Ever wonder why all those Hallmark Movies are so formulaic? Well, there's a reason for that. A huge, cosmic, reality-shattering reason!

The Love Gods demand Love! And only you can maintain the ritual! Trite and True! The Saccharine Sacrifice!

Only YOU can Beget the Gimmick! Why? BECAUSE THE LOVE GODS DEMAND LOVE.

COMING TO BACKERKIT THIS FEBRUARY 14th AKA, LOVE GODS’ DAY!

Written and designed by Graham Gentz with layout by Cenza Della Donna, "Love for the Love Gods" is a queer collaborative comedy storytelling game about tweaking the delicate balance of corny kitsch. Too much affectionate chemistry, the ritual fizzles. Those enemies never become lovers? The Gods' Fury Cometh!

Like “The Truman Show”, characters are living through a manicured and manipulated experience on an elaborate set. They are ever watched by The Love Machine, or simply, The Machine: the vast shadowy international organization seeking to shape, with scalpel and hammer, the fate of those within.

Why? BECAUSE THE LOVE GODS DEMAND LOVE.

TENETS OF THE LOVE GODS

Post-structuralism We work to actively critique heteronormativity, exposing and breaking down traditional assumptions that sexual and gender identities are presumed to be heterosexual or cisgender. (Are the gods good or bad?) Gender and identity are more than who you are or are not attracted to We are not here to define anyone else’s queerness or queer experience for them. Queer love that isn’t tragic! This is not a game about forbidden love or horrific loss. Queer love stories should be able to be as boring and escapist and revelatory as heteronormativity itself.

Team Member Bios

Graham Gentz (he/they) is a board game expert, game designer, educator, comic book writer, event facilitator, master dungeon master, and all-around bringer of fun. With over 20 years of experience for deep love in discovery and curation, Graham prides himself on finding the right game for every person and each occasion. Some notable achievements include “Under the Autumn Strangely,” a pastoral horror game of anachronistic Americana in a land that Never Was, the comic book "Wyrdspace" with artist Jacob Peifer, the creation of the safety tool “The O-Card,” and facilitating MegaGames for three consecutive Shut Up and Sit Down Expos (SHUX) in Vancouver, Canada.

Cenza Della Donna (she/her) is a nerdy illustrator and typographer inspired by cute videogames and snack foods. You can follow her on Instagram.

Important Links

• "Love for the Love Gods" BackerKit Launch Page
• itch.io
• "Love for the Love Gods" OST | Spotify
• Hallmark Channel
• Esoteric Void

What People Are Saying

"Love for the Love Gods is the best one-shot I played in 2023. I can't say enough good things about it. I played for two hours and wanted to buy it on the spot!" 

— Kevin Kulp, award-winning game designer (Swords of the Serpentine, TimeWatch)

"I really loved playing with romcom tropes in this game in a way that feels affectionate rather than dismissive. The romance gods demand their due and I was never so happy to give them their love and laughs in tribute."

— Jennifer Adcock, designer of The Price of Coal and Dollhouse Drama

"All the tension of Hitchcock; all the comfort warm apple pie." 

— (the One True) Ryan Khan

“Man I wish I hadn’t disappeared, I’d be playing this game right goddamn now.” 

—  Amelia Earhart, Aviation Pioneer

“The state of the world, of course, is constantly changing, and so is theory. But this shit fuckin slaps.” 

—  Teresa de Lauretis, Feminist Theorist 

“I absolutely love this for real.” 

— Somebody, probably

About The Game

Generate the CUTEST TOWN Each player comes up with one of the following:

• A landmark

• A lore or legacy of the town’s past

• A dish the town is known for (Everyone in town loves it)

• A broad theme embraced by the town (Christmas, Purple, Snails, etc)

• An adorable local cryptid

• An large annual tradition

• The Town’s Theme Song

• Name of the town

Each player chooses a different element from each other. Players have full narrative and descriptive control over the element of the Cutest Town they choose. No need to “check-in” with other players on what element you choose. It is yours to decide.

Create the “Players of the Love Game”

The Lovers: The Pursuant & The Perfect The player of the Pursuant will stay consistent throughout play. The player of the Perfect may shift.

A NOTE ON IDEALIZED BEAUTY STANDARDS The Perfect is Perfect, as we all are. By adhering to heteronormative ideals of beauty, we actively skew what is or isn’t possible. Be conscious of your choices. By reframing what is Perfect, we recreate the world anew.

Starting a Round Pass the Love Seat (“the Love Throne”) to the next Love God. The Love God declares if they will Establish or Declare.

If the Love God Establishes, then decides which Characters will appear in the scene. All other players then decide WHERE the scene is taking place and WHAT is Happening. If the Love God Declares, they decide WHERE the scene is taking place and WHAT is Happening. All other players then decide which Characters will appear in the scene. Characters might include:

• One or both Lovers

○ The Ex

○ The Rival

○ The Kooky Friend

○ The Ex

○ The Rival

○ The Boss

○ The Friendly Landlady

○ The Precocious child

(When new Allies and Obstacles are established, give them a card with their name and pronouns. They are not owned by any one player and may be played by any.)

“Theoretically possible” (AKA Not Magic, but Arthur C. Clarke “Magic” is Okay) Ex, The Precocious Child is actually an Adult Employee of the Machine. They are just wearing “a child suit” and very much appear as a child. No further explanation is necessary.

Play the scene. Players, from the perspectives of their characters, may freely create and describe details seen or experienced in the environment. Have other players play other characters as needed. If they do, they are, in fact, secret agents of The Machine. The rest are Behind the Scenes, assumed to be watching and waiting for the Love God’s Wrath.

During the scene, in a moment of the Love God’s choosing, they will declare, aloud:

“STOP.”

All players must respond:

“IN THE NAME OF LOVE.”

In the scene, Time Freezes. The Love God has full narrative control. They may alter any detail, embellish any detail, or contrive any causal absurdity which leads directly to the current moment.

In the broadest dramatic sense, the Love God must create a Crisis.

Fixing the crisis is dealt with by the characters in the Machine during that scene. Such as:

• Weather

• Canceled Event

• The Ex

• The Date just isn’t “poppin” like it should

• NO conflict

• A character DIES

• Hooks up with someone else

• Is monogamous

Crisis Rules for the Machine

○ Machine Players Behind-the-Scenes cannot speak to one another.

○ They may, and should, attempt to mime and communicate with each other.

○ One Behind-the-Scenes Player at a time may speak to an in-scene Machine Agent through their hidden earbud.

○ Speaking privileges are established with some manner of found object, and should be passed back and worth to signify the mic being used.

REMEMBER: THE LOVE GODS DEMAND LOVE.

Follow Up Contact Information

If you have additional questions, would like to set up an interview, or want to reach out for any reason related to Love for the Love Gods, please contact Graham via their email at ambassadorofgames@gmail.com.