LGBT representation is more present than ever in gaming, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a ton of progress yet to be made. It’s only been a month since the Epic v. Apple trial, where Apple’s attorney alleged the games present on indie storefront itch.io, which is available on the Epic Games Store as an app, were so “offensive and sexualized” that they couldn’t be spoken of in court. Itch.io has thousands of games available for download, including tabletop kits and comics, and serves as a hub for unbridled LGBT expression and creativity. Many queer communities find solace in itch-based Game Jams, and others explore narratives that are so specific or intimate that they might struggle to find publishing through traditional venues.
Elsewhere in America, Queer rights are being attacked, from debates on conduct at Pride celebrations, to a record number of transphobic bills being introduced and passed to restrict the rights of transgender youths. It’s a scary time of puritanical regression. In the celebratory spirit of pride, though, we’d like to bring a little positivity by spotlighting a few of our favorite indie-made games with LGBT themes.
Here are 5 delightful games to help commemorate Pride and Queer joy:
A Summer’s End: Hong Kong 1986
If you’re gay and have ever fantasized of living in a Patrick Nagel painting then Oracle and Bones’ visual novel A Summer’s End: Hong Kong 1986 is definitely for you. Taking place in Hong Kong a year after the handover, A Summer’s End follows two young female professionals and their budding romance across a backdrop of Hong Kong nightlife, complete with Versace skirt suits, gold chain bracelets, and seaside vacations. Every piece of the game’s hundreds of illustrations could be a hidden gem City Pop album cover in its own right, and the soundtrack (featuring future funk artists like Crystal Cola, Timecop1983, and Stevia Sphere) only serve to strengthen the game’s ironclad aesthetic fantasy.
A Summer’s End isn’t just a fantasy, though—it’s a surprisingly mature visual novel that’s a lot more than just a romance. As a re-examination of a controversial time in Hong Kong’s history, the game positions its protagonist, Michelle, as going on a transformative, confusing journey of self-discovery much the same way her corner of the Earth would be. The game uses Michelle as a conduit for explorations of success, work culture, family dynamics, and urban life in Hong Kong. It’s an intensely personal traipse through culture, and the sun-dappled, fleeting summer at its center slowly becomes a melancholic reminder of lost queer history.
Bastard Bonds
(Be warned, the game is NSFW and deals with some sensitive subjects.)
Bastard Bonds isn’t your average strategy RPG. After being put on trial for a crime you may or may not have committed, you are broken out by a fellow convict and make your escape towards freedom. The game’s rugged cast of bearish orcs and musclebound devils belies some truly deep systems. While the game sometimes doesn’t communicate its mechanics as best it can, there’s a ton to dive into in this very gay pixel SRPG. First of all, it has character creation on par with mainstream RPGs like Baldur’s Gate and Divinity: Original Sin II, with a plethora of options for appearance, alleged crimes (which you can plead guilty or not guilty to, and then also select whether that’s true or not), alignment, and an array of stats. These choices determine which of the game’s “bastards” save you from jail, and that’s just the first hour!
Most players familiar with SRPGs know you’ll slowly start to amass a veritable army of units, and Bastard Bonds is no different. But its unique approach to contending with that army sets it apart as a game worth playing. Even when not in the active party, units will help out back at camp and and keep up with your strongholds. There’s a ton of maps to conquer and hundreds of angles to approach combat. It’s a game that requires a guide to really get the full experience, but what game worth its weight doesn’t have a bunch of hidden content?
one night, hot springs
one night, hot springs is the first of three visual novels following a trio of friends as they share several evenings with each other at a hot spring over the course of a year. The first game follows Haru, a Japanese trans woman who's invited to celebrate her friend Manami’s 20th birthday at a hot spring. Over about an hour of playtime, players will experience firsthand the sort of everyday anxieties a trans woman might face in Japan, including fears of clocking, gender presentation, and bodily dysphoria.
The art style is reminiscent of children’s books like Lucy Cousins’ "Maisy Mouse" series, giving the game a gentle, sweet tone despite grappling with sensitive and potentially triggering subjects. It’s a short and to-the-point experience, so check out npckc’s extended A Year of Springs compilation if you wind up invested in Haru’s story!
Heaven Will Be Mine
Heaven Will Be Mine is the follow-up to Pillow Fight Games’ We Know the Devil, and its an ambitious pursuit in every regard. Mostly a text-based adventure, Heaven Will Be Mine is a sci-fi story set in space where three distinct factions fight for supreme rule. At the game’s start, you select a mech pilot soldier who represents one of the factions and set out on missions against the other factions. The game plays out mostly as flirtatious conversations between the pilots as they duke it out with their robots, and the plotline takes a number of bizarre courses depending on the actions you take.
For anyone familiar with We Know the Devil, the subtextual and surreal quality of some of the events will certainly be familiar. But even on its surface, Heaven Will Be Mine is a fun romp through space and is reminiscent of the heyday of Macross and Gundam. It’s a space opera in its truest form, refreshingly filled with a majority queer cast. There’s a studied quality to the writing and it often feels like the best kind of fanwork—it’s a true love letter to the seasonal mecha anime, and it’s cool to see such diverse queer games out there.
Murder by Numbers
Fans of Ace Attorney and Picross rejoice—Murder by Numbers effortlessly fuses both. The game is a murder-mystery where you play as Honor Mizrahi, the lead actress from a 90s detective show a la Law and Order. Minutes after getting sacked by her boss, he turns up murdered, and Honor winds up having to team up with a cute robot named SCOUT to solve the case.
Like Ace Attorney, the tone never gets much darker than a "Poirot" novel despite the game’s homicidal premise, and the adorable character designs from Hato Moa add a healthy dose of color and charm to an already hilariously written game. One of the main characters, K.C., is a gay hair and makeup artist that works on Honor’s show, and is a delightfully positive representation of femme gay men. The game also visits a drag bar for one of its cases and portrays the gay nightlife community positively and naturally. It’s hard not to like a game with as much heart as Murder by Numbers.