My Burning Wheel game (that I should start back up—it was on pause due to illness, and then the move) is a game for two couples: me and Tracy, and two of our friends. Tracy doesn’t particularly enjoy RPGs, but she humors me because it is a fun activity that we can do together with our friends. I am lucky to have a relatively nerdy set of friends, so there’s quite a few couples that play RPGs together, which is usually a hoot. I find it a great way to spend time together without necessarily rehashing the same types of conversation every time you meet (“So, what have you two been up to lately?”).
Interestingly enough, as normal as romance in daily life, I have not often seen romance be a key component in my games. Neither as a thing between player characters, nor between a player character and an NPC. I wonder why we engage with that so little in our games.
I am reminded of an RPG I have heard about, but never actually played (despite it sounding interesting): Kagematsu. It’s a game set in 16th century Japan, in a small village in desparate need of a hero. Enter Kagematsu, the Ronin who may become the hero. Kagematsu must be played by a woman, and all the other players play townswomen who intend to seduce Kagematsu, so he will stay in town and help them. I have heard it gain great praise if Kagematsu is indeed played by a woman, and the townswomen all played by men. Apparently, it is often hilarious for the woman to see what the men believe is seductive, and for the male players it ends up being quite educational. It would be fun to play that someday!