At PAX East 2026, we met and got the chance to interview Joseph Hunter, Akabaka, the lead designer of the Sucker for Love Series. At the Black Lantern Collective booth, the team was showing off a variety of games, including Sucker for Love: Crush Landing. After previewing the game at PAX West 2025, we wanted to see how the game’s development was going and what fans could expect to see in the game when it releases.

If you are curious about Sucker for Love: Crush Landing, you can download the demo and play through the first chapter. Now, let’s dive into our Sucker for Love: Crush Landing interview with Akabaka so you can learn about some of the exciting things coming to the game and future games. 

Matt: While the first game had more of a cutsey romantic dating setting, the second game focused more on the Eldritch Horror aspect and felt less like a dating sim game. How does Sucker for Love: Crush Landing differ, and what elements from the two games can be seen in it?

Akabaka: The tone kind of gets set by which gods the story is based on. With the Black Goat of the Woods and the Cultists, the story was really pulling in a horror direction, and I wanted to round out the franchise to truly encompass and show off everything that Sucker for Love really is; it’s funny, and it’s romantic, but it can be really scary sometimes. 

This time, for the Color out of Space, it is not a god; it is just an Eldritch Oddity. It is more welcoming to be a more comedic or romantic story, similar to Sucker for Love: First Date. So the third title is a bit of a return to form more because of the storytelling, but it is all because of what has arisen naturally from the gameplay and the gods/characters involved; so it should bring a lot to the table. 

This third game takes aspects from the previous two, such as the direction from the first game and the 3D turn-around environment from the second game.

Matt: Last time when we talked about Sucker for Love: Date to Die For, you were talking about the process it took to learn and develop for the 3D animation (how it is just a bunch of pictures overlapped and connected to each other. Have you refined the process?

Akabaka: Well, I can do it a lot faster now that I’ve figured it out. It is a bit of a novel process; it is like taking a camera and putting it to panorama mode, and slowly turning it around. You can kind of see the result of the picture. We draw sort of in that distorted style, like when you pan across an image in the game, it looks like you are turning and observing a 3D image. It took me six to eight months to crack it the first time. Now that I know what to do, I can just do it without really any headaches this time around. It’s a lot faster now, and it’s definitely more polished, knowing how it works. 

Matt: With being the third game series, some may be wondering what’s next for you after Sucker for Love: Crush Landing? Will there be another Sucker for Love, or do you have something else planned?

Akabaka: There is one more game planned after this one. It is going to be like Smash Ultimate, where everyone from the previous game will be there. Every character that you’ve previously seen will come back, but there will also be new characters. It will be the last hurrah for the Sucker for Love series, where you can meet and date all the gods and goddesses in a rapid-fire anthology. All the protagonists will return and are playable. 

Every time we release one of these games, the gameplay is slightly different from the ones beforehand. This final entry is going to be the most different, the most exciting. I am really excited for this upcoming one. This final one is the last one I have planned for the series, and it should be a really good one. It will be one last love letter to the IP, where I want to get as many jokes out as possible while telling an interesting story. 

Matt: What about Sucker for Love: Crush Landing gameplay makes it stand out compared to the prior two games? At PAX West, you discussed how there is a color element to the game that can change different dynamics.

Akabaka: In the first two games, you had a book that could guide you on what to do. In Sucker for Love: Crush Landing, the book is completely gone because there is no god this time around. The Color out of Space is not a god, so there is no book. You see how it mutates and affects plant organisms, living things, and things made out of organic matter as you feed things of various colors to it. This is one of those moments where we took things that this game is based on to set the tone and mechanics. 

The game will feature dialogue options this time around; there are multiple endings that can be impacted by the huge mess of dialogue options. Lots of new roleplay opportunities. 

Matt: So there will be a lot of variety endings. 

Matt: So the second game kind of had two key settings for the story. Will Sucker for Love: Crush Landing have multiple environments, or will it be similar to the first game?

Akabaka: So, this one will take place in more of an intimate setting, similar to the first game, but will have an interesting outcome based on the player’s choices. 

Matt: Will the game have a more romantic feel or revolve around horror?

Akabaka: There will be horror in the third game, too. My wife said this is the scariest one yet, based on the monsters that I have shown her. Although it is back to funny and romantic, I am hearing back from playtesters that this is one of the scariest ones based on the mutations that happen. As things are exposed to the Color Out of Space, the area will change. 

If you’ve seen the movie Color Out of Space with Nickolas Cage, that kind of body horror. Very Junji Ito art style body horror; it will be all over the place in this one. 

Matt: In the final game, will the meeting be taking place in outer space or on Earth? 

Akabaka: I can’t say at the moment, you will just have to wait and see. 

Matt: How has the reception been to the demo and the playtest?

Akabaka: Wonderful! Both with the playtest and here (PAX East), people are really excited. People recognize the franchise. I did try something different with this one. With this one, it feels like a return to form, but with the book gone, there are new mechanics. So people seem to be reacting really well to these changes. A lot of these features are things people have been requesting for a long time. Additions such as an inventory, save system, and dialog options, I made it a challenge to myself to see how much player feedback I can work into this game while remaining true to the franchise; so far, it has been paying off very well.  

Matt: What comes after the Sucker for Love franchise? 

Akabaka: There is no shortage of projects that I will be working on. There are at least 8 different titles that have been put on hold while I work on this. Maybe there will be some collaborations. Lots of really cool stuff coming down the line. 

Matt: When not working, how do you relax?

Akabaka: I’ll relax when I am dead. Right now, I just want to get as much out of my youth and my drive as I can before I burn out or get too old to do this. I am trying to get everything out as much as I can. 

Matt: What have you been using as forms of Inspiration?

Akabaka: I read a lot of Manga and play a bunch of games, especially those in the horror space. I try out a lot of stuff just to stay really inspired. I try to stay hungry because it helps make me think of things I could possibly do.

Matt: Have you ever thought about bringing Sucker for Love to VR?

Akabaka: I’ve thought about it a lot. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it myself, but the idea of doing it first-person in VR space is such a cool idea. 

Sucker for Love: Crush Landing is in development for Windows PC (via Steam). While a release date isn’t confirmed – you can try the demo out now!