Could a dating app for games help smaller developers?

“Too many video games, too little time,” has never been more true.

Almost 19,000 titles went live on PC games store Steam in 2024 – about 360 a week.

There are positive ways to look at this.

Tools are more accessible and easier to use, barriers to entry are lower, self-publishing is easier and ideas are never short in supply.

But for developers “discoverability” – getting your new release noticed – has never been more challenging in a landscape dominated by blockbusters and online games such as Fortnite and Call of Duty.

It’s also harder for potential customers to find them, with recommendations often dictated by search engine and store algorithms.

But Ludocene – described as a “dating app for video games” hopes to change that.

Games journalist Andy Robertson, the man behind the project, says the goal is to help people find those “ones that got away”.

“In any given year there’s just so many games and some of those will rise to the top, they’ll get lucky or they’ll just be brilliant enough to punch through that noise,” he tells BBC Newsbeat.

“But there’s loads of really great games that just get sort of buried and lost in that shuffle.”

Ludocene itself looks a bit like a game – each title in its database is represented by a card with a trailer on one side and more information on the reverse.

The “dating app” element comes from users swiping to keep – or discard – the suggestions, slowly building up a collection of recommended titles.

Ludocene’s entries are chosen by a selection of well-known gaming experts – journalists, streamers and other figures.

Its makers say the hand-picked suggestions give you a better chance of finding quality titles outside the mainstream.

“And so what we’re hoping is not just to get the popular games everybody’s playing, but those kind of odd little games that would be a perfect match just for you,” says Andy.

One of the experts involved in Ludocene is veteran US games journalist Brian Crecente.

He set up gaming websites Kotaku and Polygon, led video games coverage at Rolling Stone and Variety, and now runs a consultancy business.

He says there’s currently “a perfect storm for not knowing what to play” thanks to the reliance on search engine optimisation (SEO) and automatic algorithms.

“There’s just so much stuff,” he says.

“Books, comics, movies, music, video games. It’s very hard to discover what it is you might like and you might miss out on some hidden gems.”

A lot has been written about layoffs and studio closures in the video games industry, but Brian points out that many websites and magazines dedicated to it have also closed.

“So you have this rising tide of new games coming out and then a drop in the number of people covering video games,” he says.

Brian thinks Ludocene has got people interested partly because it fills that space for people looking for more detailed, informed recommendations.

“Having an approach that helps you discover things that give you a better sense of whether you’re going to like it allows you to invest your money, and for me, more importantly, your time in the things that you really enjoy,” he says.

Ludocene seems to have struck a chord with the gaming community.

It’s currently a prototype, but breezed past its £26,000 Kickstarter target four days ahead of its deadline and plans to fully launch as a web app in August.

Independent developer Jodie Azhar, founder of studio Teazelcat Games, says she thinks the project looks “really exciting” overall.

“Hopefully, they’re finding the things that existing algorithms are missing – really high quality games that didn’t quite get the marketing at launch or the media coverage,” she says.

But she does have some hesitation about the dating app mechanic.

“It’s a binary swipe one way,” she says.

“The worry there is, if you ignore a particular game, is that going to cut out a whole bunch of other games that the algorithm deemed similar?

“So a lot hinges on how good the algorithm is in working out what games are similar and what a player may enjoy interacting with.”

Jodie says she has some concerns about the team’s ability to keep up with the pace of new releases and ensure that its recommendations stay varied.

“How quickly can you update or how vast can you make that dataset to make it really effective?” she says.

However, Jodie is pleased the app will be free to use when it launches, and says that will make people “more likely to give it a try to invest in it”.

Andy admits that keeping the database updated will be a challenge.

He’s also the founder of The Family Gaming Database, which adds about two games per day.

He expects Ludocene to update more quickly because it needs less data for each entry.

Having experts on board helps to identify “blind spots”, he says, and hitting the crowdfunding goal means the project will have time to build its database before launch.

Backers can try the full app early and any money raised above the target will go towards building extra features.

Andy hopes the indie-focused project will ultimately help to shine a spotlight on the “passion projects” often made by small teams or individuals.

“The idea is it’s kind of levelling the playing field,” he says.

“Just having someone as a bit of a cheerleader to say diversity in games is really important.”

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