I for one would actually like to try a game that had a dark/scary element. Of course, one person doesn't make for a customer base, but know if you did one, you would get my purchaseThis is one thing that I'm going to change for next games, I felt I was influenced too much by what people say or what is "the right" thing to do, limiting seriously my creativity. From now on I'll stick more to my own ideas (originally was to be a scary game, then decided to soften it up fearing that could have a negative impact on the success).
Heck, from the joke you did about a zombie Nicole, it has had me actually thinking of a zombie dating Sim. The key point is the protagonist finds herself as a zombie. One of the features of the game would be finding out the cause of the zombiehood: Whether it was a magical curse, radioactive leakage into the water (you really should have used a Brita filter), or an alien parasite. There would be a time limit before one becomes a permanent zombie...
NPCs/potential love interests would include people who might find a cure/fix, as well as other friends, etc. These people may even become potential enemies if they view the protagonist as a monster...such as the voodoo priestess, police detective, CDC specialist, etc.
Some stats would include eating 'brains'...the fresher, the better...but the more likely to be discovered. Tasks would be hiding your crimes, trying to get money, doing...
Sorry for the ramble, but just saying I could see a dark game being done, and still being fun.
