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10 Best Video Games For Fantastic LGBTQ+ Representation

Amber Stefanson
NexiGo
11 min readJun 9, 2023

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Queer representation in video games has come a long way. For years, we were lucky if a game would introduce a good queer side character, but we’d rarely ever get a queer protagonist. And even then, many queer-positive RPGs introduce a blank-slate player character and romantic interests who are playersexual, meaning they have no defined sexuality except that they will reciprocate interest from the player character.

While some appreciate the freedom to express themselves within the story, playersexual writing does not offer great representation.

True representation requires good, nuanced character writing that doesn’t boil characters down to their gender or sexuality, and those characters should play a major part in the story. Furthermore, games need to include a wider breadth of identities than just gay and bi characters.

These are some games that check all the boxes.

10. Gone Home (2013)

A developed photo hangs in a red room. On it are the shadows of two people; one of them is doing the rock and roll salute while the other is taking the photograph.
Sam and Lonnie
(Credit: The Fullbright Company)

Gone Home is a first-person mystery game thinly cloaked in the aesthetic of a horror movie. You play as Katie, a college student visiting the home her family moved into while she was away. The house is unfamiliar, dark, and unwelcoming — her family is missing, and Katie has no idea where they went. You navigate her through the house, searching for clues to her family’s disappearance.

A bedroom. There’s a pirate flag hanging on the wall behind a bed with a quilted blanket. Near the entrance, there’s a metal locker with a collage of some female celebrities taped to the front.
Katie explores Sam’s room

It quickly becomes evident that Katie’s sister, Sam has run away with her girlfriend, Lonnie. Sam’s room is peppered with artifacts of 90s punk and lesbian culture, polaroids of Lonnie, and the occasional hand-written love letter.

A hand-designed poster advertising an all-ages show to see the bands “Heavens to Betsy” and “Bratmobile” perform.
Sam has pinned up a poster advertising a show from a couple Riot grrrl bands

Some criticize Gone Home for relying too heavily on tropes of queer coming-of-age stories, while others argue that its emphasis on nonlinear exploration elevates its queerness in a unique way. Either way, I think you’ll love its unique take on domestic horror.

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9. Celeste (2018)

Celeste gameplay. Madeleine jumps through a sparse obstacle course as she nears the peak of the mountain.
Madeleine climbing Mount Celeste
(Credit: Maddy Makes Games)

Celeste is one of the most challenging platformers out there, and it’s also one of the most famous examples of trans representation in video games. Protagonist Madeleine is a trans woman set on climbing to the peak of Mount Celeste.

Along the way, she meets many people who try to dissuade her from continuing her dangerous ascent — worst of all, her antagonistic, purple-haired alter ego, who is simply referred to as “A Part of” Madeleine (or “Badeleine” by fans of the Celeste).

Madeleine has a confrontation with her goth alter ego. Her alto ego pops out of the text box as her anger grows. She says, “You think you can just leave me behind? You think you can blame everything on me? You think you’re above me!? ANSWER ME!”
Madeleine is confronted by Badeleine, a Part of Herself

Badeleine embodies Madeleine’s anxiety, depression, self doubt, and anger. She constantly tries to convince Madeleine that she’s not up to the task. Madeleine is always trying to outrun Badeleine or leave her behind — leading to the confrontation in the gif above.

Although Madeleine was never directly identified as trans within the text of the base game, her story is undeniably trans. The creator of Celeste, Maddy Thorson, posted a coming out blog publicly confirming Madeleine is canonically trans and coming out as trans herself. Thorson recognized that the process of authoring Madeleine was inseparably wound up with her own journey of self-discovery, since she wrote Celeste at a time when she was questioning her gender identity.

Madeleine stands at the peak of the mountain next to a red flag. Her hair is blowing in the wind.
Madeleine reaches the peak of Mount Celeste

Thorson admits she was conflicted between giving the trans community solid representation in video games and effectively outing Madeleine — as well as outing herself to the public before she was ready. Ultimately, she decided to confirm Madeleine’s identity within the game by patching in a new chapter. If you keep an eye out, you can spot the trans flag in Madeleine’s room in the final chapter, “Farewell”.

Madeleine sits at her computer desk, video calling a bearded man. Behind her keyboard, two miniature flags lean against the wall: one pride flag and one trans flag.
Trans and pride flags found in the “Farewell” chapter

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8. Wandersong (2018)

In a dark room, a spotlight falls on a pink-haired accordionist named Ash. Another spotlight falls on a bard, who has a feather in his cap. A ghost stands in a dark corner and watches. She holds an accordion that matches Ash’s accordion.
Ash and Kiwi the Bard
(Credit: Humble Bundle, Dumb and Fat Games)

Wandersong is a wholesome spin on the classic RPG. You play as Kiwi the Bard, a nonbinary smol bean who would rather sing than fight and would rather follow every side quest than stick to the main mission. If you’re the kind of person who likes to talk to every NPC and — quite literally — stop and smell the flowers, this is the game for you.

Gameplay mostly consists of puzzles and platforms, with some nonviolent combat peppered in. Boss battles are interesting, since Kiwi won’t resort to violence or even carry a weapon. All conflict is resolved by singing the right pitches or by talking things out.

The bard is sings to direct the growth of a plant so that he can use it to climb a great height. All the pitches he can sing are visually organized in a circle around him. Since each pitch has a location , he can use his voice to point in the direction of a certain pitch. The plant follows grows in the same direction as the pitch that the bard sings.
Gameplay consists of musical puzzles and nonviolent combat

Although gender and sexuality aren’t explicitly discussed in-game, Wandersong takes place in a world filled with queer characters. Kiwi the Bard is nonbinary, and goes by any pronouns. One of the recurring side characters Kiwi helps is also nonbinary: Ash (they/them), the haunted accordionist who Kiwi encourages to join a band of local musicians. Kiwi also helps out a gay troll couple who live in an ice cave.

Two trolls, the bard, and a witch are in an ice cave. One of the trolls is frozen as if he’s in the middle of talking. The other trolls asks, “So… can you beak this spell?”
One of the trolls has been frozen by a curse

According to the gamemakers, many other side characters were written to be queer, although it isn’t evident due to their minor roles in the story.

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7. Outer Worlds (2019)

A photograph in a metal frame leans against a wall. In the photo are two women facing towards the viewer. Parvati, the woman in front, is sitting. She looks right at the viewer and it seems like she was about to say something when the photo was taken. Junlei, the woman in the back is standing and holding a metal mug. She is smiling down Parvati.
Junlei and Parvati
(Credit: Private Division, Take-Two Interactive)

A spiritual successor to Fallout and Firefly, Outer Worlds is one of the latest AAA open-world sci-fi exploration RPGs. You play as the captain of a ship in exploration of a space colony. One of the first crew members you recruit is Parvati, a mechanic. Once you become close, Parvati reveals to you that she’s asexual.

She expresses her worry about showing interest in her crush, Junlei, for fear that she’ll be rejected for not wanting to be physical.

The player is having a conversation with Parvati. Parvati says, “I’m not much interested in… physical stuff. Never have been. Leastways not like other folk seem to be. It’s not that I can’t? I just don’t care for it.”
Parvati expresses her feelings towards physical intimacy

The player character may also be asexual, if you choose. One of the dialogue options in this conversation with Parvati is to say you feel the same way about physical intimacy. Since the player character is a complete blank slate at the beginning of the game, you get to define their personality and sexual orientation based on dialogue options.

Parvati is having a conversation with the player. She says, “That’s- well, it’s tripped folks up in the past. Folks I thought cared about me for me. What if she’s not okay with that? What if she IS, but then, later, she’s not?”. There are several response options below that the player can choose from. Some are supportive, some brush her off, some are trying to understand, and one of them is to admit that you feel the same way about sex.
You can choose to identify as ace [2] when Parvati expresses her concerns

It’s an authentic portrayal that dispels harmful assumptions that ace people aren’t interested in pursuing romantic relationships. This is no doubt thanks to the efforts of writer Kate Dollarhyde, who identifies as biromantic asexual. She drew a lot from her own experience when she wrote Parvati. Given how rare ace representation is in video games, it’s refreshing to see it done so well.

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6. Life is Strange: True Colors (2021)

Alex, a young woman, sits on a chair in a bedroom and plays her acoustic guitar. The flag of Colorado hangs behind her bed. Light from a window behind her pours in through half-drawn blinds.
Alex Chen
(Credit: Square ENIX)

Life is Strange: True Colors follows Alex Chen, a bisexual woman with the supernatural ability to tell what people are thinking and feeling. As she works to discover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of her brother, she develops close friendships with locals Steph and Ryan, either of whom she can later choose to date.

Two young people sit at a bar and lean against it as they look towards someone on the other side of the bar. One is a woman named Steph. She wears a V-neck baseball tee, a beanie over her bob-length hair, several bracelets, and layered necklaces of varying lengths. The other person is a man named Ryan. He wears a white tee under a plaid flannel with the top few buttons undone. He has a beaded necklace, a short beard, and lightly styled hair.
Steph and Ryan

Unlike many RPGs that enable you to define your sexuality based on who you choose to flirt with, Life is Strange: True Colors makes it clear that Alex is bisexual regardless of who she chooses to date.

If you love True Colors, it’s also worth checking out some of the older titles in this series, which feature even more queer protagonists and fun supernatural abilities.

Alex whips around and reacher her palm out towards the viewer. She’s in a empty, black space, but when she turns around there’s an explosion of powdered colors behind her.
A visual manifestation of Alex’s powers of supernatural empathy

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5. VA-11 Hall-A (2016)

Jill, a young woman, sits at a dining table with her cat. Behind the table, there’s a huge window with a view of the city. It’s a rainy night, and the dense city is lit by an orange light cast from all the billboard lights and other people’s windows.
Jill the Bartender
(Credit: Ysbryd Games)

VA-11 Ha11-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action (or simply Valhalla) is a cyberpunk bartender game, with a premise similar to Coffee Talk. You play as Jill, a bisexual bartender. Progress in the game by mixing the right drinks for the right people, while you learn about the world by making conversation with your patrons.

Valhalla gameplay. The player drags different ingredients to a tumbler to mix a cocktail.
You mix drinks based on customer profiles

Valhalla offers a great, diverse range of queer characters from different walks of life — some of whom Jill can choose to date. For instance, she has a huge crush on her boss Dana, the pansexual proprietor of the bar VA-11 Hall-A, and a former pro wrestler.

Jill has a conversation with Dana. Dana says, “Why don’t you go home today? Get some rest, I’ll take it from here.”
Jill’s boss Dana is one of several romantic interests

Many conversations Jill has with her patrons are centered around relationships, and everyone is very open about their sexuality, often discussing their crushes and past relationships.

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4. Dream Daddy (2017)

Seven men of varying aesthetics and archetypes. Each one is separated by a thick border to indicate that the photo is a list rather than a scene.
All the eligible dads you can date
(Credit: Game Grumps)

Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator is exactly what it sounds like. You play as a dad who moves into a new suburb with his teenage daughter, Amanda. Quickly, you discover that the whole block is filled with hot dads who are ready to date. You can strike up a romance with any of them.

Not only is this game unabashedly queer, but it’s inclusive of the MLM spectrum. When you create your “Dadsona”, you get to choose whether he’s cis, trans, gay, or bi. You can indicate your Dadsona’s identity by deciding whether your dad wears a binder and whether your late spouse is Amanda’s mom or dad.

Dad has a conversation with his daughter Amanda. He says, “The only way we could get you to stop crying was to put sunglasses on you.” There’s a stack of polaroids on screen as he says this. The one on top is depicts a baby wearing a diaper, tee shirt, and aviator sunglasses.
Dadsona reminisces with Amanda about her late parent

When it comes to the dads you can date, the lines are blurred between gay and bi, since there are no explicit labels in the game. Everything is left very ambiguous. Characters might discuss their past relationships, or they might choose to leave those details out. There’s a trans dad you can date, but his gender never comes up apart from an offhand comment about all of his historical attire.

Dad has a conversation with Damien, a goth dad from the neighborhood who dresses like a Victorian-era vampire. Damien says, “To be able to wake up in the morning, pick from my closet a variety of cloaks, waistcoats, top hats, and even binders that are period appropriate feels amazing.”
Fan favorite Damien mentions wearing period-appropriate binders

Dream Daddy’s refusal to use any labels may seem counterproductive, but it can be argued that it’s uplifting to see truly inclusive stories where queer love can transcend labels. It’s a way of centralizing queer narratives without spelling out the queer experience to make it more recognizable for cis and straight audiences.

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3. We Are OFK (2021)

A group of four young people stand at a bar. They seem to be in the middle of a conversation. Itsumi, one of the women in the group, appears to have just had an epiphany. Everyone else in the group is looking in her direction.
The OFK Crew: Carter, Itsumi, Jey, and Luca
(Credit: Team OFK)

Described by its developers as an interactive TV show and biopic, We Are OFK (also known as Pop. Love. Panic! The OFK Story) is a narrative-heavy game about an indie pop band called OFK trying to make rent in LA. It’s an extremely aesthetic and heartfelt game in which the band members argue about lyrics and navigate their love lives one sloppy text message at a time.​​

Two people from the OFK group are sitting on the couch. Carter is lounging in the background, using their computer. Luca is sitting in the foreground, texting on his phone. His texts appear as a popup on screen. He’s texting “Itsu” about being lonely.
Interact with the story by choosing which text message to send

Every member of the band is explicitly queer. Both protagonist and keyboardist Itsumi and producer Jey are sapphic, while singer Luca is bi. Carter, the visual effects artist, is nonbinary. It’s honestly the perfect representation of a queer friend group.

Montage of scenes showing the visual effects in We Are OFK
And the aesthetics are off the charts!

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2. If Found… (2020)

A group of people sit at a dinner table drinking tea. Two women in the middle, Kasio and her mom, are hugging. Jack and Colum, a couple on the left side of the table, are cuddling casually. Two others, Maggy and Shas, are seating next to eachother on the right side of the table. They’re both watching Kasio.
From left to right: Jack, Colum, Mam, Kasio, Shans, and Maggy
(Credit: Annapurna Interactive)

If Found… is a visual novel that takes place within the pages of the journal of the main character, Kasio. She destroys her journal, reliving important moments in her life that lead up to when she decides to destroy it. You progress in the game by erasing sections from her journal. Each erasure sparks the recollection of a new piece of her story.

Kasio faces the viewer. Her hair blows in the wind while her head disappears as if someone is erasing her with a pencil eraser. A small illustration of Kasio under a streetlamp is in the distance.
Kasio erases herself from her journal

You learn that Kasio has recently graduated college and returned to her family’s home in a small rural hometown in 90s Ireland. She has transitioned in the time she’s been away, and her family is shocked and unsupportive when she arrives.

When they refuse to see her as a woman, she runs away, and her living situation becomes tenuous. First, she crashes with her friends Jack and Colum, a gay couple squatting in an abandoned house with their bandmate Shans, who is questioning his gender identity.

Jack and Colum are cudding at the breakfast table. Their roomate Shans blushes and looks down at his food. Kasio remarks, “They all seemed so comfortable in their own skin. So open with eachother.”
Kasio reflects on her time living with Colum

When that falls through, she goes to stay with Maggy, a closeted lesbian. It’s a heartbreaking narrative about how queer people find each other in unaccepting places that would rather see their identities erased.

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1. Night in the Woods (2017)

A bear, a fox, and a cat approach a party in the woods. The fox, Gregg, says to the cat, “If anyone’s gonna ruin your night, Mae, it really should be you.”
Angus, Gregg, and Mae
(Credit: Finji)

Night in the Woods is a heartfelt mystery game that follows Mae, a pansexual college dropout. She returns home from college to find that her hometown has changed — everyone she grew up with has changed, old friends have outgrown her antics, and the town is oddly desolate now that the mine that once employed many of its inhabitants has shut down.

It’s a liminal, deeply emotional story about moving on that tackles themes of mental illness, abuse, and poverty in the Rust Belt of America with a casual poignancy.

Mae lays down between two sets of train tracks. Beside her is a mouse named Lori. They seem relaxed, and there appears to be no danger of a train coming.
Mae loves having philosophical conversations in scenic places

Taking place in a small town, the few queer people in town have found each other. Mae is openly pansexual, which she describes saying, “I don’t care if they are a boy or a girl! As long as they are like ARRG!” Her best friends Gregg and Angus are highschool sweethearts.

An crocodile, a cat, and a goat are dancing at a night club.
Bea, Mae, and Jackie

Other queer characters include Jackie, a trans goat who throws big parties; Bombshell, a sapphic bear who Mae can flirt with at one of Jackie’s parties; and Michelle Czajkowski, a non-binary cat who will recite Mae a poem if she spends time with their mutual friend, Bea.

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Happy Pride Month!

I hope you enjoyed this list and find some time this month to celebrate queer love. Please stay tuned for more gaming content, or check out our bi-weekly blog at https://www.nexigo.com/blogs/conversation.

At a convenience store, Gregg stands behind the cash register and flaps his arms around spastically. He shouts, “Let’s do crimes!!!!” Mae is standing near the exit. She throws her arms up in the air and shouts, “Yeyeyeyeye!”
Be gay, do crimes
Gaming
LGBTQ
Queer
Pride
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Amber Stefanson
NexiGo

Written by Amber Stefanson

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