Ludocene, a new, self-styled dating app for video games, is aiming to tackle an age-old (albeit first world) problem. We’ve all been there, flicking through tatty, overstuffed CD wallets or irritably browsing digital storefronts, not really knowing what we want to play next. The unending influx of new releases doesn’t help with 19,000 titles being added to Steam alone in 2024. That sense of choice paralysis is only exacerbated further when you factor in the hoard of complimentary games shotgunned into players’ libraries on a monthly basis thanks to PlayStation Plus, Xbox Game Pass, and other services such as Netflix and Apple Arcade.

Ludocene wants to cut through the noise in a way that’s personalised and playful. Currently in its testing stage, the innovative web app invites users to grab a seat at its virtual table, offering them a series of cards from its ginormous deck. Each card represents a video game, complete with a blurb, trailer, and even a handy store link should you want to make a purchase. Much like a dating app, Ludocene will ask you to keep cards or discard them, each swipe helping to narrow the results of its recommendation engine.

While storefronts such as Steam do a passable job of suggesting similar games to what you’ve been playing, it doesn’t account for changing tastes or the fact that sometimes we want to try something completely different from the game we’ve just finished. For instance, after wrapping up Monster Hunter Wilds and Assassin’s Creed Shadows, I wanted to play something much shorter and less demanding.

So, I set about swiping and quickly landed on one of TSA’s all-time favourites, Journey. Dropping it into the “Played Favourites” box prompted Ludocene to deal me similar cards such as ABZU and The Pathless, as well as games I’d seemingly forgotten about like Season: A Letter to the Future. I was also presented with more obscure indie titles like Two Falls, Webfishing, and Feather, and even upcoming releases, with Sword of the Sea being the top pick.

Once you’re satisfied with the pool of cards you’ve curated you can save it and start a new “run” from scratch. This time around, instead of smaller, zen-like experiences I wanted to play an arcade racer on PS5; filtering out driving sims and Mario Kart clones I finally landed on Split/Second. While Ludocene is great for finding new and lesser known titles, it also encourages the rediscovery of games we might already own or have played in the past. Minutes later, I was drifting through collapsing cityscapes thanks to the game being part of Sony’s streamable PlayStation Plus classics catalogue. It would be great if Ludocene’s cards could indicate whether a game is currently available via subscription services though I imagine that curating an updated database of store links and updated prices is already suitably challenging.

With that said, there are special theme cards you can add to your deck that augment your results if, say, you want to specifically see games being offered as part of a Netflix subscription. There are expert cards too with Ludocene assembling an Avengers-like team of tastemakers from across the gaming industry. Given the current state of games journalism – with publications closing up shop and Google directing eyeballs towards sloppy AI summaries instead of actual articles – it’s great to feel a sense of connection with actual humans giving their honest opinions.

So, how do you get Ludocene? For instant access to a fully-functioning prototype, you can make a late pledge over on Kickstarter with a wider release planned for September 2025.