Sarah Macway’s idea of a nice date involves a romantic dinner off campus with some friendly conversation. After filling out a survey last week, she found one, minus the romance.

“We went out for sushi in Palo Alto at a place called Miyake,” she said. “It wasn’t super romantic, but it went great. You could say it was a friendly date rather than a mushy date.”

Macway ‘10 and her date, Jett Fein ‘09, were participants in the Manz Dating Game. Far from being shady, the game, in its second year, has no further aim other than to give Manzanita residents the chance to branch out and get to know more of their fellow dormmates.

“Manz has a reputation for being less social than other parts of the campus,” said Eric Lin ‘09, a Kimball RA who thought up the event. “The dating game is not really meant to match people up, but rather just for people to meet each other.”

Residents who wanted to take part in the game simply filled out a survey on their interests and preferences, and whether they wanted random hookups, relationships, friendship or nothing at all. Most students settled with friendship.

“I thought it would be a good way to meet people because the dorm isn’t as social as it was last year,” Macway said. “I’m not dating anyone, so I wasn’t opposed to it, but I wasn’t looking for anything out of it either.”

That’s not to say that nobody had ulterior motives.

“There are quite a few requests for hookups,” Lin said. “You’d be surprised.”

Once participants were matched, they had a little over a week to go on their dates. Couples were encouraged to do the unusual-say, kite flying or flower picking-while keeping the budget under $20.

Tracy Chou ‘09 and Tony Wu ‘10 kept it sweet and simple with a picnic outside of the Cantor Arts Center.

“Tony went to Safeway and bought a picnic basket, flowers, sparkling cider, fruit, cheese and bread,” Chou said. “He originally wanted to go to Half Moon Bay, but he couldn’t find a car.”

Chou chose to participate because she felt that the social scene made it hard to approach new people. Alas, she already knew Wu from work.

“So I guess I didn’t really get to meet someone new,” she said. “But it was good, especially since it was a stressful weekend with midterms and projects. It was nice being forced to take a few hours off from coding.”

Wu, who was set up by his roommate, agreed.

“It was fun,” he said. “I had a really good time, so I guess I would do it again next year.”

This year, 78 of the 400 or so Manzanita residents participated in the game. It’s not quite as popular as Toyon’s, which has been around longer, but it’s a noticeable increase from last year.

“You really have to push people to do it,” said Lin. “I think we did a pretty good job of advertising because we really try to emphasize that it’s not awkward — it’s fun.”

Couples submitted two or three photos to be judged for creativity. The winners received $20 to $30 gift certificates.

And though they have yet to find their soulmates, participants can at least say that they made a new acquaintance, if not a new friend.

“The game really helps the atmosphere of Manz,” Lin said. “It’s just a good way for us to build a community.”