There’s a quirky little game making waves online right now. It’s called Date Everything! and while it might look like a cartoonish parody at first glance, there’s something deeper going on. In this dating-sim game, you can flirt with a toaster, romance your couch, fall in love with your inner critic, or try to seduce your dreams. Yes, it’s absurd—but it’s also a sharp and funny mirror held up to modern dating culture. And beneath the surreal humor lies a lesson we all need to hear: the way we approach love has become so gamified, so trope-heavy, and so self-aware that even a game about dating inanimate objects can sometimes feel more real than real life.

When you fire up Date Everything!, you’re thrown into a world where nothing is off-limits. You don’t just swipe left or right—you explore entire dialogues, motivations, and compatibility matrices with things you never imagined having feelings for. It’s ridiculous on purpose. But just like with satire or stand-up comedy, there’s truth in the exaggeration. Because when you stop to think about it, isn’t this what dating in 2025 has started to resemble? We’re falling in love with ideals. We’re chasing connection through screens. We’re developing parasocial crushes on creators, building emotional intimacy with playlists, even developing attachment styles with the algorithm.

The game asks a strange but valid question: what are we really dating these days? Are we dating people, or are we dating our own projections of who they are? Are we getting to know someone, or are we just trying to fill a script that matches the relationship we’ve already written in our heads?

Date Everything! leans hard into the concept of expanding the idea of love and connection. You’re not limited to romantic or sexual relationships—you can have nourishing, emotional, or chaotic connections with everything around you. In one storyline, you go on a self-care journey where your “date” is your to-do list. In another, you build emotional intimacy with your comfort zone, only to discover it’s holding you back. It’s weird. It’s hilarious. And it’s weirdly profound.

This new way of looking at relationships—through a lens of multiplicity and self-awareness—echoes some of the bigger themes we’re seeing in real-life dating. More people are embracing solo dates, aromantic identities, emotional independence, and open-ended connection. We’re no longer just asking, “Who am I attracted to?” We’re asking, “What kind of relationships fuel me? What kind of love do I need? Who helps me grow?”

It’s no longer about finding the one—it’s about finding the ones who resonate with you, whether that’s for a night, a season, or a lifetime. And the game’s playful chaos reminds us that connection can show up in unexpected places. Sometimes the most impactful “relationship” you have in a season of your life might be with your therapist, your pet, or the playlist that got you through a hard month.

Date Everything! also pokes fun at the fact that dating is exhausting. You go on ridiculous tangents. You get your heart broken by a lamp. You fall for someone who ghosts you mid-dialogue. Sound familiar? It’s not so different from swiping through endless profiles, matching with someone you feel excited about, and then watching the conversation fizzle for no reason. The emotional labor of dating is real. And this game, through humor and chaos, gives us permission to laugh at that reality instead of being crushed by it.

There’s also a valuable emotional lesson buried in the absurdity. In one segment, the player tries to date “Validation.” At first, it seems like the perfect match—it tells you you’re amazing, it likes everything you do, it makes you feel seen. But over time, the relationship starts to feel empty. You realise that you’re chasing approval instead of connection. That storyline hits hard. Because how many of us have dated someone just to feel desirable? How many times have we stayed in something that felt safe on the surface but was hollow underneath?

The game doesn’t mock love—it explores it from every angle, asking us to do the same. What are you looking for? What do you bring to the table? Are you honest about your intentions? Are you projecting, performing, pretending—or are you really present?

Dating Dave’s take? Games like Date Everything! might seem like silly fun, but they’re also useful tools. They help us reflect on how we approach relationships, how we communicate, how we self-sabotage, and how we grow. And if they make us laugh along the way? Even better. Because dating should never be just a grind. It should be curious. Playful. Open to possibility.

So what can we learn from a dating sim where your potential partner is your own ambition, your ex’s hoodie, or the fear of commitment? Plenty. We learn that connection isn’t limited to romance. That every relationship we engage in, no matter how fleeting or strange, tells us something about ourselves. And most importantly, we learn that love isn’t always logical—it’s emotional, spiritual, even metaphysical. It’s not something we can fully plan or predict. But when we approach it with curiosity, compassion, and a sense of humor, we give ourselves the best chance to find something meaningful—even if it starts out weird.

So go ahead—date your dreams, flirt with freedom, ask out your sense of adventure. Whether it’s on a screen, in real life, or somewhere in between, dating is ultimately about discovery. And the more you’re willing to explore—with intention and a bit of play—the closer you’ll get to the kind of love that truly lights you up.