Florence Smith Nicholls- Another Stupid Date: Love Island as a Roguelike

The British dating game show Love Island is as notorious as it is popular. The format involves contestants living in an isolated villa and forming heterosexual couples, with the overall winning couple at the end receiving a cash prize. In this experimental lighting talk, I will make comparisons between the design and game mechanics of Love Island and roguelikes. For example, the heavily produced nature of the show, with plotlines and archetypal characters, is much akin to a live game with a dungeon master, a format which roguelikes heavily draw upon. Furthermore, Love Island arguably contains turn-based, procedural and permadeath mechanics in how challenges, recouplings and dumplings are orchestrated.
The talk will conclude with a reflective segment on how Love Island could learn from dating roguelikes such as Boyfriend Dungeon in embracing queer relationships and discussions around consent and mental health.

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The Confessional reminded me of streaming coverage of competitive gaming, showing all viewpoints, whereas players wouldn't get access to the viewpoints of their opponents - although perhaps that dynamic is less of a game design consideration, and more to do with it being a televised experience just like Love Island.