HBO Max’s new show Happily Ever Avatar explores the lives of couples who have met through video games. For those who don’t game, an avatar is your representation in a video game, most often the character you choose to play.
The show follows a brand new couple meeting in person, a straight couple that has been together for some time, and a gay couple just getting ready to go to the next level. Each episode is short and sweet, ranging from 10-15 minutes. Each episode follows all three couples: Karoline and Amadeus; Chelsea and Jake; Nick and Tony. There are a total of 12 episodes, making this one easy show to binge.
Thanks to HBO, I was able to see the first six episodes for review. Like any reality show, you can tell that a lot of the discussions are definitely played up for effect. In short, for some of these couples these would be short fights that would be handled entirely different if off camera. As someone who has now been married for a hot minute, I found myself cringing at Chelsea and Jake. In all honesty, I’m really hoping they are playing up how mean Jake seems to be to her, because if not girl I’m gonna need you to nope out of there. Karoline and Amadeus are a sweet balm in a cruel world, and I desperately hope they make it. Nick and Tony need apartments right next to each other with a door in between so they can game together.
The show features gaming a fair bit, but feels like it’s catered more to people who are still learning about gaming and are more likely to find it silly. The show is more focused on relationship drama following meeting on gaming, so if you’re here to see how cute a couple can be in Warcraft, this probably isn’t the place. Having known a fair amount of super together people who met and married after meeting while gaming, I was really hoping to see more happiness and less relationship drama. Still, it makes for entertaining watching while the world burns down around us.
Happily Ever Avatar is now available to watch on HBOMax. It was created in partnership from Stage 13 and Magical Elves.
