The title of this game is a line taken from a golden oldie circa 1968, "Young Girl" popularized by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (words & music by J. Fuller). It's not meant to imply that there's something horrible above May/December romances. If Bob & Imelda were consenting adults who loved each other, it's none of our damn business.

The reason you'd want to bother playing the game is still up for debate. You might enjoy playing it if you agree that glimpses of joy and beauty redeem an otherwise meaningless existence. For others, reading the rules will be enough. Maybe too much.

WTF were you thinking?
The idea for ML4U started as a joke, reading through gaming theory and "Gamist/Narrativist/Simulationist" Model articles and discussions on The Forge. This game is meant to be a "What's Wrong With This Picture?" of game design. After debating about embedded Premise, I wondered how many tidbits could be embedded in the design of a game -- not just "color" and "setting" but specific characters, specific scenes, a limited range of actions. Of course, after investing a few hundred words in the idea, I wanted the game mechanics to actually function and result in something that people might play more than once. (Even once would be generous at this point.) But it never seems to work out that way.

Now that it's done, I'd like to hear if any of this was fun to read, what parts are game design problems and why. Is this a role-playing game, or a board game that yells at you to stay in character? Take a look at the What's Wrong With This Picture page. Email me at deidzoeb13@yahoo.com or poke around for related discussions (if any) on The Forge forum.

DID YOU MISS A PAGE?
I decided not to force people to read the fake Megiddo Homes webpage in the middle of the rules, but you might want to check it out still, if only for the cool photos of temporary and permanent bomb shelter designs, underground homes and diagram of a remodeled missile silo. More color.

If you liked My Love For You, or enjoyed reading the "color" even though you wouldn't think of playing it, check out some of my other games and settings: