While going down the gamer dating site rabbit hole, I came across Joystick.dating. This isn't highly publicized, however whenever I looked for anything gamer related, this came up. At first glance, it doesn't seem as extensive as something like Date Player Two, but still worth checking out to find my potential player two!
Is Joystick Dating legit?
I spent a bit of time on this gamer dating site before working on the Joystick Dating review, and I do feel it's legitimate. It doesn't feel that way at first because a profile picture isn't required, so I wasn't keen on seeing a lot of anonymous images in my feed.
All the interactions I had with men and women were great, just a bit limited considering it's a niche gamer dating site.
Did I feel safe on it? For the most part, as long as I didn't message anyone with the grey photos. Additional perk? No dick pics upon signing up. 🙂
What's the TL;DR on Joystick Gamer Dating?
This site is fairly small compared to other dating sites, but easy to use. There does seem to be a higher ratio of men vs. women using the site, so if you're also seeking women, the pool may be a bit limited.
Here are some quickies to get you up to speed with some common questions about Joystick.dating:
How to cancel Joystick Dating account: This is really simple. Just head over to your account settings and click "delete account."
Can I block users on Joystick dating? Yes, you can do this from their profile page. What I thought was weird is they unblock the user after 90 days, so you may have to go back in to block them again.
Does my Joystick.dating subscription automatically cancel when deleting account? The nice thing about this dating site is it won't allow you to delete your account with an active subscription, so you aren't billed unnecessarily. You'll have to cancel your subscription and then delete your account.
The signup process for Joystick Gamer Dating site
The signup process is really simple and I was pleasantly surprised to see many gender and sexual preference options. First up…
- Enter in your email address.
- After that, you're able to choose your gender. As you can see, there are so many variations available, showing the inclusivity of Joystick as a gamer dating site.
- From there, you choose your sexuality, which again has a nice amount of variations for those who identify asexual, demisexual, etc.
- And finally! You enter your age. Once you go through that process, you enter your password, and you're prompted to verify your email. This didn't have you include any kind of bio information or preferences yet, unlike most other dating sites.
- Once you verify your email, you're asked to enter your name, and prompted to turn on notifications so you don't miss any messages from potential matches (you can't bypass this by the way… which I didn't love as I'm an 'email notification free' kinda gal). Then you can get into adding profile information.
For profile information, I was able to add things like who I'm looking for, whether I'm looking for someone of any age/younger/older/similar, relationship type, and where someone is located (you can go global!). A nice touch was being able to add adjectives to describe myself (feisty wasn't on there though) as well as preferred gaming platforms and game genres.
THEN. You're encouraged to create a message called a "Flirt" that will be sent to everyone that matches your profile interest. I wasn't loving that right away, because I like personalized messages, but luckily I could skip it.
And now onward to the actual site. My main feed was super simple – probably the most simple compared to any dating sites I've joined, even for other gamer dating reviews I've done. There were also a lot of people who didn't have profile images added but according to the green dot, they're active.
Search capabilities and matches for Joystick Dating
The search filters were incredibly light. I was able to search by,
- Gender
- Sexuality
- Add age range
- Choose a country
I didn't see any search filters for gaming consoles or game genre preferences, although their algorithm will send matches your way in your feed that are similar to you, so they must handle that part.
Free vs. paid subscriptions for Joystick Dating
Free Tier for Joystick
The free tier is pretty extensive since they keep the functionality of the site simple. With the free tier, I was able to:
- View profiles (which is not always a given on dating sites for free accounts, so I dig it!)
- Add up to 9 photos
- Send a "like" to someone.
- View messages you receive, however, you have to have a paid account to see the full message and respond. I was able to reply to some messages when I first had the free account, so perhaps if someone else is free, you can chat with them too.
- See who is active (green dot), kinda active (orange dot) and not active (red dot)
Joystick Dating paid tiers - Starter, Guaranteed, Premium
There are multiple paid tiers to choose from:
- Starter: $16/30 days
- Premium: $37/90 days
- Guaranteed: $37/180 days
Here's a breakdown of what Joystick showed me when I went to upgrade. You're able to…
- Send and reply to anyone
- Send international messages
- Get top search positions
- Priority picture approval
- VIP badges
- No ads (woo!)
- No sending limit to popular members
What Sets Joystick Dating Apart?
There were a few unique things about Joystick Dating that I didn't see on any other gamer sites, or dating sites in general from what I've tried so far:
- Swap app: This lets you join their other networks easily, so if you want to expand beyond just gamers, you can explore what else they have.
- Data request: This let me see exactly what data they collected from me, including location, IP address, what I'm searching for etc. Kinda creepy in a way, but I also appreciate that they are upfront with it, since all dating sites gather that information anyway.
- Turning Flirt messages on and off: If you want to peruse matches in peace, you can turn off Flirt messages so you don't get unwanted flirts.
- "Guaranteed" option for highest tier: This was great, though I'm not sure how they quantify the level of effort put into trying to get a date.
Pros and cons of Joystick Dating
So after spending some time on the site and meeting some matches in the gaming space, what did I actually think about it?
Pros of Joystick Dating
- Choosing location: I liked that I could cast a line out to a location I'm traveling to in the future to see who's around.
- Niche focus for gamer dating: The niche focus on gaming was great because I knew why everyone was there and could let my gamer flag fly.
- Not a ton of bells and whistles: This might feel like a double-edged sword, but there weren't a ton of features like some dating sites and it didn't feel overwhelming.
Cons of Joystick Dating
- Still fairly new: This site was only released a few years ago and it doesn't look like they've made massive improvements to it.
- A LOT of advertisements: The free version is inundated with ads, so if you don't want to see them, you'll have to pay.
- Limited user base: Like with other niche sites, there's a fairly limited user base from what I could tell. That said, I did get a few messages within the first few days of using it, so the potential for connection is there!
- No mobile app: There isn't a mobile app but it's responsive so you can technically use it on your phone from a browser.
- No identity verification and no profile pic required: K ladies, from a safety/trust factor, this didn't make me feel great. The upside is, I could see who was a VIP member and put some money behind their dating profile, so as long as I stayed away from the ghosty grey images, I felt fine.
Final thoughts for my Joystick Dating review
This isn't my top choice from the gamer dating sites I've tried out, but it certainly wasn't a bad option. Again, I didn't feel like there was anything shady about it and I made a few genuine connections.
I'd say if you want to feel safe and meet the most people you're compatible with, try the Premium tier. That way you can send unlimited messages, get a VIP badge, and (hopefully!) find your player two.
