‘Date Like Goblins’ Thinks Playing Games Can Fix Dating Apps

Meanwhile, Match Group, which owns Tinder, Hinge, and other dating apps, has slumped. Together with Bumble, which offended many with a disastrous ad campaign earlier this year (the company apologized), the big apps have lost $40 billion in market value since 2021. Bumble reported 10 percent growth in revenue early this year, and also refreshed its app, while Tinder grew 9 percent in revenue and Hinge by 50 percent, according to Match. But if Hinge, Bumble, and Tinder are the packed, noisy singles bars of online dating, these smaller apps are the quieter café or running club. There may be fewer people, but they’re more likely to start from a place where the singles have something in common.

The goblin dating model could provide a novel approach that appeals to more reclusive daters, says Jess Carbino, former in-house sociologist for Bumble and Tinder. “This could be an amazing resource for individuals who are more shy or reticent about meeting in person,” she says. She also wonders whether the low-lift aspect of dating in a game could make it easy to hop in and out of an interaction conveniently, and have people put off meeting in person.

Keeney notes that the early beta users of Date Like Goblins have included people who are neurodivergent, immunocompromised, or introverted, all of whom may feel more comfortable getting to know someone doing an activity rather than sitting down face-to-face for a drink or coffee. She created the app, she says, partially in response to the frustration she felt on traditional apps that her person may be hidden behind a paywall or obscured by an algorithm that can’t spot what would connect them. People can choose to try to meet singles closer to their physical location, or find people around the world, she says.

To better showcase someone’s personality, prompts on Date Like Goblins encourage more in-depth profiles than a typical quippy dating app bio. Some are quirky, for example: “Would you rather live in a world where every song ever is by Pitbull or live in a world where the only song is ‘Fireball’ by Pitbull but it’s covered by every artist ever?” (Choose wisely—the answer to that really says something about whether or not you can stand to spend the rest of your life with someone.)

Still, Carbino says she isn’t sure whether niche apps can truly disrupt the dating process; they may not tackle “the fundamental issues most daters are facing,” she says. Mostly, it’s about burnout, and not struggling to make that quality match. “They hop on the apps,” she says. “They date for a while, and before the algorithms have an opportunity to learn about them, they get off the apps and feel demoralized.”

As a result, dating apps bear the brunt of criticism. But they’re doing a job once relegated to our larger social institutions and structures, Carbino says, like schools, churches, and family and friends: Get us to meet someone to fall in love with. If people failed to find love through their community, would they blame those around them the way they do the apps?

Perhaps the gaming aspect of Date Like Goblins can tap into that community feel. Already, so many people have met friends or partners playing games online, Keeney notes. She hopes her app can provide a “low pressure, easy way to connect with people” online, for those who are eagerly seeking a romantic partner or more friends. “If this is happening by accident,” she says, “imagine if we made this possible on purpose.”