Valentine’s Day offers a chance for many couples to renew their passion for each other with a big date. For others, there is a chance to start something new and fresh. For the rest, it seems like a good night to order in, put on sweatpants and binge some reality TV.
Reality romance television has been around long enough to establish their own set of tropes to fans. Shows like The Bachelor, Love Is Blind and Too Hot To Handle might have different rules and twists as part of their games but they all try to strike a balance between people trying to find real connection and people who are there to get famous and use the drama they create to stay in the public eye and cash in on their notoriety.
Lovestruck takes these familiar elements and uses them as a theme for a social deduction game. Players get a chance to take on one of these familiar roles while they determine everyone’s motivation at the table. The players looking for love can win but they have to beware of the players there to just get on camera.
What Are Social Deduction Games?
These games feature players choosing a hidden role, one of which is often opposed to the rest of the player group. The players must figure out which players are cooperating and which players are trying to complete their own agena. Examples of this style of game include Werewolf, Mafia, and The Resistance.
There are two roles in Lovestruck. Players who are there for the Right Reasons are truly seeking love and only win if the partner they choose at the end is also there for the Right Reasons. Players who are there for the Wrong Reasons are only seeking fame and clout and if they end up as part of the final couple, only they win the game.
Villas, Dates and Bombshells
The game alternates between turns at the villa and dates between players. The Villa is where players take actions to try and figure out which players are there for which reasons. It’s also where players draw love and drama cards for use on dates.
Specific players are seected to go on dates which affect the shows viewership. Each players contribues cards to a blind pile of cards that cause the ratings to go up or down. Ratings are key to the Wrong Reasons player victory; if they get too high, the game ends as the audience decided everyone is there to get famous, the players looking for love lose and the players looking for drama win.
Bombshell cards are mixed in with the love and drama cards. These represent the plot twists that producers drop on the contestants and allow players to take unexpected villa actions during their turn. When lounging in the pool suddenly turns into a surprise date, players have to keep on their toes.
It Feels Real To Me
Rabble provided me with a prototpye copy of Lovestruck to evaluate for this article. I like the overall production design and the unique theming. I get a lot of games with elves and cyborgs in them; less so extra tan fitness intructores and yoga influencers.
I really enjoyed the role cards each player chooses at the top of the game. While they are mechanically the same they encourage players to create a character and turn the story into a larger narrative. It gets players rooting for contestants just like on the real version of these shows.
I’m hoping to see more expansion into those narrative realms in any stretch goals or potential expansions. There are a lot more roles that could be chosen for characters and I would love to see a date deck to draw from for inspiration. It can be a little challenging for players less familiar with the genre to come up with these things on their own.
The Kickstarter runs through March 6th, 2024 with a physical copy of the game available at $25. Backing now gives players access to higher quality components that may or may not be available in the retail game. Rabble currently claims the game will be out to backers in September 2024 with a public release to follow.
