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Being a DIK review
Master the college experience with strategic decisions and relationship mechanics
Being a DIK is an adult visual novel that immerses players in the college experience at Burgmeister & Royce, where every decision shapes your journey. As a freshman navigating fraternity life, peer pressure, and complex relationships, you’ll encounter branching storylines that respond to your choices in meaningful ways. This guide explores the game’s intricate decision system, character dynamics, and how your actions determine which scenes unlock and relationships develop. Whether you’re aiming for specific character routes or seeking 100% completion, understanding the mechanics behind this narrative-driven experience is essential for maximizing your playthrough.
Understanding Being a DIK Gameplay Mechanics
Let’s be honest: your first time playing Being a DIK, you probably just clicked on whatever felt right in the moment. Maybe you stood up for someone, or maybe you cracked a crude joke. Fast forward a few hours, and suddenly a character you like is giving you the cold shoulder, or a story path you didn’t even know existed is locked away. 🤔 That was me. I thought I was just playing a fun college story, only to realize I was navigating one of the most intricate decision systems in gaming. The game doesn’t just remember your choices—it builds an entire world around them.
This chapter is your backstage pass. We’re peeling back the curtain on the Being a DIK affinity system, the delicate dance of relationship points mechanics, and the astonishing long-term planning of its branching narrative choices. Mastering this isn’t about min-maxing; it’s about understanding the rules of the world so you can craft the story you truly want to experience. Think of this as your essential Being a DIK gameplay guide.
How the Affinity System Works 🧭
At the heart of your journey is the Being a DIK affinity system. This isn’t a simple “good vs. evil” meter. It’s a reflection of your evolving personality as the main character, shaping how others perceive you and what opportunities become available. You’re constantly navigating between two archetypes: the CHICK and the DIK.
Early on, you make Major Choices that push you toward one alignment or the other. These are big, narrative-defining moments, like deciding how to handle a confrontation or whether to participate in a reckless prank. Your running total of these choices determines your current status, which can be Massive CHICK, Huge CHICK, DIK, or Massive DIK. There’s also a neutral zone in the middle.
But here’s the critical twist: after a certain point in the story, your affinity can become permanent. This is a locked-in personality trait that fundamentally changes your available actions. Choosing a permanent DIK affinity, for instance, makes certain aggressive or rebellious dialogue options always available, while locking you out of more sensitive, CHICK-oriented paths.
Why does this matter? Because the entire social ecosystem of B&R University reacts to your vibe. Some characters are inherently drawn to a kinder, more respectful CHICK, finding a DIK’s behavior off-putting. Others will only open up to someone with a bit of edge and confidence. The game’s character affinity tracking is always running in the background, checking your status against every interaction.
Here’s a breakdown of how these paths differ:
| Aspect | CHICK Affinity Path | DIK Affinity Path |
|---|---|---|
| Core Personality | respectful, considerate, responsible | rebellious, impulsive, confident |
| Social Access | Easier rapport with characters like Jill, Maya, and certain faculty. | Better integration with the DIK fraternity brothers and characters like Quinn or Riona. |
| Exclusive Content | Access to tender, romantic scenes and peaceful resolution options. | Unlocks wild party scenes, risqué opportunities, and confrontational outcomes. |
| Key Limitation | May be seen as “too nice” or weak by some, missing out on certain power dynamics. | Can permanently ruin trust with more sensitive characters, closing off their routes. |
My personal insight? Don’t fight it on your first playthrough. If you feel yourself leaning DIK, commit to it and see where that crazy train goes. The most rewarding replays come from fully embracing one archetype, not waffling in the middle. The Being a DIK decision system is designed to make each path feel unique and valid, just different.
Character Relationship Points and Tracking 💝
If the affinity system is your personality, then relationship points mechanics are the measure of your individual connections. This is where the game gets beautifully granular. Almost every significant interaction with a main girl or key side character earns or loses Relationship Points (RP).
The genius is in the presentation. When you make a choice that affects a relationship, you’ll see a small notification: a heart or a plus/minus symbol next to the character’s name, color-coded for your convenience.
* Pink/Purple Hearts: Points with the main love interests (e.g., Jill, Sage, Josy & Maya, Bella).
* Blue Plus/Minus: Points with other important girls (e.g., Riona, Lily, Nicole).
* Green Plus/Minus: Points with male characters (e.g., Derek, Tommy, Rusty).
These points are cumulative and hidden until you check the game’s phone. In the “Stats” app, you can see a numeric total for each character. This isn’t just a scoreboard; it’s a gatekeeping mechanism. 💎
Pro Tip: Always check your phone’s Stats after a major scene or chapter. It’s the best way to diagnose why a character might be acting distant—you might have missed a key points threshold without realizing it.
Reaching specific RP milestones unlocks unique scenes, special dialogue options, and even entire branches of a character’s story. For example, being supportive and earning enough RP with Jill early on unlocks a precious solo date. With Sage, accumulating points might get you a more vulnerable and private moment amidst the chaos. The character affinity tracking works in tandem here: having a DIK affinity might make earning RP with Jill much harder, while boosting your chances with someone like Quinn.
Let me give you a case study from my own playthrough. I was pursuing Bella but kept making sarcastic (DIK-aligned) jokes in our dialogues. I was still getting some RP, but our progress felt slow and formal. On a replay, I used exclusively CHICK or neutral responses, consciously boosting her RP. The difference was night and day—sooner than before, she began revealing her softer side and her backstory, unlocking scenes I never saw coming. The relationship points mechanics quietly dictated the pace and depth of our entire connection.
Decision Consequences and Long-Term Impact ⏳
This is where Being a DIK separates itself from the pack and where the phrase “how choices affect Being a DIK story” takes on monumental meaning. The Being a DIK decision system is a masterclass in foreshadowing and payoff. Choices you make in Episode 2 can butterfly-effect their way into Episode 8 or beyond. This creates a truly dynamic, branching narrative that makes each playthrough feel personal.
It’s not just about big, obvious choices. It’s everything:
* Dialogue Options: A throwaway line of sympathy or mockery can be referenced episodes later.
* Free Roam Actions: Who you help, what items you find, and who you interact with during these sections set future events in motion.
* Intimate Scenes: Your choices during these moments can significantly alter a character’s perception of you, affecting their route’s availability.
The game’s variables are tracked with an almost frightening level of detail. This is why the community often advises maintaining multiple save files at key decision points. You can’t see all the content in one run, and some choices are mutually exclusive.
To illustrate the incredible scope, here’s a Decision Consequences Timeline showing how early-game choices can echo much later:
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Episode 1-2 Choice: Whether you fight Troy for Maya’s list or not.
- Long-Term Impact (Ep. 5+): This affects Maya’s trust level and can change the dialogue and tension in her later scenes, particularly in discussions about trust and conflict.
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Episode 3 Choice: Deciding to take care of Sage when she’s sick or choosing to go elsewhere.
- Long-Term Impact (Ep. 7+): This is a cornerstone moment for Sage’s route. Choosing to help her builds a foundation of genuine care that makes her later, more romantic interest feel earned and authentic. Missing it changes the tone of your entire relationship.
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Episode 4 Choice: Your decision during the truth-or-drink game about why you came to B&R.
- Long-Term Impact (Ep. 8+): This memory resurfaces in a crucial, emotional moment with a main love interest, framing their understanding of your motivations and deepening the narrative connection.
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Consistent Mini-Choices: How you treat side characters like Riona, Lily, or Nicole in every incidental interaction.
- Long-Term Impact (Ongoing): These build up their individual character affinity tracking, unlocking side stories, special renders, and even altering their availability and attitude during major party free roams. A kind word to Riona in Episode 4 might mean she looks out for you in Episode 8.
This complex web is what makes a Being a DIK gameplay guide so valuable. You’re not just learning rules; you’re learning the grammar of a living story. My final piece of actionable advice? Embrace the replay. Your first playthrough should be for your heart. Your second is for your head—go in with a plan, target a specific affinity and girl, and use your knowledge of these mechanics to craft that perfect, tailored story. Witnessing how those early, seemingly small branching narrative choices blossom into entirely different emotional outcomes is the true magic of this game. It’s not about playing perfectly; it’s about playing deliberately and seeing just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Being a DIK stands out in the visual novel genre for its unprecedented depth of player choice and consequence tracking. The game’s affinity system, relationship mechanics, and branching narrative create a dynamic experience where no two playthroughs are identical. Understanding how your decisions ripple through the story—sometimes taking episodes to fully manifest—allows you to make intentional choices aligned with your desired character routes and story outcomes. Whether you’re pursuing specific relationships, aiming for 100% gallery completion, or simply exploring the game’s rich narrative branches, mastering these mechanics transforms your college experience from random exploration into strategic gameplay. Start your next playthrough with this knowledge and discover how deeply your choices truly matter in shaping your Being a DIK journey.