Dark Mobile Dating Game in China Teaches Women to Spot Manipulative Pick-Up Artists

The developers of the game were inspired to create the app, “PUA Investigative Report,” after hearing online groups offering men courses on how to manipulate women into total submission, sometimes resorting to violence.

According to The Paper as translated by Abacus News, some of these courses could cost more than $400.

In “PUA Investigative Report,” the user will play the role of an investigative journalist who is assigned to dive into the world of these pick up artists. While this may be considered a game, the app still has valuable information on how these pick up artists operate including the places where they usually target their victims including dating apps, speed dating events, or even art museums.

Your task is to pretend that you are a susceptible target by eagerly flirting with them; however, this assignment may potentially put your character in dangerous situations.

You will also encounter manipulative pick up artists in the game such as Langyi, a bartender who shared his traumatic experience of being a victim of child abuse. He will convince you to ditch your friends and meet him in a bar.

Then along the storyline, Langyi is enraged after learning that you’ve lied to him by saying you were at home when clearly you were at work meet up. He will then try to manipulate you into showing up at a hotel room and pressure you into having sex with him.

But things take a dark turn when the character sees Langyi’s smartphone while he is in the shower.

After messaging one of his victims, you’ll find out that she was so traumatized that she resorted to self-violence.

Some of the players that have downloaded the app shared their experiences with real-life pickup articles in the “PUA Investigative Report” website.

“It’s only after playing this game that I found out I met a PUA in real life,” one reviewer of the game wrote. “Back then I didn’t lose much because my friends stopped me and exposed him. It’s scary, though, now that I think about it.”

“Real-life PUAs are more complicated,” another review reads. “They are also more clingy.”