Buck Up and Drive is effectively trolling homophobes
Buck Up and Drive, an action-arcade / racing car game – which is also effectively a beat-em-up, because why not – is causing some homophobes to lose their rag on the game’s Steam profile. And it’s all thanks to Buck Up and Drive’s LGBTQ+ billboards.
As of writing this article, the game from the developer Fábio Fontes has received just over 100 review scores, earning itself a ‘Very Positive’ score. In fact, only 6 reviews are negative – but the reason why they’re negative is because, ultimately, homophobic players are annoyed with the LGBTQ+ toggle included in the game.
An LGBTQ+ toggle would sound like a haven for any homophobe usually, but the difference with this toggle is that… This toggle doesn’t turn off the LGBTQ+ advertisements included in the billboards at all and no, it isn’t because it’s a bug of the game either. It’s because Buck Up and Drive was always designed to include LGBTQ+ billboards from the very beginning, meaning that when homophobic players turn the toggle off, they’d still receive the advertisements all the same.
You see, the toggle doesn’t get rid of the LGBTQ+ billboards, the toggle – when used – makes it so that the only billboards you’ll see are LGBTQ+ related. An effective, and hilarious, bit of trolling if you ask us.
Twitter user @kawaiiberpunk showcased how the game’s toggle had managed to cause confusion among those who had left negative reviews.
“THE LAST THING I WANTED FROM THIS GAME WAS “POLITICALLY-CHARGED MESSAGING” said one reviewer. “Come on man…Can’t we go a mile without having politically charged messaging in our arcade racers?” Who knew that including LGBTQ+ flags in an arcade racer would be seen as political? Not us!
Funnily enough, the original Tweet highlighting the toggle has now been liked over 9 thousand times and shared extensively. Rather than warn gamers away, the negative reviews seem to have drawn more players to the wackiness of Buck Up and Drive.
Gayming Magazine reached out to the developer Fábio Fontes to ask more about the game’s LGBTQ+ toggle.
“The game features a couple pride flags (rainbow and trans) among the randomized billboards on the sides of the road. Predicting how some folk would react to their mere existence, I figured… screw it, might as well have some fun with it.” Fontes explains to us when we ask more about what the billboards are like and why they were included in Buck Up and Drive. “Hence the toggle called ‘Pride flag billboard toggle’ in the game settings, which can switch between having the pride flags among all the other billboard designs… or turn ALL of the billboards into pride flags.”
Fontes tells us that the reaction to including these billboards from some players was what was to be expected. “Some people foaming at the mouth slightly more than they would’ve already, just for having the flags in the first place (some not getting it and thinking the toggle just doesn’t do anything), and a collective belly laugh from everyone else.”
As for what Fontes thinks about these salty, homophobic reviewers?
“My thoughts on the ones upset by it… Cope.” Beautiful.
Buck Up and Drive is available on Steam and itch.io
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