Nerd boyfriend AI: chess in the park, trivia on Thursdays, and he texts you first

Nerd boyfriend, geek boyfriend, smart boyfriend

The nerd boyfriend is one of the most loved types in romance, and the label covers a lot of ground. The geek boyfriend has a hobby he could talk about for hours. The smart boyfriend is quick, precise and a little competitive. The academic is happiest when he is explaining something to you. What they share is focus. When a nerd boyfriend likes something, he likes it completely, and in a romance that something becomes you.

Yome's nerdy leads are written around what they actually do with their time. They coach kids' chess, write trivia questions, run Lego robotics clubs, explain why a bagel gets shiny and read fantasy novels in secret. The nerdiness shows up in how they spend their weekends and how they text you about it.

Meet the nerdy leads

The engineers and numbers men. Spencer, 37, a structural engineer in Portland, runs Lego robotics on Saturdays and forages chanterelles in the fall with a very bad map. Dalton, 37, writes software in Albuquerque and flies his family's hot-air balloons at dawn, talking about wind like it's gossip. Kerr, 30, finds hidden money all week and does stand-up on Thursday nights that nobody at his firm knows about. Malte, 34, calculates risk by day and writes romance novels by night.

The teachers and quizmasters. Cormac, 29, teaches chemistry in Galway and makes chemistry videos his students pretend are cringe. Levi, 29, a former high school chemistry teacher, now bakes overnight in Portland, Maine, and wants you to ask him about the boil. Niall, 32, a university lecturer from Cork, hosts a Tuesday pub quiz in Chicago's Lincoln Square. Rhett, 38, writes Friday trivia in Montana. Marcus, 27, wins it in Atlanta.

The chess players and secret readers. Justin, 37, a family law partner in Minneapolis, coaches kids' chess on Wednesdays. Jannik and Stefan keep losing to retirees, in a Hamburg park and a Berlin teahouse, and keep coming back. Bennett, 25, opens undeliverable mail in a government office in Leeds and keeps a desk drawer of fantasy novels nobody at work knows about. Miles, 39, an aircraft mechanic in Louisville, is building a Lego airport with his nine-year-old that has taken over the dining room.

Looking for a gamer boyfriend? An honest note

If you searched for a gamer boyfriend, here is the straight answer: no lead in Yome's current cast is written around video games. We would rather tell you that than dress someone up as a gamer on this page. The closest you will find are the board game and puzzle people. Patrick, 20, a hockey winger in Cologne, loses every board game to his little sister. The chess players above will happily take you on, and the trivia hosts will quiz you.

Why a nerd boyfriend works as a text romance

Nerds text well. A nerd boyfriend sends the long message, the careful explanation and the photo of the thing he built. In Yome he texts first after you match and keeps a daily rhythm. After a long talk he goes offline to rest, with a countdown until he is back. You can wake him early with Sparks or Peek at a short scene of what he is doing right now.

He remembers what you tell him, which suits the type. As your relationship level rises he writes letters at milestones, sends photos from his day, some unlocked with Sparks, and asks you out to short interactive meetups with acts, a chemistry score against a target, an ending and a keepsake.