Gaming Lovecraft-inspired Sucker For Love: Date to Die For subverts typical dating tropes, releases for PC later this month

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Dating visual novel games often have somewhat unique stories, but generally tend to use the same formula: of one person meets a bunch of people, said one person likes said bunch of people, and said one person must choose one from the bunch of people to live with harmoniously forever. I've played many, with a wide variety of stories. I've played a game about being a human dating cats, for crying out loud. In addition to dating lots of "people" in games, I've faced my fair share of Lovecraftian horror in action games like Call of Cthulhu and The Sinking City. The Sucker for Love series actually does combine original Lovecraftian stories with dating sims, and Steam players seem to love it. The second title, Sucker For Love: Date to Die For, is set to launch in a couple of weeks for PC. I'm getting more curious as time passes by.

Sucker For Love: Date to Die For isn't just a Lovecraftian horror dating visual novel – it's also got some point-and-click adventure aspects to it. The first title in the series (Sucker for Love: First Date) was a bit more traditional… at least, as traditional as you can be with a Lovecraft-themed dating game. The second title turns traditional tropes upside-down. The protagonist, Stardust, is an asexual woman interested more in escaping a rural town of cultists than she is about love. An asexual character? A dating sim, but not for love? I see the vision.

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Sucker For Love: Date to Die For features not only a new protagonist but also new abominable love interests, new occult rituals, and new heartache. It is a love letter to Lovecraftian horror that focuses on the madman and monsters under the thrall of the eldritch gods rather than the gods themselves. There are multiple endings available, determined by the player's choices.

Stardust finds herself in danger after investigating mysterious disappearances in her hometown. She gets kidnapped and trapped deep within the labyrinthian woods with one object by her side: a copy of the cultists' spellbook that just so happens to include instructions for summoning The Black Goat of the Woods, Rhok'zan. Thus begins the story of a different kind of dating game.

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The 360-degree 2D environments in Sucker For Love: Date to Die are all hand-drawn with a nostalgic '90s television vibe. The four-chapter tale is inspired by classic stories like The Dunwich Horror and The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

Developed by Joseph "Akabaka" Hunter and published by DreadXP, Sucker For Love: Date to Die For will be released for PC via Steam on April 23.