A damping force control device (1) for a shock absorber (Dn) interposed between a sprung member (Bn) and an unsprung member (Wn) of a vehicle (A) comprises a damping force varying mechanism (3) which supplements a minimum damping force (Fdn) that can be generated by the shock absorber (Dn) with a variable damping force (Fcn). The device (1) comprises a control portion (2) which calculates a deviation (εn) between a damping force target value (Fsn) and the minimum damping force (Fdn) (S207), and open-loop controls the damping force varying mechanism (3) using a variable damping force (Fcn) calculated on the basis of the deviation (εn) such that the damping force generated by the shock absorber (Dn) coincide with the damping force target value (Fsn) (S208-S212), thereby optimizing damping force control of the shock absorber (Dn), which has a non-linear damping characteristic.