We’re in a golden age of video games, with incredible new titles launching weekly. I would have killed to have had a way to discover games as quickly as it was today when I was a kid. Thankfully, someone thought the same thing, and that’s how Ludocene was born.
Ludocene is a game recommendation dating app where you don’t meet new people; instead, you meet new game suggestions. Think of it as a deck builder for new video games. It uses human-researched data to build a catalogue for you, leading to unexpected matches for you to discover.
The app shows new game suggestions as cards you can interact with. You can then access the game’s trailer, details, available storefronts, and more. The idea is that it is like a dating app: You’re offered several games and then swipe up to reject or swipe down to add to your deck of games you want to try. As you swipe, the list of games changes as you look for your next game.
If you’re wondering how Ludocene works, it uses paid experts who set up an Expert card made to suggest games. This list includes streamers, developers, journalists, and podcasters.
Here are some of the names included:
Simon Parkin (New Yorker), Lucy Bundell (Videoverse, Kinmoku Games), Alexander Donaldson (RPG Site), Christian Donlan (Eurogamer), Matt Lees (Shut Up And Sit Down), Dominic Tarason (Rock Paper Shotgun, PC Gamer), Rachel Watts (LostInCult, GamesRadar), Susan Arendt (Previously The Escapist), Brian Crecente (founded Kotaku, co-founded Polygon), Jenny Windom (Wholesome Games, Geeks And Grounds), Matthew Castle (Backpage Podcast), Josh Boykin (Intelligames Streamer), Nick Suttner (Panic, Eggplant Podcast), James Batchelor (GamesIndustry.Biz), Chris Schilling (Previously Edge), Mairi Nolan (Escape Room Championships), Joseph Mansfield (Thinky Games), Angela Hickman (Education and Healthcare), John Rogers (Gaming In The Wild), Cath Knibbs (Game Therapist).
The Lucocene app is funded but includes stretch goals with three days left.
- £35k Funding – Enhanced Notifications
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£50k Funding – Board Game Discovery
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£75k Funding – Ludocene Podcast
Follow Andy Robertson on Bluesky to get updates on Ludocene.
