A little while back, I showed one of my friends the website I’m building and she asked me what faggot games meant. I directed her to click on the link, as I believe that Eclipse expresses an eloquent vision for the movement in her post. However, I wanted to give a shot at explaining in my own words and expressing what faggot games means to me.
What is a Faggot Game?
A game with loud queer sexuality that challenges societal norms.
Why make them?
01: It’s an act of resistance
The forces of fascism and prejudice want to erase our existence from cultural memory. It is an act of resistance to remind people that we’re here and that we’ve always been here. Being loud about sexuality also helps de-stigmatize sex work and challenges the idea that sex must be about having kids. In this way, erotic games help fight discrimination against asexual people.
02: Perverts together strong
Faggot games make people more comfortable expressing themselves when they see someone is already out there expressing the same thing. The presence of one faggot game makes it easier to create the next one. If we let queer sexuality become a thing that is shameful or even cringe then it signals to society that we’re okay being attacked for it. Making these games creates a network of strength — a lattice, as Eclipse puts it.
03: Queer art for queer discovery
Tabletop roleplaying games were an integral step in my journey discovering that I’m trans. Having the freedom to experiment with gender expression and pronouns was vital. Even beyond the basics, one of the first games I played was Apocalypse World, a game with explicit sex moves. While not inherently queer, I played it with queer friends and explored new relationship dynamics and ways of understanding myself. Faggot games nurture queer discovery.
04: Representation
The benefits of representation are woven through the other three points, but I feel that it’s important enough to emphasize on its own. Even if faggot games existed in a complete vacuum, the inherent quality of representation is important. We need to see and be seen in the culture we create — in the art that we create. We make faggot games because we are faggots.
Faggot Games: on my radar
Before I leave you, I wanted to shoutout two faggot games on my radar currently just to point to some examples of the movement in practice.
Digital Angel
Digital Angel by SandroAD has been living in my head rent free ever since I read it. The art and the layout are deeply evocative of a slutty cyberpunk future and fills me with the inspiration to create something with a similar aesthetic.
Toxic Sword Lesbians
Anyone who knows me knows that I love a terrible woman. Toxic Sword Lesbians is a game that sings to my heart, my love of toxic yuri, and messy relationships. Reading it feels like I’ve finally found a missing piece to a puzzle that Thirsty Sword Lesbians left empty, and I highly recommend checking it out.
Go forth and make faggot games my fellow perverts. Make yourselves be heard. Be loud, be queer. Find strength in the community we build together.