Gayest Games of the Year: 2017
After having fun with it last year, I’m here to share my “Gayest Games of the Year” 2017 edition. This is by no means an exhaustive list. It’s the games that caught my (gay male) eye this year.
Moon Tree (natbird and zeke)
The first game on the list came out in 2015 but I only discovered it this year. Moon Tree is a short game about two boyfriends stuck far apart on different space stations. It’s adorable and I hope the developers expand the game or make a new one one day.
https://natbird.itch.io/moon-tree
Your Royal Gayness (Aviala) / Who We Are Now (Spincut)
These two games exist in demo form only and aren’t scheduled to be released until next year but I’m including them here together because when I think of gay games in 2017, these two are part of the tapestry.
In Your Royal Gayness you survive royal life as a gay prince and come up with excuse after excuse to avoid marriage. Hilarious concept.
Who We Are Now is set in small town in a post-apocalyptic world. There’s a touch of X-Men about it and the writing is a cut above the average gay visual novels I’ve played in the last few years.
Both had successful kickstarters, both have demos, and both are nearing end of production. The dev scene is so small part of the fun is watching the games get finished. Strong contender for gayest game of next year?
Download the demos and try them out.
https://aviala.itch.io/your-royal-gayness-demo
https://spincut.itch.io/whowearenowdemo
The Tearoom (Robert Yang)
Definite contender for gayest game of the year, The Teamroom is an historical bathroom simulator from Robert Yang. It is inspired by true events and set in the USA in 1962.
Most gay games focus on characters, stories or themes but Robert Yang is one of the few developers who experiments with gay gameplay. It’s genius and gives his games a purity and depth that longer, more fully featured games are often lacking. All queer developers should be learning from Robert Yang. He is a developer’s developer. Make sure you read his artist statement too.
One final note, the gun thing is hilarious but distracting. Should’ve gone with dicks, man.
https://radiatoryang.itch.io/the-tearoom
Dominique Pamplemousse 2 (Squinky)
Back in 2013 a clay-mation musical game about a genderqueer private detective stole my heart. Dominique Pamplemousse in “It’s All Over Once The Fat Lady Sings!” is one of my favourite games of all time. The sequel, Dominique Pamplemousse & Dominique Pamplemousse in “Combinatorial Explosion!”, arrived in March of this year and I’m stretching my criteria (it’s queer more than gay) so I can include it here.
It’s very different to the first one but if you have any love in your heart for weird indies then you’ll get a lot out of it. I admit it didn’t win me over as much as the first (how can you top perfection tho?) but I really respect the creator for trying different things and there’s a level of honesty in this game that I don’t think I’ve ever seen matched.
Having both endings from the first game as canonical in the second game is brilliant and the ending brings to my mind, of all people, Charlie Chaplin and the impassioned speech at the end of The Great Dictator.
https://squinky.itch.io/dompam2
Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator (Game Grumps)
The 200kg gorilla of gay games this year, Dream Daddy has sold over 200,000 copies. The undeniable popularity of Game Grumps may have put the game in front of people but it would all have been for naught if the game itself was not a clever, charming, colourful dating sim with a level of polish rarely seen in gay games.
Is it the gayest game of the year? Hmm, not to me. Despite how awesome the game is, and even knowing that there were queer developers behind it, I could never quite shake the feeling that it was about gay men and not for them.
I’m ready for the pendulum of gay culture to swing back into dark, sweaty and dangerous.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/654880/Dream_Daddy_A_Dad_Dating_Simulator/
Escape from Pleasure Planet (Up Multimedia)
I made this game and snuck it out in mid-December last year and have been updating it regularly. Since its initial release is within the last 12 months I’m sneaking it in here too!
Pleasure Planet takes on as many gay themes as I could cram into one retro scifi point-and-click: same-sex marriage, lgbt rights outside the West, respectability politics, coming out, conversion therapy, non-binary characters… and it’s kind of funny too. (And for once not a visual novel)
http://store.steampowered.com/app/504410/Escape_from_Pleasure_Planet/
Let’s MEAT Adam (SoulSoft EA)
The most controversial gay game of 2017 is also one of my favourites. Let’s MEAT Adam is a great concept with great execution and with an ending that upset a lot of people. It’s true that the developers don’t land the final part and the criticism has mostly been constructive but having got so much right (and damn did this game get a lot right), I’m happy to recommend it to people with an interest in indie gay games!
https://soulsoftea.itch.io/lets-meat-adam
So there you have it, the best gay games of 2017.
Honourable Mentions
It’s a Spiracle: Queer games on youtube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4cxVrkRl-uEkAcPyzjVz2A
Queer it up Sunday: Queer games on twitch — https://www.twitch.tv/big_bad_kaiju
Beyond Eden / Heirs and Graces — technically last year
Coming Out on Top — steam edition
2064: Read Only Memories — In 2017 it was updated with full voice track and ps4 support. Amazing.
Gay games I’m looking forward to in 2018
Next year is shaping up as EXTRA TASTY for gay games.
It Will Be Hard — “Two men, with two polar opposite relationships with their bodies, meet and strike up one impossible romance.”
Tusks: The Orc Dating Sim (Mitch Alexander) — the 140k word epic finally arrives
MidBoss Game’s next project — Not much is known about this project but GaymerX organiser Matt Conn has made a lot of noise about a VR game that might be gay and monster-y.
Eldet (Marccus) — hopes are high for this one.
A Near Dawn ( Far-off Daydream Games) — looks interesting.
Herald III & IV (Wispfire) — It’s a long shot but the developers might make it.
The Beat: A Glam Noir Adventure (Up Multimedia) — a detective investigates a murder in the gay community.
