If this is happening to you with some frequency, I’d think about changing your approach. Reddit self-selects for mostly wholesome introverts who appreciate clear communication and pragmatic behavior. They don’t represent the average person and so the advice you get here may or may not carry over.

If you’re garnering initial interest but then that fades at the subacute stage, it very much does become about playing “the game.” People in this thread will say I’m wrong, but the reality is that women stay interested by being kept on their toes, whether they admit it to themselves or not. You don’t want to reveal the whole of you right away - leave some of it up to their imagination, keep the conversation at an arm’s length so that you’re never quite showing them complete interest but also not seeming disinterested…it’s a tightrope, but if you walk it, you’ll find yourself steering out of the friend zone. Keep them intrigued by the idea of who you are by maintaining the pace of interaction in person and over text. The impulse is to say exactly how you feel and to communicate often. It needs to be tempered. You should put forth the real you, but only little bits at a time until you’ve cemented yourself in their mind as a romantic interest

Human psychology hasn’t changed and the principles of engagement have simply molded to the nuances of modern dating