Sarah, 59, and Martin, 56, met in 2019 while playing Words with Friends. They live on opposite sides of the world, but long to be together.
Sarah never realized that her addiction to online word games was more than just a hobby. But at the end of 2019, it led to an unwanted long-distance relationship. “I live in Germany, but I spend a lot of time with my son in Switzerland,” says Sarah, who left Britain with her husband in her 20s. “She has her third child and needs some extra help. I was also a widow in 2018 and still a bit confused.”
Typesetting words with friends quickly becomes a fun game. “You can play with anyone in the world,” he said. – I often sit in my nephew’s room and wait for him to fall asleep while playing.
When he chats with Martin in-game, they start talking via text. “He congratulated me on my performance. I don’t know how we got along because I’m usually an internet freak.”
They are attracted to each other as soon as they talk. Martin works as a nanny in Adelaide, Australia, and lives part-time with her ex-husband’s teenage daughter. “I use this game to kill time after work,” he said. “But I like Sarah’s sense of humor. We talked on Friends and Words for about three months before switching to Facebook Messenger and starting live video chat.”
They know that they share a love for dogs, books, and music. Sarah said: “We also started watching movies together online and started a book club where we read the same things and write messages on books and send them to each other.
They planned to meet in March 2020, but the pandemic made it impossible for them to travel. But these online relationships are thriving despite the challenges the world is facing. “It helped me survive because I was alone in Germany,” Sarah said. It’s great to be able to share with people. At t