I had kind of forgotten about Lovers before I went through my Steam Library to pull stuff for this list. It’s a seemingly simply game. 2-4 of you are operating a spaceship together, running around trying to maneuver the ship, shields, weapons and abilities all at the same time while trying not to die. Don’t let the cutesy facade fool you, you need to be on your toes and there will be a lot of frantic screaming.
There are a lot of games like this. Overcooked is a classic example, and is arguably a “better” game. But Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime is important to me because of the friendship it solidified. I became friends with someone during the pandemic, and we’ve become really close friends since then. Back in the first few months when I was still trying to figure out how to maintain friendships with people suddenly very far away, playing games online was one such point of connection. We played a bunch of games, but Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime was the one we kept coming back to. The exchange “Learn how to drive bitch!” “Fuck off, you couldn’t do better,” “You don’t have a driver’s license” “Well neither do you” was screamed as some cute little monster wrecked our shit more times than I can count. I think there’s some part of me that opens up when I’m screaming and I’m being genuine. I’m usually in my own head, so having to react on the fly and scream and coordinate pulls me out of it in a state where I’m willing and happy to just Be. Be a person alongside someone Else. I really appreciate that opportunity. I really appreciate that friend. So that’s why this game is Important.
