I’ve been fascinated by love, sex and relationships in games since forever. In our latest Polygon letter series, “Love and Darkness,” Quinns and I do some fencing on the topic, from my spotty roots in hentai games to roleplaying in online worlds. Yes, he went to Furcadia.

And on the subject of roleplaying, I’ll be helping Quinns review indie pen and paper RPGs at Shut Up & Sit Down, that extraordinary destination for all things tabletop. If you don’t know what these things are — and even I didn’t really, until a little bit ago — you should come along on the journey of discovery!

I’m so excited to’ve found a new way to play games that really speaks to me. These games are about relationships, social tension and romance. Do check out our writings, and comment on Shut Up & Sit Down with recommendations for what we should check out!

We start with an introductory conversation — Quinns does a good job explaining the format of these games. I talk about my younger days some, explaining why I feel roleplaying has the ability to slot into part of my life I lost touch with growing up.

And here’s our first review! It’s a game called Shooting the Moon, where you and a friend compete for the attentions of a fictional Beloved you collaborate in imagining. We accidentally made an amazing story that’s still living with me.

It always feels like a breath of fresh air when I find social ways to play that are intelligent and rich, but nonetheless feel like something anyone could approach and get something out of.

That vision of games — a joyous sea of play possibilities where there’s something for everyone — is core to the GameCity festival, whose opening night I happily attended in Nottingham last week. If you don’t know what GameCity is, do read what I wrote about it! It just may be my favorite gaming event.

Sometimes when you fall in love you get married, and then there is a wedding, and then the wedding has a band and the band starts to play The Rains of Castamere and — oh, hell. My Game of Thrones recap of that episode is up, and as usual I’m proud to have the best commenters and the best GoT discussion on the web going on alongside it.