data miners uncovered some secrets buried within the game’s code that the theory finally came together. According to the uncovered code, the cult ending takes place after you and Joseph decide to hook up on his yacht. Instead of heading home in the morning, you wake up wondering what the future holds for you now that you’re in a relationship with a married man. Once you finally come to, however, you realize you are bound in a dungeon.
The images from the code were recreated by the data miners and reveals the dark dungeon Joseph has apparently taken you to. A pile of ash and metal restraints on the far wall are creepy enough but a symbol on the wall makes a clear connection to Joseph. It is the same symbol that is seen on the wall clock and cross in Joseph’s home. Keep in mind that it’s also the same symbol Robert has tattooed on his hand. This is an important detail because Robert is the only father who is extremely vocal about his disdain for Joseph and he even warns you to stay away from him.
This is also a key time to recall the conversation you have with Robert if you go on two dates with him but ultimately decide to date Joseph instead. Robert is furious about your decision and warns you about what kind of person Joseph is. The most surprising thing, however, is that Robert makes mention of two friends hanging out together on a boat all night. At this point in the game, you actually haven’t been on a boat with Joseph all night nor have you made any plans to do so. This suggests that the entire date with Joseph was a part of a sinister plan he has carried out before and something that Robert already fell victim to in the past. It also explains why when you ask Robert about this tattoo in the game he becomes frustrated and simply claims it’s a “reminder.”
After a short moment of confusion, Joseph himself shows up in the dungeon and attempts to have small talk with your confused character. Instead, however, your character is focused on how different Joseph sounds and how odd his behavior is. Before your character finishes his thoughts, Joseph lets all the crazy start pouring out. Joseph, who is now dressed in clerical attire, tells your character that he’s a good listener and that he heard all the impure thoughts you had about “a married man, no less.” Essentially, Joseph is apparently a mind reader. The drama only kicks up a notch from there. Joseph goes on a rant explaining that he ruined his wife’s life and that the kids seen in his story aren’t even his kids. He’d rather refer to them as “vessels.” To be fair, Joseph’s children were a creepy bunch from the beginning. They always seemed odd and make your character feel uncomfortable. This could ultimately have some sort of impact on your character’s subconscious, which could play a factor if we are to believe one of the theories that the entire dungeon scene is a dream.
Next, Joseph admits that he has killed everyone who ever found out about the dungeon lurking beneath the cul-de-sac and that he’s the reason everyone in the area is eligible for dating anyway. He pushed them into divorce and even “hunted” wives and husbands “in the dark” so he could sacrifice them in the dungeon. If you recall spotting a dark, shadowy figure in the woods during one of the dates with Robert, this explains what you saw.
As Joseph continues explaining his evil deeds, he makes note of a powerful, mystical ancestor named Jonah. It seems to be no coincidence that this references a Biblical character who was swallowed by a giant whale since Joseph seemed fascinated by whales during your date on the yacht. It isn’t long before Joseph claims he has to “take care” of Robert who needs another visit from the Dover Ghost. This, of course, isn’t the first time the player would have heard about the ghost. Robert himself mentions the Dover Ghost in his own storyline, claiming he has seen the creature before while camping. The running theory here is that Joseph is the Dover Ghost and he has been dragging people to their death all this time. There are several moments throughout Dream Daddy where Joseph certainly seems to have connections to some demonic culture once all things are taken into consideration. At one point he was reading a book on rope and tying knots. Another instance you discover a cloth doll that has had both of its arms pulled off and stitched back together multiple times in his Joseph’s home. At first it may seem like the doing of rough children but the secret cult ending suggests these are all items being used for more demonic purposes.
As the eerie cult ending continues to play out, Mary arrives and insists she’s going to get you out of the dungeon. She frees you from your restraints and the two of you begin running down a long hallway. Here is where things get really odd. A piece of dialogue previously mentioned that you were in a “dream, daddy” and it’s time for you to wake up. This happens just before Mary shows up to rescue you. While it isn’t clear how much of the game is suggested to be a dream, the hallway scene certainly seems to be otherworldly. During this scene, your character runs with Mary down the hall but claims the hall seems to be getting smaller and smaller. By the time you two reach the end, your character and Mary both feel dehydrated and exhausted and have no clear recollection of how long you were journeying down the hall. “I’ve been walking for what I think must be days,” your character says in the code revealed by the data miners. “It could be weeks… months…” All the while, your character drifts in and out of sleep that is plagued by nightmares of Joseph’s children.
But they aren’t the only ones in your nightmares. A new dad is present as well but the game doesn’t give you any information about who this is or why he has appeared here. This is when your character comes face to face with the reality that the world around him is fake and believed to be a construct at the hands of Joseph. After waking up in your house, your daughter Amanda happily skips into the room and asks if you want breakfast. When you question Amanda by asking what her birthday is, her eyes turn black and the world around you fades away. You lose consciousness and awaken yet again in the dungeon with Joseph peering at you. He comments that you “almost got away” before mentioning that Mary is “rocking the tag team with you.” This is the first indication you receive that the hallway scene was not just a dream. Mary must have actually attempted to help you escape although it isn’t clear how the plans went so awry.
At this point, you attempt to stab Joseph with the knife Robert gave you on your second date. Joseph swats the knife out of your hands and then begins choking you before Mary appears yet again. This time, she has taken the knife and stabs Joseph in the chest. Joseph isn’t really affected by the wound, which causes Mary to back away. At this time, Joseph’s kids, or vessels, claim to be “so hungry.” Their pleas to be fed causes all three of Joseph’s children to corner you before you and Mary somehow make another escape.
You wake up to see your daughter standing before you but she has a very different version of events. Amanda claims the yacht you were on sank and that rescue crews pulled you out of the water a few days ago. She also says nobody has seen Joseph since then but proof emerged that he was embezzling money from the church. At this point, Mary enters the room along with the mysterious dad you saw earlier and explains that Joseph ran away when the feds showed up. As for the strange dad, he is a detective by the name of Saul Graves and he knows that Mary’s story isn’t true.
The detective, who has been following you the entire game, says he won’t be able to forget what you both saw “down there” but it’s his job to get to the bottom of it. Turns out he lost his wife under “mysterious circumstances” and it’s believed Joseph had something to do with it. This father is actually believed to be an eighth datable dad that could possibly come to the game later via DLC or he was a part of the cult storyline that was scrapped from the game all together.
The part of the mystery that still has the community divided, however, is just how much of the game was a dream, how much of it was rooted in reality, and how much of it was a strange combination of the two. While some players believed the dungeon scene was a horrible nightmare and that the detective could have been referencing what happened “down there” in the ocean where your character was rescued, it seems a bit far fetched given the detective’s story of his wife’s mysterious disappearance. Also, his comment that you and Mary have your stories straight is another odd one if we’re to believe the detective was referring to the ocean when he mentions “down there.” Instead, this seems to suggest that the detective wants to keep what you both saw a secret and make sure nobody else in the town becomes suspicious about what happened.
The idea of the entire Dream Daddy game being some sort of a dream sequence, however, is also not likely. There is nothing to suggest the other relationships in the game aren’t really happening and Robert’s warnings about Joseph also don’t seem to fit very well in that theory. For now, the truth behind Maple Bay may continue to lie far, far beneath it.
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