Dungeons Not Dating's Mission: Building Intentional Connection Through Play

Dungeons Not Dating is a purpose-driven app built to help tabletop role‑playing enthusiasts connect with intention and care. It provides an entry point into collaborative storytelling and supports meaningful connections based on shared values, play preferences, and creative alignment. Founder Rachel Dove says, "I created this platform to help people find gaming tables where trust, respect, and imagination can grow naturally."

As a community-building tool designed around how people actually play, Dungeons Not Dating invites users to express how they approach the game, what they enjoy about storytelling, and what kind of table culture feels right to them. The app facilitates discovery between players and game masters while encouraging clarity around expectations, boundaries, and creative style. This structure supports a broader vision of making it easier for people to participate without unnecessary friction, and to do so in a way that feels affirming.

That vision is tied to the journey of its founder. When Dove began building Dungeons Not Dating, she entered the technology space without a technical background. "I came into this project thinking about community and storytelling, shaped by my own experiences in tabletop spaces," she shares. "As the platform grew, I realized I needed to understand how digital products actually come together, so I enrolled in a tech bootcamp to get hands-on experience with development and project management."

That learning period reshaped how Dungeons Not Dating operates. Early development experiences highlighted the importance of shared language and clarity between vision and execution. Rather than stepping away, Dove leaned further in, building the skills needed to communicate directly with development teams and to guide the product with confidence.

Over time, Dove assumed full ownership of project planning, sprint structure, and long-term roadmap design. She began creating storyboards, defining user stories, and establishing internal systems for prioritization, including coding her own planning matrix to support decision-making. Today, she serves as her own project manager, meeting with developers and overseeing each stage of the build to help ensure alignment with the platform's values and community needs.

This hands-on approach is apparent in the app's upcoming relaunch, scheduled for the second quarter of 2026, bringing a redesigned interface built for smoother navigation and a more intuitive experience. One of the most significant updates is the expanded tag system, which now includes values-based identifiers, hobbies, interests, and personality or play‑style markers.

These richer tags work hand‑in‑hand with the platform's new matching approach, which prioritizes user‑controlled filtering so players can decide exactly what they want to see. Visibility settings have been streamlined as well. Upon logging in, users can immediately choose whether they want to view players, game masters, or both, creating a more consistent and intentional discovery experience.

Technology plays a significant role in supporting that sense of agency. In the early days, Dove managed many aspects of the business manually, from onboarding to community communication. As systems became more automated, she found space to focus on strategy and product design.

"When people run tabletop games, they can get stuck managing logistics instead of focusing on the experience," Dove says. "The same thing happens with online groups. Our goal with the app is to remove as much administrative work as possible, so players and game masters can spend their time actually engaging with each other and building their stories together."

According to Dove, one distinguishing aspect of Dungeons Not Dating within the tabletop ecosystem is its emphasis on player autonomy. Instead of centering all decision-making with a single organizer, the platform encourages mutual choice and shared responsibility. Players can set boundaries, express preferences, and curate their own experience. Values-based tags further support this by helping users find tables where their identities and viewpoints are understood and respected.

The platform's roadmap continues to be shaped by community input. Planned enhancements include support for additional tabletop systems and tools that reflect the varied ways different groups like to play. A longer-term vision also includes mental‑health‑informed features, offering resources for neurodiverse players, individuals with anxiety, or those seeking a gentler introduction to group play. Dove sees these developments as a natural extension of the platform's purpose. "Play has always been a way people process the world," she states. "If we can support that responsibly, it may open meaningful doors."

As Dungeons Not Dating prepares for its next chapter, it continues to evolve as an ecosystem that blends technology, creativity, and care, guided by a founder who chose to grow alongside her product. The relaunch represents a reflection of lessons learned and values clarified. In creating space for people to find their party, Dungeons Not Dating is also exploring how intentional design can support connection in a digital age.