Games to play — or more likely, replay — this pride month
It’s that time of year again; pride month marks the annual celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community, and what better way for us queer and trans gamers to do that than to play games that represent our community?
I’ve compiled a list of games that do just that, and while you may have played most, if not all of them, what better time than June to revisit them?
Life is Strange
First on the list is one of my all-time favorite games, Life is Strange. When I first played this game in 2016 I was blown away by the story, as well as the fact that the protagonist was queer. Max Caulfield’s bisexuality was groundbreaking at the time; it won the Games for Impact Award at the 2015 Game Awards as well as the Most Significant Impact Award at the 2015 Games for Change Awards. Life is Strange tells a mind-bending story of time travel, accompanied by emotionally devastating moments that have stuck with players for years.
Life is Strange and its prequel, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, even got their own remasters back in 2022; however, I can’t recommend them as they are unfortunately still riddled with technical issues that were present at launch. They’re beautiful with improved graphics and the addition of mocap for the first game, but their lack of polish is a bit of an insult to the originals.
June may just be the perfect time to revisit your favorite queer duo and the ensuing emotional trauma; and if you’ve never taken the leap into Arcadia Bay with Max and Chloe before, maybe now’s the time.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Another Life is Strange game, you say? Yes, and it won’t be the last on this list; it appears the formula for Life is Strange games includes a heavy cup of queerness in the mix after the success of the first game. In this prequel to Life is Strange, you play as the previous game’s snarky, lesbian companion Chloe Price. She’s 3 years younger, she’s just as angry, and she’s very, very gay.
There’s no time-warping or even supernatural powers in this game, but the story is potent and Chloe’s queerness is important in understanding just what she meant when she told Max that Rachel Amber was her “angel.” You use Chloe’s sarcasm, abrasiveness, and wit in something called “Backtalk” to get your way and influence the story; it’s truly her own superpower.
Before the Storm didn’t receive the same level of accolades as the first game, but was a great insight into Chloe as a character, and how she coped with those 5 years Max was gone. It also allowed us to get to know Rachel Amber, a fan-favorite in the series. The game might not be at the same level as the first one, but it’s definitely worth the play — after the first one, of course.
Life is Strange: True Colors
Last in the Life is Strange train on this list is the series’ most recent main installment, Life is Strange: True Colors. Alex Chen is the bisexual protagonist burdened with the power to experience empathy to an unnatural level, influencing her in a way she cannot control.
Along the way, Alex has the option of romancing either of her new friends; Steph Gingrich, a proud lesbian we meet all the way back in Life is Strange: Before the Storm, or Ryan Lucan, her brother’s best friend.
I don’t consider True Colors to be at the same level of its predecessors, but it still deserves a spot on this list, especially since it did follow in the first game’s footsteps, winning the Games for Impact Award at the 2021 Game Awards. It even won the Outstanding Video Game Award at the 33rd GLAAD Media Awards.
Following its release, an accompanying DLC called Wavelengths was launched that followed Steph prior to Alex’s arrival to Haven Springs. A two in one for queerness, if you will.
Tell Me Why
Technically set in the same universe as the Life is Strange games, but many, many miles away in Juno, Alaska, Tell Me Why tells the story of twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan. The two of them possess the power to use their collective memories to piece together prior events in a tangible way, appearing right in front of them. Tyler is a trans queer man, and his transness plays a major part in the story as they try to figure out what really happened the night their mother died.
While I feel the game is a bit lackluster in terms of the Life is Strange style and gameplay that it aims for, Tell Me Why still earned the Games for Impact Award at the 2020 Game Awards as well as the Outstanding Video Game Award at the 32nd GLAAD Media Awards. It’s definitely worth a playthrough if you haven’t before, especially now while the game is free on Steam and Xbox for pride month.
Horizon: Forbidden West
I can’t recommend playing this game without having played the franchise’s first installment, Horizon: Zero Dawn, but if you want explicit, plot-driven queerness, then Horizon: Forbidden West is the place to find it. Aside from this game being one of the greatest games I’ve ever played, it is also unapologetically queer. You may have heard a certain loveable, sarcastic, bow-and-arrow clad female protagonist was confirmed queer in the Burning Shores DLC, but even prior to that, the base game gives us another sapphic love story.
I unfortunately can’t get into the specifics without majorly spoiling a phenomenal story that deserves to be experienced without prior information, but queerness plays a surprisingly influential role in the plot. I was bouncing in my chair in pure excitement and joy at the story being given to me, the unabashed queer love being described and influencing the story.
Horizon: Forbidden West won Best Storytelling at the 2022 Golden Joystick Awards, and the later released Burning Shores DLC was nominated for Outstanding Video Game at the 35th GLAAD Media Awards. Unfortunately, the game struggled to nab most of its many nominations, as it was up against fierce competitors that year with Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarök. It’s a winner in my heart, however.
Obviously, this game differs from the others mentioned so far on this list in its open-world, action-adventure RPG aspect, and the story will come to you in pieces rather than a streamlined narrative. Even if that’s not your cup of tea, Aloy and her friends are worth the visit in this vast world, if only to celebrate pride.
The Walking Dead: The Final Season
You may notice that this one is a final installment in a game series, and I personally can’t recommend playing it on its own without playing the first three, but if you just want some queer love then this is where you’ll find it.
Telltale’s The Walking Dead series is an unforgettable, gut-wrenching story that starts with a little 8-year-old Clementine, and concludes with our girl being somewhere around 16 or 17, having come into herself during the zombie apocalypse. During this time, she’s clearly discovered her sexuality, as this final season gives you the opportunity to romance either one of her new friends, Louis or Violet.
Clementine’s clear bisexuality in the finale of this series is a delight; it shows how we’ve really watched her grow up over the years, and it warms every gamer’s heart. It’s unclear if Clementine was always going to be queer in her later years, as Telltale was shut down before development of the fourth season could be completed, and Skybound had to take over. But it’s a choice many of us loved; another take-no-shit female protagonist? Of course she’s going to be a girl-kisser.
This game is another on the list to get recognized for its queer inclusion, with a nomination for Outstanding Video Game at the 31st GLAAD Media Awards. I can’t recommend the series as a whole enough, and if you’ve already played, then maybe it’s time to revisit this final season in honor of pride month.
Baldur’s Gate 3
I’m pretty sure every LGBTQIA+ gamer has dived into Baldur’s Gate 3 in the last year, but if you haven’t, now’s the time. This Dungeons and Dragons-based RPG is full of romanceable characters, regardless of the gender of your character — who can be trans, as well — and some spicy cutscenes to seal the deal.
The replayability allows us to romance to our heart’s content; whether you started flirting with Shadowheart in your first playthrough, enticed by her religious trauma and stand-offishness, or were immediately drawn in by Karlach’s smile and humor concealing buried rage, you don’t have to choose. You can play again and again, getting your moment with each one as much as you’d like.
Your companions’ sexualities are obviously not defined, as that would restrict your ability to romance them, but their own preferences are shared throughout the story, as you learn of their heartbreaks and regrets.
For the freedom it allows its players in terms of queerness and transness and everything in between, it earned the Outstanding Video Game Award at the 35th GLAAD Media Awards — as well as Game of the Year at the 2023 Game Awards.
If you haven’t checked it out, why not visit the Forgotten Realms and see who you meet — and if you have played before, maybe it’s time to have an enemies-to-lovers romance with Lae’zel again.
Gone Home
In this game, you quite literally go home — but something’s not quite right. A game that is essentially a walking-simulator exploration through a vast home during a raging storm, tells a lesbian love story as you put together the pieces scattered throughout this house. It’s heartfelt, immersive, and a game many people within the LGBTQIA+ community can relate to.
It’s a game you can complete in one sitting, but it will stick with you for years to come. It didn’t earn any awards from GLAAD Media or The Game Awards, but was still praised for its story about queerness, a much more bold thing to do in 2013, and many still recommend it to this day.
Rollerdrome
Rollerdrome was a game that surprised me in the fact that it actually had a story; a bare-bones one, told through the minimal opportunities to explore the environment, but still there. The story itself is unrelated to queerness, but the protagonist Kara Hassan, is referred to only using they/them pronouns. Even just a small detail like this in a fast-paced, challenging game about a fictional competition involving roller-skates and weapons, I was delighted to be playing as someone with the same pronouns as me.
The gameplay alone is worth checking out, even if you’re not enticed just by the presence of a non-binary protagonist in a game that doesn’t have much of a narrative.
Rollerdrome was nominated for Best Indie Game at the 2022 Golden Joystick Awards and won Best British Game at the 19th British Academy Game Awards. It’s not a game that lacks in quality or fun, so in honor of pride, it’s worth giving it a shot.
Starfield
One of the most anticipated games of recent years, Starfield launched as Bethesda’s first new IP in 25 years to some lackluster reviews. I personally quite enjoyed it; others, not so much. Of course, some of that lack of enjoyment came from bigotry as gamers found themselves enraged by the fact that you could give your character they/them pronouns.
I was ecstatic by this option; if I create a character that’s not pre-determined in any of their physicalities or personality, I want to give them pronouns I feel most comfortable having myself referred to as throughout the game.
Outside of the pronouns options — something that should be available in all RPG games at this point — there is the presence of queer characters. Of course, not counting the fact that you can romance your companions, making their sexualities entirely fluid just as with Baldur’s Gate 3, pre-determined queer stories are already present for some.
You’ll find that Barrett has a husband, and following the Bethesda formula of your companions each having individual quest lines, his entirely revolves around his husband. When Sarah tells you about a woman from her past, you get super gay vibes and she denies that having been the case, but I still doubt it.
Starfield lost out on most of its nominations, of which there were far fewer than expected, but it did manage to snag Xbox Game of the Year at the 2023 Golden Joystick Awards.
You may have already played this game and hated it, you may have completely avoided it because of those who shared their hatred, but as someone who loves space and getting to be gay and trans in an RPG, I have to recommend it. And if you’ve already played, why not dive back in; there’s surface maps now!
Signalis
If you frequent within queer gaming circles, it’s nearly impossible that you haven’t heard about this game or even been recommended it. This indie horror puzzle game has had many of us in tears, the sapphic love story unexpected and gut-wrenching. You play as ELSTER and you have a promise you must keep; but what is that promise?
Solve the puzzles and endure the horrors to find out in this game that unexpectedly tore my heart to shreds. Body horror and creepy environment be damned, this game is worth experiencing for the queer story and challenging puzzles. It was nominated at the 34th GLAAD Media Awards for Outstanding Video Game and Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game at the 2023 Gayming Awards.
Even if horror games aren’t your favorite, this weenie can attest that this sapphic love story is worth it all.
This Bed We Made
Last year a puzzle mystery game set in the 1950s launched and it was a queer surprise for many of us. You play as Sophie Roy — yes, it was very weird to play a protagonist with the same first name as me — the nosey, curious, bisexual hotel maid that finds herself in the middle of something that goes far deeper than she was ready for.
Outside of the fun of the puzzles and environmental storytelling, you have two options of a confidant that you choose at the start of the game; Beth, or Andrew. Both of these characters eventually become romanceable and help to influence the multiple endings you can achieve in this game.
Of course, Sophie’s story isn’t even the main queer aspect of the game; as the mystery unravels, a forbidden lesbian love story opens up in front of you. Letters, keepsakes, dirty teacups, tell you of a love that’s persisted over the years. Don’t forget, however; it’s 1958 and the stakes are high. Every action you make will influence how this story ends.
This Bed We Made was nominated at the 2022 Megamigs Awards for Social Impact due to its unapologetic queer storytelling, especially given the time period it’s set in.
If you haven’t played This Bed We Made yet, I can’t recommend it enough; and if you have, maybe now is a great time to discover a new ending.
Far Cry 6
I know, “What is a Far Cry game doing on this list?” you may ask; when I played this game I was as surprised as you may be right now. Aside from my love for the franchise, the fun of these open-world FPS games that follow a fairly similar formula, the latest installment came with an unexpected character.
Paulo is a trans man who acts as one of your allies throughout the game, and his transness plays an important role in his own individual story. It’s acknowledged, accepted, and discussed. I couldn’t believe it; my basic, run-of-the-mill FPS game having actual trans representation? It’s more likely than you think.
He’s treated like one of the guys, while also having the fact that he is trans in an oppressive country acknowledged, his feelings towards it and the fact that other characters don’t fully understand actually made part of the conversation.
Because of Paulo’s story, the game was even nominated at the 33rd GLAAD Media Awards for Outstanding Video Game.
There’s a chance you have no desire to play this game; I’m fully aware of Far Cry’s less than favorable reputation in the gaming community nowadays and that I’m part of the minority. But I still think Paulo’s story was something special and unexpected, and Far Cry 6 deserves a spot on this list.
Unpacking
This cozy organizing game that many of us have come to know and love was a surprise when it ended up telling the story of a woman over many years of her life. Instead of just organizing objects in rooms that you pulled out of numerous boxes, you were quite literally unpacking this person’s life; from childhood to adulthood.
You never learn her name, or what she even looks like; everything you know about her is through the objects you fill the rooms with, and over the couple of hours you spend with this game you grow more invested than you ever expected. Even more unexpected, the game eventually dives into a sapphic love story, all told through objects.
The joy you feel as you unpack this woman’s life, watching her grow and come into herself and find love and happiness is something you rarely find in a game meant to simply scratch that itch to organize things.
It won Game of the Year at the 2021 Australian Game Developers Awards, and was nominated for Best Narrative at the 2022 Game Developers Choice Awards. Again, not something you’d expect from a bite-sized game that involves simply unpacking and placing objects.
Maybe this June you should think about unpacking her life if you haven’t before; or do it again, if you’d like to see her grow once more.
As I bring this list to a close, whether you’ve played these games before, have decided to give them a shot, or even replay them, I have to acknowledge that a list like this wouldn’t have been able to exist 10, 15 years ago. If it did, it would have been very, very scarce; the way the gaming industry has expanded to include our stories in recent years has been amazing to watch.
So, this pride month, game, celebrate, and watch as our stories continue to be told.
