If your D&D sessions end with more flirting than fighting, or if you’ve ever wished you could ignore the main quest to spend more time with a charismatic NPC, Twisted Twenty has the video game for you. Dating & Dragons: A Love Quest is a new dating simulator that combines visual novel storytelling with tabletop RPG mechanics, allowing you to woo adventurers, roll for romance, and explore the city of Hoardcliff.
The project is currently funding on Kickstarter.
The Premise: Alone at the Table
The game’s setup is painfully relatable for any long-time tabletop gamer. Your adventure begins after a catastrophic session where the rest of your party was obliterated, leaving your character as the sole survivor. To make matters worse, the rest of your real-life players haven’t shown up for the next session.
Left with an empty table and a free schedule, your Game Master finally relents and lets you do the one thing you’ve been asking for ages: ignore the plot and romance the NPCs.
Romance, Dice, and Secrets
Dating & Dragons promises a cast of romanceable characters that lean into beloved fantasy tropes with a chaotic twist. This includes Kára, a buff half-orc local hero who loves “punching stuff, drinking stuff, and having fun with her friends,” and dislikes “un-punchable problems.” And yes, the developers have confirmed there is at least one actual dragon you can romance – though finding them is a quest in itself.
Mechanically, Dating & Dragons operates as a branching visual novel. Your choices shape the story, leading to different scenes and endings. Uniquely for the genre, the game explicitly supports polyamorous relationships, allowing players to pursue wholesome, healthy relationships with multiple characters at once.
It wouldn’t be a TTRPG tribute without dice. You will roll for ability checks that determine the outcome of your social manoeuvres. Rolling a natural 20 might lead to a serendipitous accident, while a natural 1 could result in hilarious failure.
No AI, Just Soul
Notably, the developers have taken a firm stance on generative technology. Their campaign story includes a direct statement regarding their production values:
“No, we don’t use AI; yes, everything is made by humans, you know the drill. We could write a longer paragraph explaining that faster, bigger, and better are not synonyms; how sad is to see the human creativity being replaced by algorithms… But we have a game to make.”
Pledge Tiers
The campaign offers a mix of digital and physical rewards, ranging from Steam keys to handmade plushies.
- Pledge €18 (approx. £16): The Crush tier. This secures a digital copy of the game on Steam, along with the soundtrack, wallpapers, and a Discord role.
- Pledge €25 (approx. £22): The Hookup tier. Includes everything above, plus a Kickstarter exclusive dice skin for the in-game rolls and your name in the credits.
- Pledge €79 (approx. £69): The Date – Digital Collector’s Edition. This is likely the sweet spot for tabletop gamers. It includes the game, early beta access, a digital art book, and crucially, the Digital TTRPG Adventure Setting and Lorebook, allowing you to run games in this world at your own table.
- Pledge €135 (approx. £118): The Romantic Partner tier. For the physical collectors, this includes a hardcover Art & Lore book and a set of exclusive 7-piece liquid core physical dice filled with “love potion.”
- Pledge €180 (approx. £157): The Life Partner tier. This limited tier includes a handmade plushie of the mascot, Gazpacho, sewn by the artist’s mother.
The estimated delivery for the completed game and rewards is November 2027.
