The advent of apps has revolutionised dating (not to mention more casual forms of intimate engagement) in our time. So what happens when this technology is brought to bear on the highly formalised modes of courtship in the Regency period? It is a question most would not ask, but the producers at Tea for Three studios did, and their answer, Regency Love – an app that allows users to inhabit the world of an eligible eighteenth-century lady – provides a clever fictional counterpoint to Tinder, OkCupid and eHarmony.

Players create avatars that are Austen characters in all but name. The aim is to practice accomplishments including: reading, music, dancing, drawing, needlework and riding (I would have thought French might make the list) and to earn good character, which is assessed through interactions with the non-playable characters of the game. When these characters ask questions players have to choose between one of three answers and what they choose divulges their character. Their amiableness, wit, sensibility, forthrightness, gentility, sense of duty, sensitivity, reservedness, amongst other characteristics, are given a numerical rating, as are less desirable traits such as vulgarity, eccentricity, boldness, licentiousness and frivolity. Essentially, the process is three-fold: players build stories through characterisation, they play new chapters, meet new people, attend balls, dinners, go riding, visit the town and its surrounding stately homes with ever the keen eye trained to potential suitors. But to continue to unlock these scenarios they need accomplishments and to build accomplishments they need motivation. In the app motivation is not as abstract as we would have thought it: it can be gained by answering questions on the social and cultural history of Georgian England and filling in cloze passages of quotes from Austen’s novels in hangman-style challenges. Players also have the ability to practice these accomplishments in front of Lord Fat Cat, a corpulent cartoon feline who has somehow gained the status of arbiter eligantarium.

Playing under the guise of Elizabeth Vale, I argued patiently with my mother (a Mrs Bennet type), walked through parks and woods, gossiped in town with the notorious Mrs Norris, and was invited to visit Lampton Hall, Dunnistone Manor and Thornleigh. Along the way I was courted by Mr Digby, an overly solicitous, stuttering specimen whose ‘comfortable income’ could not outweigh my annoyance, and so the answers I gave him only increased my boldness, forthrightness and wit, not to mention my irritability and vulgarity. The true competition was between Mr Curtis, a charitable bachelor of ‘nine and thirty’ (and so considerably older than the others; think a cross between Captain Wentworth and Mr Bingley) and Mr Ashcroft the mysterious, wealthy proprietor of Thornleigh – a man perhaps closer to the mould of Mr Rochester than Mr Darcy. Though not without trials and tribulations – a less than salubrious family history, the taciturn demeanour of my suitor and the pull of the other, more amenable man – I, in a similar vein to the Elizabeth of Austen’s novel, settled on Ashcroft.

Playing the game, I found there was a tension between what you want to say and what you think will make your character desirable, no doubt an accurate depiction of courtship in any era. The options for dialogue are also sometimes too restrictive; where you may wish to be the author of a novel, you find yourself, instead, the reader of a very sophisticated ‘choose your own adventure’ tale.

For the most part, the language of the app is well rendered and, as far as can be expected of this genre, authentic to the period. There are even moments of genuine wit. When Elizabeth is asked by Mr Curtis why she likes walking, one of the options to reply is the epigrammatic ‘It offers me the chance to reflect on the world, the people I know, and sometimes – though this is the most dangerous of tasks – on my own character’. Charming moments like these far outweigh slips which, when they do occur, stand out. Most of these happen in the narration, rather than in the dialogue between characters. On a bold, unchaperoned ride with Mr Ashcroft – a risky move that thankfully paid off – I heard the following:

‘As you gingerly place your foot onto his offered palms, you instinctively touch his shoulder to maintain your balance. Mr Ashcroft draws in a quick breath, almost inaudible, and you think you feel the slightest tremble in his countenance’… ‘[w]hen he has finished [helping Elizabeth mount her horse] Mr Ashcroft gives you his full attention. His eyes as piercing and blue as you first remembered, but they have softened with familiarity.’

Although not quite 50 Shades of Grey, the adverbial superfluity would be more at home in Mills and Boon than Sense and Sensibility. Still, it is hard not to be won over by this very fun take on Regency romance.

I did find, however, that the questions asked during the challenges were a tad simplistic, targeted to enthusiastic amateurs rather than to scholars of Austen. More of an issue, though, was that there weren’t enough questions. After playing a few rounds I found questions repeating, taking what was left of the difficulty out of the challenges. The app is limited more generally by the fact that the list of available responses, whilst altering my character, did not radically alter the story line. I played a second round, intentionally trying to answer differently, and it was less enjoyable than the first because I could anticipate how it would end and, by that stage, had memorised all the answers. It also seems that no matter how rude a player is, they end up with a match, defeating the purpose of a dating game. Until I realised that I would eventually receive a proposal (even if it was not the one I wished for) I found that, much like life, but a little frustrating in a game where your character and accomplishments are so quantifiable, it is hard to gauge how well you are doing with respect to your suitors.

Regency Love is not the first attempt to create a virtual world based on Austen’s novels. It operates on a very similar premise to Ever Jane (reviewed here). In Regency Love the traits are more varied and complex than they are in Ever Jane, the non-playable characters and stories fuller and, on the whole, it is far more authentic in terms of period detail. Where it falls short of its competition is in the lack of opportunity to interact with other live players, and the more restricted manner in which characters are created. For instance, in Ever Jane one can play as a male character whereas in Regency Love one cannot.

On the whole, the app offers users a complex, detailed and very absorbing world replete with letters, epilogues and memoirs to round out the individually-constructed narratives. It is eminently playable and, I hate to admit, really quite addictive.