The charming, lived-in collage of Kate Bagenzo’s tarot game
The Queer Games Bundle is a collection of nearly 600 items by LGBTQ+ creators and teams, nearly 400 of which are independent video games, all sold for just $60. I’m talking with creators from the bundle about their games and their making habits. Visit the bundle and consider buying it.
I feel like Kate Bagenzo is a household name in a specific kind of household. She appears in a million thank you credits in other games and is a really supportive presence online. (We both appeared in Kritiqal’s Forgotten Games Essay Jam!) Kate Reads Your Future is along those same lines: it’s funny, interesting, and supportive, with ideas from real tarot and Kate’s own custom designed set of cards.
How long have you been making games?
I have been making games since I was a little kid. I first used GameMaker 7, and would make games based on whatever silly ideas my friends at school had. I kinda got disinterested in making games for a while, but I’ve been back at it recently and making things for the last few years.
What tools do you like to use?
There’s too many… I’ve used RPGMaker, Twine, Bitsy, Bipsi, Flickgame, Clickteam Fusion, Puzzlescript, GB Studio… These days I mostly use RPGMaker MV, though. It can do pretty much anything I want it to. I do have programming experience but coding feels like a big ordeal, so I rely a lot on tools.
What themes or genres do you like to explore?
I’ve made a few autobiographical games. I like those because they resonate a lot with people, and it’s always nice to get a message or comment from someone who found the game relatable. Besides that, I make whatever. I’ll explore whatever strikes my fancy at the time.
What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of making games?
The worst thing for me is when my own inability or technical limitations bump up against what I want to make… for some games, I get really obsessed with polish and making sure specific things are done really well, and it frustrates me when I can’t achieve that. What I enjoy about making games is a mystery… I don’t know why I do it. I guess it’s tied up with my past somehow. It’s something I think about a lot but I come up with no answer.
“Maybe after a few months, they’ll remember the game and want to get another reading. A virtual space that someone can return to occasionally. I want to create more games like that.”
Is there a game that has affected you recently?
I recently played Taylor McCue’s He Fucked The Girl Out of Me which made me cry. It’s a very intense autobiographical game about serious subject matter, so be sure to read the warnings before you play. It’s in the Queer Games Bundle, too!
Kate Sees Your Future has a really specific look. What inspired you?
I am very bad at drawing, so I settled for a collage-style early on. I use public domain photographs and illustrations and vector art from wherever I can find it. My biggest inspirations are those clipart illustrations you see in social studies or math textbooks. Maybe it’s a form of nostalgia?
How did you get into tarot? How does that translate to making a simulator?
It was a sort of casual interest that grew slowly. After reading more about it, I was tempted to make the cards. At first, I didn’t think they would be for a game, or anything else really. It was just a distraction to stay calm during a stressful period. I’d work on a card whenever I got anxious. One day I ended up with the whole major arcana and decided to make a game out of it.
The art on the cards is wonderful. Do you have a favorite?
My favorite card is The Moon. It was the first card I actually made, because I really like The Moon. Intrigue, misdirection, the subconscious… Things I think a lot about, things that seem important to me. I smile when I see it in a reading.
Let’s say you were playing your own game — which mat would you choose? (I chose Bitsy and then Stinky and no regrets.)
I’d pick the photocopied mat. It’s a reference to fotocopiadora’s 2021 game First Land. It’s a very wonderful game, and one that stuck in my head for a long time, so I decided to put a little tribute to it in my game. I highly recommend it. If you explore the caves and paths of First Land long enough, you’ll even get to see what it is, exactly, that’s depicted on the card mat.
What do you hope players take from the game, about tarot or otherwise?
My hope is that I’ve created the sort of game where people can get something more out of it after they replay it. Just enjoying the reading, feeling some kind of introspection from it. Maybe after a few months, they’ll remember the game and want to get another reading. A virtual space that someone can return to occasionally. I want to create more games like that.
