Year in Review 2018 Letter Series: Speed Dating for Ghosts-How Spooky Speed Dating Shakes Up the Genre

Copy Chaser Games’ Speed Dating for Ghosts captured my heart this year because of its dedication to its concept. By framing a dating sim around speed dating, each encounter becomes a vignette that allows a taste of the world without relying too heavily on exposition, and gives snapshots of the ghosts in a way that makes each feel special.

Speed Dating for Ghosts is a visual novel about exactly what it sounds like. You play as a ghost who’s looking for some companionship, so you attend a speed dating event at your local cemetery. There, you choose a room and chat with the ghosts who are also attending for two rounds, then you pick who you want to go on a date with. Once the date ends, that ghost’s path is over, and you can choose someone else the next time you play.

As I started to understand the game’s format, I worried that it would get tired. Repeating rounds over and over again to get to the next date seemed like it would wear thin, but it didn’t. Instead, I was able to enjoy my time chatting with everyone, even if I had already spoken to a given ghost in a room. And staying true to the setting, the rounds are relatively short and digestible. I never found myself feeling bored or trying to rush through dialogue to get to whatever was next.

The same goes for the ghosts. Because you only get one date with each, their stories become that much more interesting and unique. Speed dating rounds provide a sort of prologue into what their date will entail, giving you hints about their interests and what their backstories might look like.

On the actual dates, these hints and breadcrumbs are more fully fleshed out, giving you insight to who these ghosts were, and who they might want to be now through a couple of well-executed scenes. Some explore the desire for companionship, others what we leave behind and how we move on, and others still are just about finding some peace.

Not all of these dates end up being explicitly romantic, and that’s another refreshing change to the genre’s usual fare. Many of the dates tend to stay in a sort of grey area where romance is implied but not made explicit. Others make it clear that while the ghost you’re with is grateful for your company, the events unfolding don’t make for great smooching atmospheres.

This helps to make the ghosts feel like independent actors who have their own desires and personalities, as opposed to objects for the player to project onto. And since you only get one date, their feelings and decisions feel more permanent and real. There’s no looking up the right choices on a branching path, because the game just doesn’t operate that way.

Speed Dating for Ghosts is successful because it distills the allure of dating sims into a set of smaller experiences, and subverts enough of the genre to make it feel like something new. Its storytelling and commitment to the pacing of speed dating allows for compelling stories told through distinct moments in a way that I haven’t seen in many other games this year, and made my time beyond the grave a worthwhile experience.