An upcoming movie based on popular web series “The Guild” has far exceeded the $1.5 million its Kickstarter asked for. With fewer than two weeks of crowdfunding left to go, “The Guild” creator Felicia Day and her team are showing more cards from “Swords & Sweethearts,” a competitive dating game they’re developing as part of the Kickstarter.

Erika Ishii, an actor known for shows like “Dimension 20” and video games like “Ghost of Yōtei,” will cameo in the game. In a card labelled “The Gladiator Gargoyle,” a likeness of Ishii appears with horns and wings, tongue peeking out of a cheeky smirk.

Erika Ishii’s upcoming “Swords & Sweethearts” card, provided exclusively to NPR. (Courtesy of Scrungo Games and Felicia Day)

Ishii is far from the only cameo. “Swords & Sweethearts” features all six original cast members of “The Guild,” along with performers like Alan Tudyk, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and Anjali Bhimani.

I played an online prototype with creator Day and designer Ryan Copple. While they stressed that the game was far from finished, the 40-minute preview still gave me plenty of insight into the high-variance whimsy it’s going for.

Your goal is to boost five different attributes and court suitors that randomly appear from a central deck. On each turn, you’ll equip loot, choose a suitor to pursue, and draw a random date card that confers a bonus or penalty. Then, you’ll roll a 20-sided die and add a relevant stat the suitor is interested in. If the result exceeds the number on the suitor card, you’ll claim it, scoring its points. First player to 20 points wins.

A mock-up of the box for “Swords & Sweethearts.” (Courtesy of Felicia Day)

Day, Copple and I were unlucky in love, thanks to low die rolls and punishing cards. It didn’t matter how attractive we made our characters; we’d often pull disastrous dates that doomed us!

The game is designed to create uproarious turnabouts. You can also interrupt opposing players with loot cards, which are difficult to defend against. As a party game, it felt like balance and fairness weren’t top priorities — Day and Copple even acknowledged that our playtest was more cursed than any other they’d experienced!

Co-developed with “Cyanide and Happiness” makers Scrungo Games, Copple said “Swords & Sweethearts” is on track for a retail release after it’s delivered to Kickstarter backers. The game is just one of many collectible items tied to the 20th anniversary movie, such as a “Dungeons & Dragons” manual and a novelty popcorn bucket.

The merchandise strategy seems to be paying off. “The Guild: Ren Faire’d” is approaching the record set by the “Veronica Mars” movie, which earned more than $5 million on Kickstarter.