Gainax's raising simulation. Raise a girl from age 10 to 18 — stats, jobs, and one of eighteen possible endings.
Princess Maker 2 was developed and published by Gainax for PC Engine in November 1993 — a life simulation game in which players raised a girl named Olive from age ten to eighteen, managing her education, employment, social activities, and physical and mental stats. Work and study choices shaped personality parameters — morality, refinement, charisma — that determined which of eighteen endings the character would reach at age eighteen, including becoming a queen, a witch, a farm wife, or various other outcomes. Princess Maker 2 sold over 500,000 copies and established the raising-simulation genre in Japan.
About this game
Released for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² on September 30, 1994, Princess Maker 2 is the definitive version of Gainax's influential life simulation game — the work that established the 育成ゲーム (raising simulation) as a genre in Japan. The player adopts a girl named Olive and raises her from age 10 to 18, making daily decisions about education, work, diet, and social activities. The choices determine which of over thirty possible endings she reaches — from becoming an actual princess to a warrior, a witch, a social climber, or a farmhand.
Key Features
Princess Maker 2 simulates eight years of a girl's development through weekly scheduling of lessons, part-time work, festivals, and rest. Stats tracked include magic, art, combat skills, morality, sin, stress, constitution, and social class — an unusually granular model of human development for a 1994 game. The 'work' system allows Olive to earn money at various jobs (farm work, waitressing, adventuring) that affect both her income and her personality growth. Over 30 endings — including secret endings triggered by unusual stat combinations — gave the game enormous replay value and encouraged obsessive optimisation among players.
Gallery
The Story Behind
Princess Maker 2 arrived at the peak of Gainax's creative period — the same studio that produced Neon Genesis Evangelion just one year later (1995). Director Takami Akai created a game that treated the raising of a daughter as both a logistical challenge and an emotional journey, in a way that no game had attempted before. The game's concept — that a player's care, attention, and decisions over time would shape a character's entire life trajectory — directly influenced the design of Tamagotchi (1996), dating simulations, farming simulations, and virtually every life simulation game that followed. Princess Maker 2 is one of the most influential game designs to emerge from 1990s Japan.
Tricks & Tales
The secret 'Princess Ending' — where Olive actually becomes the princess of the kingdom through exceptional social stat development — is the hardest and most prestigious ending in the game, requiring years of meticulous daily planning. The game's butler character Cube, who assists the player throughout the raising period, became one of the most beloved supporting characters in Japanese gaming culture. Gainax produced the PC Engine version directly, including a specially redrawn opening movie by Takami Akai. The game's concept of 'raising' a character through daily decisions became the foundational template for the entire育成ゲーム genre that remains extremely popular in Japan today.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
No official English localisation was ever produced for any original hardware version. The game remained Japan-only across PC Engine, PC-98, FM Towns, and other original platforms. A fan translation of the PC-98 version exists and is widely used. The PC Engine Super CD-ROM² version is the most sought-after console version due to Gainax's direct involvement and the quality of the CD audio.
Maintenance Tips
Princess Maker 2 on PC Engine Super CD-ROM² requires a CD-ROM² System or compatible drive. Check the disc for scratches using a standard light source — deep radial scratches near the inner ring can cause data read errors in the critical game data area. The jewel case is prone to cracking; many copies are found with damaged cases. The CD hub ring may need gentle cleaning if the disc fails to spin correctly.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Princess Maker 2 copies regularly.
Will this Japanese PC Engine game work on a North American TurboGrafx-16?
Not without a hardware adapter. The TurboGrafx-16's data bus lines are wired in reverse compared to the PC Engine, making the two regions physically incompatible at the cartridge (HuCard) slot level. A passive adapter such as the dbElectronics Turbo PC-Henshin bridges this gap for HuCard titles. For CD-ROM² software, the TurboGrafx-CD drive will run Japanese discs if they do not carry a software region check, but compatibility varies by title. In both cases, Japanese PC Engine software is designed for the Japanese market and carries no English text.
Will an original PC Engine still save a game this long?
Perhaps not reliably — and for this game in particular, that matters. The PC Engine's CD hardware stores save data on a small 2KB SRAM chip kept alive by an internal supercapacitor rather than a battery. Even when these machines were new, leaving one unpowered for around a year could erase what was saved. Decades on, many of those capacitors have dried out to the point where saves vanish after only a few days without power. Princess Maker 2 is a raising simulation measured in in-game years; an original, unmodified PC Engine CD unit is not a dependable vault for that kind of patience.
Will any CD-ROM² drive play this, or do I need Super CD-ROM² hardware?
You need Super CD-ROM². Princess Maker 2 was released on a Super CD-ROM² disc, which requires System Card 3.0 and its 256KB of buffer RAM; an unupgraded original CD-ROM² Interface Unit with an older card produces an incompatibility message rather than the game. The Duo, Duo-R and Duo-RX have System Card 3.0 built in.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Princess Maker 2
A short checklist for buying used PC Engine software wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
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Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
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Make sure it fits your console
Japanese PC Engine HuCards and CDs are not compatible with the North American TurboGrafx-16 — the formats differ. Use a Japanese PC Engine system.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
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HuCard or CD-ROM² — know which you're buying
PC Engine games come on HuCard chips or on CD-ROM². CD titles also require the right CD system and a working System Card.
Confirm the format in the listing, and for CDs check the disc surface and that saves are supported.
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Check that the contacts are clean
Dirty edge contacts are the most common cause of startup and sound trouble in cartridges of this age.
Choose a seller who cleans the contacts before shipping. A note that it was tested and cleaned means the basics were handled.
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Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
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