How We Play the Game

Rival gamers competing for a chance to make it big in the e-sports world must team up to achieve their dreams in this playful rom-com by Nedd (Don’t Hate the Player). Eighteen-year-old Zora is a top player of Wizzard Gaming’s battle royale strategy game. Upon learning that Wizzard is hosting a summer academy—a pseudo–boot camp designed to provide participants the tools to kick-start their own professional gaming careers—Zora resolves to attend the program at any cost, including betraying her battle partner in the arena. Having successfully secured a spot at the academy, Zora is shocked to realize that her former partner Ivan—a “washed up e-boy” facing backlash for his past involvement in toxic gaming culture—has also been admitted. After Wizzard stream viewers dub her an unlikable “ice queen,” Zora approaches Ivan with a proposal that they fake-date each other to repair their foundering reputations. The reality show competition backdrop amplifies meta gaming references, cheeky banter, and Gossip Girl–level drama that occurs both on the virtual battlefield and behind the scenes. The result is a streamer-era romance that offers a sharp critique of how influencer personae and hustle culture can blur the line between work and play. Ivan is white; Zora is Black. Ages 14–up. (Nov.)