Single Player

The television show Mythic Quest meets Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game in Tai’s bighearted debut. Aspiring video game writer Cat Li lands her dream job writing love interests into the new game Compass Hollow for one of the most prestigious video game developers in North America. She’ll be working under wunderkind narrative director Andi Zhang, who interchangeably uses she/her and they/them pronouns. Unfortunately, prickly Andi assumes the new hire violated a nondisclosure agreement after a run-in with a reporter, Cat antagonizes Andi instead of correcting them, and the pair butt heads continuously over whether or not to follow boss Brett’s admonition to add romance to Compass Hollow. It doesn’t help that the woman Cat is fake-dating to avoid disappointing her family happens to be Andi’s ex. Sparks fly, however, after Cat defends Andi from a vindictive former boss. Now the pair must figure out how to develop romance both in-game and IRL. Though some of the workplace enemies-to-lovers antics feel a bit immature, it’s easy to root for both protagonists, and Tai writes about the video game industry with impressive nuance. Gamers will find plenty of enjoyable Easter eggs, and even those who’ve never picked up a controller will become invested in the ins and outs of game development. Meryl Wilsner fans should check this out. (Jan.)