Lovestruck

^{review by Taylor}

“A Game about Finding Love on Reality TV”

A party, social deduction game made for those who can’t get enough of shows like The Bachelor, Too Hot to Handle, or Love is Blind.

In Lovestruck, you play as various reality TV contestants, such as “The one not over their ex” or “The party animal,” to find love or stir up drama, depending on whether you are there for the “Right” or “Wrong” reasons.

Lovestruck does a phenomenal job of sticking to the reality TV theming in gameplay and design, from the board featuring pool and “cabanas” where coupled-up players' tokens are placed together, to each round being labeled as an “Episode” in the season. Even using the Viewership level as a clever danger-counting mechanic made it all the more on theme. Rabble truly succeeded in creating an immersive gameplay experience. When playing, everyone enjoyed the little touches that looped back to the reality TV shows we know and love. Lovestruck allows for a more lighthearted theme than most social deduction games, which tend to have darker thematic storylines. Lovestruck shares many of the same discussion and mystery dynamics, but without the violent undertones, instead featuring social drama. This makes it a great entry to social deduction games for those who might not think this genre is up their alley.

At the beginning of the game, along with an archetype card, players are also given an “Intention Card” determining if they are on the show for the “Right” or “Wrong” reasons, which will determine their goals and how they play the game. Lovestruck is broken into 10 Episodes: 4 “Villa Episodes” (that include last round known as a Season Finale) and 6 “Date Episodes”

On a Villa Episode, all players pull a number of action cards to add to their hand dictated by the board. Each player is then allowed to take a “Villa Action”, which includes coupling up with another player, breaking up, starting different rumours, or using Bombshell cards in order to change up the pace of the game. All of these actions may have different effects such as raising/lowering the Viewership level or allowing players to view each other's Intention Cards.

On a Date Episode, the player who is the “Main Character" of that particular Episode will choose who will be going on the group Dates. The board dictates the number of people that they choose. This can be useful in determining which players are there for the “Right” or “Wrong” reasons, based on the cards played during this Date. All contestants chosen to go on a Date pull one more action card and then play either a love or drama card facedown. All of the cards played for the Date are then collected, shuffled together, and revealed. If all the cards played are Love cards, the Viewership decreases by one. If one or more drama cards are played on the Date, then the Viewership increases.

To win as a member of the group there for the “Right” reasons, you must be coupled up with another player who is also there for the “Right” reasons and leave all others uncoupled or couples for the wrong reasons together. For those there for the “Wrong” reasons, you must couple up with someone who is there for the “Right” reason to ruin their game, or even better, get the Viewership level up to 10 million before the Season Finale and end the season early and win for your team.

So grab your reality TV-obsessed crew and play a game or two of Lovestruck and live out your dramatic fantasies. Will you find your true love, or will you be aiming for fame, fortune, and brand deals?

Lovestruck is available now from our webstore.