How Later Daters makes the case that life is sweeter after 60

14.11.2023 - 21:11 / gamedeveloper.com

Later Daters is a game about dating and companionship in a retirement community. It’s not some doom and gloom tale about romance at the end of your days, though; it’s an exploration of the passion, change, fun, and often-untold stories of life that happen as you’re experiencing your later years.

Game Developer sat down with the team at Bloom Digital Media, the creators of the game, to talk about the compelling storylines they were able to explore specifically because of their older cast, how they worked to tell realistic stories about dating as we age, and how creating the game helped them get in touch with family members and themselves in some surprising ways.

Later Daters is a game of retirement romance. What interested you in exploring dating life as an octogenarian? What inspired the creation of this title?

Miriam Verburg, executive producer: I have always been interested in stories that come from transitional periods. Our first game, LongStory, was about that very awkward time in a person's life when they realize there are so many different levels to friendship and romance—that they have the capacity to share love with people in a variety of ways and that they need to learn to communicate their desires and it's terribly embarrassing.

Usually, that time is around the early teen years, but as we worked on LongStory I also learned about something called Queer Time. The idea of Queer Time is that queer people (a cohort I identify with) don't always experience life milestones at the expected time. Having your life milestones arrive at the "correct" time is called Chrononormativity, a word that I love, and which as soon as I heard I was like, "OH I AM NOT CHRONO-NORMATIVE." It was like a bunch of little things fell into place for me. So, for example, I lost my hetero virginity in grade 10 and my lesbian virginity at age 20. That is fairly typical of a non-normative life milestone. 

So, I became obsessed with telling stories that leave room to share how a person's life doesn't have to take place in a certain order and that life milestones are arbitrary and can repeat. I also realized how spurious and shallow a lot of reflection about milestones is: A "Forever Home" or my "Soul Mate." These ideas seem to coalesce around a fear of growth, change, renewal. I wanted to make a game about how even the most committed couples in the world change over and over again in the fabric of their lives. That non-normative chronology is the norm, ironically.

What sorts of topics felt important to cover in the story that don't usually get covered in romance simulators? Did it feel like you could address different topics and personal stories while focusing on seniors with your game?

Heather Jackson, narrative director: