What kind of gamers are your Smiling Friends characters are? Do some of them have no interest in gaming at all?
I would say most of the Dottieverse cast are gamers to some extent!
Kip LOVES Just Dance! She’s been playing it since she was little and is always chomping at the bit for any opportunity to show off her practiced dance moves at a party. She’s enjoyed a wide variety of video games with her siblings but this one is definitely her favorite.
Dottie is actually not much of a gamer. She grew up watching her parents play video games but never took much of an interest in them. Even if she was interested in a particular game, it would be awkward to be an only child gaming with your parents all the time. Dottie does enjoy Just Dance and whatever else Kip wants to play when she’s at her house, because anything is fun when she’s doing it with her bestie!
Ell was always EXTREMELY competitive in literally everything she did and video games were no exception. She was often the one to challenge her siblings to gaming matches but also the sorest loser when she got anything but first place. There are a lot less tears when she games as an adult but she never really did become a gracious loser. Her favorites are Mario Kart, the Sonic franchise, and anything else that involves racing and speed. If she had been born early enough to own a Wii she would have also loved Wii Sports!
If Nee and Dur aren’t out causing property damage they are parked in front of a screen, so of course they are avid gamers. They were playing games on their tablets before they could read, and Daddy dearest never said no to whatever new consoles they wanted to buy. To no one’s surprise they are most fond of the first-person shooter games, which gave them inspiration for their future crimes.
Eep enjoys lighthearted life simulation games (like Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, etc) because she sees them as a safe way to practice her social skills without any real-life consequences. However, Eep is a people pleaser even when the people she’s trying to please aren’t real, so any virtual blunder feels just as awful as a real-life one. Here, she gave one of her Stardew Valley friends a gift they didn’t like and can now feel the entire friendship going down the drain in an instant.
Suzy enjoys any platform that lets her do fashion design. She plays around with a lot of picrews and dollmaker games and has extremely extensive notes on which ones are the best and why. She also has a Roblox account that she mostly only uses to play Dress to Impress, oftentimes with Gola joining her. They both like to bitch to each other about the uncultured 10-year-olds who keep voting for outfits that aren’t even on theme. For shame!
Crawdad’s father clocks in at least 18 hours of Mouse Quest a day so it’s no surprise that he picked up on the hobbies he grew up around. In contrast to his dad, Crawdad enjoys a much wider variety of games, being willing to try just about any genre and console. Some he plays for mindless fun and others have thoughtful lore that he likes to analyze.
Gola has also become good at many of these games, even if many of them aren’t thematically something she would enjoy on her own. She practiced her skills so she could enjoy some quality time with her boyfriend…and also so she could watch the life drain from some 12-year-old stranger’s eyes as she beat them. The more games she’s good at, the more revenge she can get on people who cross her.
I haven’t decided what genres of games he plays yet, but Chad is also a competitive guy. Instead of throwing a fit when he loses, though, he acts like he was the rightful winner all along and accuses whoever he’s playing against of cheating. His siblings find it annoying as hell but always manage to take the bait and argue back. It seems pretty unlikely that every single game he has played has been hijacked by cheaters, but that’s the story he’s telling.















