Date Knight is a queer dating sim that highlights the passion and pain of indie development

It's a brutal time for the industry, with constant rounds of layoffs, the push to integrate generative AI, and relentless rounds of crunch to create massive, bloated open worlds full of content. It can be tempting, in the face of such destruction, to think of indie games as our savior. There are, in fact, truly excellent indie games coming out every year in all shapes, sizes, and genres. Most of my favorite titles from recent years have, in fact, been indie. But to treat them as a cure-all for the art form is a mistake, because behind every passion project is years of grinding, labor, and financial precarity. 

Despite all of the above, at a time where it’s arguably more difficult to dedicate years to a creative craft than ever, developers persevere. They work through challenges like family life, juggling a day job, and personal disability. 

One of these developers grinding away in the game mines is mkg, a developer helming a queer dating sim with hidden depths called Date Knight. In it, you play as a knight looking to date local knights in your area. Date Knight is inspired by Monster Prom, Undertale, and Slay the Princess, and while there’s a demand for narrative-heavy dating sims with a twist, getting the word out to those players is a struggle all on its own. 

The game is currently on Kickstarter, with the campaign set to conclude on April 17; it’s the second round of crowdfunding for the game after running an Indiegogo in 2022. In years past, running a crowdfunding campaign would be a way to make a prototype or vertical slice that can be used as proof of concept for publishers; now, those resources have run dry. 

“I got tons of feedback from so many different publishers, and so much of it was incredibly helpful,” says mkg in a conversation with Rogue. “It was either, our team can't take this on, but I'd personally play this game, or it's a high-risk game because it's a queer visual novel.” Publishing labels like Outersloth, created off the back of the smash success of Among Us, are a great option, but there’s no guarantee of acceptance. 

And so, the only option becomes crowdfunding and self-publishing, which comes with its own risks. Date Knight currently has a team of eight on board, which follows three years of solo development paid out of pocket by mkg.

Another problem is the amount of time that must be sunk into development, and balancing that with the human needs of the developer. “I don't want to beat around the bush; I'm very tired,” says mkg. “I’m doing okay, but a lot of the message of the game is that you have no choice but to move forward, you can only move forward, even when there’s nothing left.”

It’s a narrative colored by personal disability; during our conversation, mkg openly shared that they have been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, a painful condition that causes swelling, joint pain, and stiffness. To forge onwards with solo development with this condition is no mean feat, but just like the narrative of Date Knight — sometimes the only way forward is through. For now, mkg manages their condition with daily use of compression socks, delegating to other team members, and rest.

It’s a difficult situation, and yet one that developers like mkg pursue because of passion. Development also must be balanced with marketing: word of mouth, social media posts, connecting with press, and so on. “The grind is exhausting. It's more exhausting than game dev, sometimes, especially doing it on your own,” says mkg. “I'm not hiring anyone for this, I'm just doing it. You have to be annoying. You have to keep at it, even when you feel bleak, or someone's financial situation changed, and you have to keep positive no matter what. My biggest weapon at the end of the day has been word of mouth. And I’m a poster at heart, so there’s nothing unnatural to me about going online and talking about my game.”

This years-long campaign of struggle begs the question of why one would continue, and the answer for many developers is simple: passion. “There have been a lot of players who didn't know they liked knights before playing and claimed that it altered their brain chemistry,” says mkg. “There are players who already liked knights who are like, ‘wow! more knights!’ And then there are people who like queer dating sims already. I'm the biggest fan of it. It's my baby. I can be my own biggest fan first, and that's helped a lot.”

“What keeps me able to keep pushing forward is the game means a lot to me, and I've seen enough people react to the game and say 'hey, this means something to me, too.’” says mkg. “I really think this is something people should try. Just play the weird Knight game. I think it'll surprise a lot of people.”

Date Knight is currently crowdfunding with a target of $26,200, with a free demo available on itch.io.