A video game that helps you find more video games

Every month, a wonderful new video game leaps off the diving board of development, performs a flawless series of promotional flips, and then lands a stomach-splitting belly flop onto Steam. Welcome to 2025, when even the best video games can and often do crash against the reality of Video Game Abundance.

But what if, paradoxically, the answer to the problem of too many games is one more game?

Ludocene is a game recommendation engine that blends, in the words of designer Andy Robertson, dating apps, deck builder games, and texting with a trusted friend. 

Last week, ahead of its Kickstarter launch, Robertson gave me a tour of the prototype. Here’s how it works: The app deals you one “video game card” at a time, each featuring a trailer, genre info, and an elevator pitch. Swipe up to toss the card away. Or, if you like a game, swipe the card down into your deck of favorites. As you fill the favorite deck with a handful of games you love, Ludocene begins to make its own secondary deck, this one including new game cards inspired by your picks.

I made a deck that included Nier Automata, Kentucky Route Zero, Grow Up, Spelunky 2, and A Short Hike. The tool dealt me Jusant, Lil Gator Game, Bayonetta 2, Surmount, Moonglow Bay, and A Walk with Yiayia — the last of which I’d never heard of. I’m not alone in my unfamiliarity. Despite having a very positive rating, Walk with Yiayia has less than 100 reviews on Steam, despite being available since 2022. 

I would have never heard of this hidden gem if not for flicking through cards on Ludocene. 

Great games can go unseen. Yes, even by people like me who spend time every day trying to ensure the best stuff doesn’t slip through the cracks. And yet, I suspect — like me — some folks will be wary of inviting another algorithm into their lives, locking them into a prison of their own current tastes. 

Robertson and his team are mindful of that particular pickle and have added a human element. The “Expert” feature lets you plop established critics, journalists, and designers  — each represented as their own card — alongside your deck, with the app then merging the two to conjure a fresh set of recommended games.  

Before I wrapped my demo with Robertson, I built my own recommendations, creating an official Chris Plante card. You may one day see it. Ludocene launched on Kickstarter on Tuesday. If the team hits its funding goal, the gaming community just might take a step closer to ensuring great games don’t launch DOA.