Denver Woman Creates Tinder-Type App for Finding Dungeons & Dragons Parties

In the throes of COVID-19 lockdowns, Rachel Dove turned to social media to find a Dungeons & Dragons group. Having played the fantasy role-playing game for years, she was excited to connect with a virtual party. But when she turned on her video chat to begin the new campaign, Dove was taken aback.

"Good, we have a girl here," the group of all-male strangers remarked. "We'll call on you when we need you to seduce something."

Dove initially laughed it off, but as the game continued, "it became more and more apparent that they were extremely serious. I was not welcome to interact in that game in any way that I chose," she says. The men repeatedly commented on her gender and only engaged with her when it came to the "sexual realm" of the game, Dove says. She did not return for the party's next meeting.

"If that had been my first time playing D&D, I probably would have stopped right there," Dove says. "I would have thought this was not the right hobby for me, I didn't fit in. How many other people have had similar experiences based on their gender, sexual orientation, color of their skin, being neurodiverse or anything else? I want to make sure people see this is a very open, diverse and collaborative community."

That's when Dove started working on Dungeons Not Dating, a Tinder-style app that lets D&D players swipe to form parties based on factors like their play style and skill level — in addition to personal identities, such as being a person of color or part of the LGBTQ community.

A 35-year-old Denver resident, Dove has been playing D&D for almost seven years. Now a dungeon master, she's run or played in twelve different games, some of which have lasted more than three years.

D&D has been a safe space for her to explore her gender identity and pronouns as a queer woman, Dove says, allowing her to play as male or nonbinary characters. In addition to loving the lore and world-building aspects, she enjoys the social outlet of D&D and wants to open that up to other people.

According to Dove, 2,300 people are already on the waiting list for the Dungeons Not Dating app, which is set to launch in January.

It works largely like a dating app: Users create a profile with personal information like their name, location, gender and age. In addition to specifying their availability and virtual platform preference, users can select numerous personality tags including "LGBTQ+," "disabled," "BIPOC," "feminism," "vegan," "veteran," "Black Lives Matter" or "mental health awareness."

"We have inclusivity at the forefront," Dove says. "Those are the folks who really need an app like this. Anyone who's been put into that 'other' category where it's currently unsafe to just go onto a random Facebook group and say, 'Hey, can I join you?' I'm trying to help make sure they feel safe and have an enjoyable experience."

Users then create a profile for either a dungeon master or a character, where they add details about what species and class they play as during D&D games. They also provide information about their skill level, play style, desired length of campaign and whether they want a mature 18+ experience or a family-friendly game open to all of the age 13+ users on the app.

When swiping "yes" or "no" on profiles, players view one another based on their D&D characters, complete with pre-created portraits of the mystical beings available to add.

If users match with one another, they can form a group chat to confirm compatibility before locking in as an official party, at which point other profiles will swipe on the party as a group instead of as individuals, until they have the desired number of members.
Right now, the app is only designed to connect parties for virtual play — their locations aren't taken into account by the algorithm. But if enough users in certain spots sign up, Dove says, she plans to offer the option for in-person gameplay where players are matched based on their proximity.

As the name suggests, Dungeons Not Dating is not designed to find romantic matches for users.

"We're here to connect you to play Dungeons & Dragons, not to date," Dove says. "But we're using that dating-app style that folks are already familiar with to make sure that those matches lead to true comfort, safety and friendliness, so that you can forge real bonds and connections with the people at your table."

Dove hasn't entirely ruled out the matchmaking potential of her app, however. If the demand arises down the line, she has plans to integrate a side of the app called "Dungeons AND Dating," where users swipe on one another based on their personal profiles instead of their character profiles.

"There are a thousand dating apps out there, so I would sort of hope that people stick to those for now," she laughs. "But if they do meet the love of their life on the app, good for them."