It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of a Jane Austen video game must be in want of... nothing. Literally, nothing. Because this may very well be the best thing to happen to Austenites since Mr. Darcy came out of that lake in 1995.
See also: Emma Approved: Creators of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries Try Another Jane Austen Series
Appealing to Victorian book nerds everywhere, a new Kickstarter project is attempting to fund and produce a Jane Austen MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), aptly named Ever, Jane.
The prototype is currently available only on Windows, though an Apple-friendly version is supposed to come soon. Users play their way through a virtual Austen-based world, set in England's Regency period.
Players can customize the look of their characters, attend social events like balls and dinner parties, and develop their personalities through interactions with other lords and ladies (think Sims circa 1813).
Like other MMORPGs, Ever, Jane will be comprised of multiplayer teams configured into families with each character's actions affecting the status and reputation of the household.
In an effort to be historically accurate, characters' activities will be segregated by gender. For example, while the men in the game can hunt, fish, and ask women to dance, the ladies can sew, embroider, and opt to decline politely gentlemen's advances.
The game might seem mind-numbingly dull to the average GTA enthusiast, but to project founder Judy L. Tyrer it's all about taking a different approach; via the Ever, Jane Kickstarter campaign:
"In the virtual world of Jane Austen, it is not about kill or be killed, but invite and be invited with gossip [as] our weapon of choice."
Visit the Ever, Jane Kickstarter page for more details or to try your fair hand at the online prototype.