Let's Play (comic)

Let's Play is a romantic comedy comic series by Leeanne M. Krecic, also known as Mongie, which is published by Rocketship Entertainment.[1] Let's Play was published digitally on Webtoon from 2016 to 2022. It follows the romantic and professional life of Sam Young, who is discovering romance as she works on her video game development career.

Let's Play has over 7.5 million subscribers globally on Webtoon and was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2019. In May 2021, it was announced that the comic would be adapted into a live-action television series by Allnighter.[2] In November 2022, Krecic announced that the comic would be moving away from Webtoon, citing ongoing difficulties with the platform, and that the series will continue with season four elsewhere.[3][4] An anime television series adaptation produced by OLM aired from October to December 2025.

Premise

Let's Play is a romantic comedy. It follows Sam Young, a 22-year-old female software developer looking to get into video games, a passion she developed while sick in hospital. Sam's passion project, Ruminate, gets heavily criticized by a game reviewer going by "Marshall Law", and his many fans review-bomb it. After this, Marshall Law becomes Sam's new next-door neighbor.[5][6]

Sam's father is the CEO of software company Young Technologies; he is overprotective of Sam and wants her to take over the company some day, but Sam would rather make video games. At the same time, Sam, who has never had a romantic relationship, starts to feel attraction. She considers dating an old friend, Link, though the two remain friends instead. She has romantic tension with Marshall Law, and becomes flirty with her manager at Young Technologies, Charles, who is teaching her to be more confident and business savvy. Charles also falls for Sam, despite her being his boss's daughter. Season two of the comic ended with Sam drunkenly trying to seduce Charles at his apartment.[6][7]

Let's Play explores and satirizes gaming culture and the male-dominated gaming industry.[5][8] Storylines cover depression, anxiety, and family.[9]

Characters

• Sam Young
• The female main protagonist, who is an aspiring video game designer and creator of "Ruminate", an indie puzzle adventure game. She works as a software developer at her father's family company.
• Marshall Law
• A popular ViewTube video game influencer who becomes Sam's next-door neighbor.
• Charles Jones
• The manager of Young Technologies and Sam's boss.
• Link Hudson
• Angela O'Neill
• One of Sam's friends. Angela is a very protective towards Sam despite having an aggressive personality with a hot temper. In World of Warquest, Angela's avatar character is Signy the Valkyrie.
• Vikki Song
• One of Sam's friends. Vikki is Angela's roommate and works as a yoga instructor. In World of Warquest, Vikki's avatar character is Vixie.
• Monica McKenzie
• Dallas Hudson
• One of Sam's friends. Dallas is Link's younger brother. In World of Warquest, Dallas' avatar character is xXNightKillerXx the Rogue.
• Abe Calhoun
• One of Sam's friends. Abe is the guildmaster of The Rare Spawns in the World of Warquest. His avatar character is Yemoja the Druid.
• Olivia Sweet
• One of Sam's friends. Olivia is a young mute and deaf girl who only uses a text-to-speech app on her phone to communicate with others. In the World of Warquest, Oliva's avatar character is Lily-chan.
• Edgar
• Olivia's butler and a fellow gaming member of The Rare Spawns.
• Lucy Wright
• Umed Patel
• An employee of Young Technologies. Umed is Sam's co-worker with full knowledge of the video game industry.
• Dee Parker
• The owner of a coffee shop, The Daily Grind. Dee used to be roommates with Sam in college.
• Samuel A. Young
• The CEO of Young Technologies and Sam's overprotective father.

Publication

Let’s Play is created by Leeanne M. Krecic, who writes and illustrates the comic under the pen name Mongie.[5][6][9][11] Krecic has said that she created the comic "because I was looking for characters like me – die-hard gamers, heartfelt romantics, and young women with dreams of success on their own terms – but couldn't find them represented anywhere in the pop culture of the moment."[5]

The comic debuted on Webtoon in 2016.[5][12] It finished season two in August 2020[9] and finished season three in September 2022.[12] Krecic said in a tweet that the start of season three was delayed by contractual negotiations.[13]

Let's Play volume one was kickstarted for publication in 2019 by Rocketship Entertainment[14] and volume two was kickstarted in 2020.[15]

In November 2022, Krecic announced that season four of Let's Play would not be published through Webtoon. Krecic cited age gates, a lack of marketing, and racial pay disparities among the reasons. Krecic said that they would, "when the time is right" announce when and how season four would be published.[16]

Reception

Adaptations

Webcomic's Inspiration

Ayres Andrea, from The Comics Beat, interviewed Leeanne M. Krecic, discussing her inspirations for making the story.[29] Krecic has stated that the concept for Let’s Play was inspired by her frequent viewing of YouTube content, particularly a video in which a let’s player struggled with an amateur fan-made game. Observing the player’s frustration led her to consider what might happen if the let’s player and the game’s creator were to meet, which became the central premise of the comic. Krecic also chose to make the protagonist a female gamer to promote representation, drawing from her own experiences. She began developing the webcomic in Webtoon’s Discover section, where she initially published the series, while utilizing Twitter[30] and Tumblr to advertise. Later on, the comic would become an official WebToon release.

Publications

Further reading

• The Beat – Interview: How Leeanne "Mongie" Krecic Went from Head of IT to Featured Webtoon Creator
• Bleeding Cool – "Let's Play": Popular Webtoon Webcomic Adapted as Anime Short
• The Beat – Webcomic Let’s Play is in development as live-action series

External links