5 queer games from PAX West 2019 you shouldn’t sleep on
At Gayming Magazine, we celebrate the amazing LGBT games people have developed. As for queer games from PAX West 2019, there were a ton of them, created for and by queer folks.
Games that we’re eager to share with you.
Without further ado, here are 5 of the best queer games from PAX West that you shouldn’t sleep on!
Errant Kingdom
Errant Kingdom is taking a somewhat novel (pun intended) approach to interactive fiction with its dark fantasy narrative. The game is a visual novel, but will have some features heavily inspired by RPGs, such as a reputation system, and a quest board.
There are three characters you can choose from to start your journey through the kingdom of Novus, each with their own backstory and implications to go with it, though none have set portraits, names, or pronouns, so players can imagine their character to be whoever they’d like.
While there is romance aplenty if you’re interested in that, with 8 different romance options, two of which are polyamorous, there’s also a story-only mode where you can complete the game without romancing anyone.
Choose your character, meet your match, and change history in this robust, episodic fantasy tale.
Bravery Network Online
GLOAM Collective’s new title is an interesting pitch: what if you wanted to play Pokemon, but in a post-post apocalypse where society doesn’t have to worry about resource shortages anymore, so everyone passes the time by engaging in playful battles?
The concept is a bit tricky to wrap your head around at first, but quickly becomes endearing in its creativity and style.
Set in a futuristic Toronto, you play as a group of influencers who have to battle, and occasionally recruit, fans/fellow citizens. But battling isn’t simply resorting to violence. You can take down your opponents through anything from flattery to just being flat out messy.
There are folks from all walks of life to battle and befriend, and the game will even feature some small side stories to get to know the inhabitants of future Toronto a little better.
Best Friends Forever
Best Friend Forever is a dating sim with pet management elements. You play as a self-insert character (with customizable appearance, name, and pronouns) who has just moved to a new town that’s extremely dog-friendly, so much so that pretty much everyone in town owns a dog.
Thanks to an ad from some local shock jocks, you’re alerted to a dating app specifically for dog owners. Since you’re new in town, you figure it’s probably a good way to start meeting people.
The only problem is you don’t have a dog…yet. Luckily, there’s a conveniently timed adoption event where you’re able to find your new canine companion, a Shiba Inu named Cheeseball. Every day you’ll have to plan out what activities Cheeseball engages in, each affecting a different stat which can, in turn, affect your strengths during the game.
The devs assured us this title is extremely queer, as is most of their studio, so it’s definitely one to keep an eye on for that sweet gay goodness.
A Fold Apart
Long-distance is…hard.
Communication is never easy, but becomes even more challenging when it’s primarily done via text. A Fold Apart seeks to capture these tensions as you help Sam and Alex, a couple who are forced to become long-distance due to career decisions, navigate these new challenges in a world made of paper.
You solve the puzzles in each level by finding the right way to fold the paper so that they can successfully navigate the landscape, and their relationship.
The Sam and Alex you play as aren’t set, they can be a man and a woman, two women, or two men, whatever experience you feel most comfortable playing.
Wintermoor Tactics Club
Most of us participated in extracurriculars of some kind when we were kids, but it’s probably a safe bet to say that none of us were pitted against each other in epic snowball fights by our principals to determine which club was the ultimate club.
That’s exactly what’s going down in Wintermoor Tactics Club.
Our heroes in the Tactics Club, along with all of their Wintermoor Academy classmates, are one day informed by their principal that he wants to determine the ultimate club, and the only way to do so is to pit every club against each other in a snow brawl, with the losing clubs being disbanded.
As you progress through the game, you’ll play a bit of the Tactics Club’s favorite TTRP, then go on to battle it out with another club, using those refined strategic minds to take them down in tactical RPG combat. Kids from the defeated clubs can be recruited into yours, adding new skills and abilities to your roster as you go.
There are plenty of diverse characters featured in the game, and diverse folks who worked on bringing it to life.
We hope you enjoyed these 5 queer games from Pax West 2019. Are there any that you can’t wait to get? Let us know through Twitter or Facebook.
Looking for more games that you can get your gay on? Check out these 5 upcoming indie gaymes that you definitely don’t want to miss out on.
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