LGBTQ+ representation in video games has been increasing in both quantity and quality over the past few decades. As game development becomes more accessible, more developers have been able to tell their unique stories through the medium of gaming. This has resulted in an ever-broadening list of games with LGBTQ+ developers, characters, and plotlines.
With 2022's Pride month just beginning, many gamers are searching for games they can play to join in the celebrations. Though many games are well known for their LGBTQ+ characters, others have largely flown under the community's radar despite their excellent representation and varying types of gameplay.
While not all do, several games on this list contain storylines relating to sexuality and gender-based oppression and violence. Please read each game's description before downloading and play with care.
10 Disco Elysium: A High-Concept Detective Noir
In the multi-award-winning RPG Disco Elysium, gamers play as a detective in a grungy, open world full of intriguing sci-fi elements and complex choices. Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi is the player's partner in their investigations and accompanies them on their journey through the world of Elysium. If players choose to complete the Homosexual Underground Thought, they can talk with Kim about sexuality. In this conversation, Lieutenant Kitsuragi reveals that he is gay. This detail adds significant depth to his character and backstory once known and is another piece of the growing bond between Kim and the player.
9 The Red Strings Club: A Thought-Provoking Queer-Developed Cyberpunk
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If players are seeking more adventures in the cyberpunk subgenre, The Red Strings Club has them covered. Made by Deconstructeam, a self-identified queer development team, The Red Strings Club is a narrative-rich, dystopian thriller featuring a diverse cast of characters attempting to thwart a corporate conspiracy.
The protagonists use pottery, bartending, and other skills to uncover the truth about Supercontinent Ltd's upcoming Social Psyche Welfare program, which will eliminate people's ability to feel negative emotions. The Red Strings Club covers a lot of heavy topics typical of cyberpunk stories, including systemic oppression, mental health, and humanity's fraught relationship with advancing technology.
8 We Know The Devil: Spooky Summer Camp Secrets
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We Know the Devil is a visual novel experience reminiscent of 80's horror that follows Venus, Jupiter, and Neptune as they brave their last week at summer camp and an encounter with the devil. We Know the Devil asserts that in every trio, one person will be less connected than the other two and forces the player to choose which one of the teenage protagonists will be sidelined by the others. We Know The Devil is a psychological horror adventure about the violent isolation of growing up LGBTQ+ in an unwelcoming environment, finding friendship in shared tribulations, and fighting the literal devil.
7 Unpacking: A Subtle And Heartwarming Experience
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In Unpacking, players follow the main character's life journey by helping her unpack and put away her belongings each time she moves into a new space. From a room of her own as a child to her college apartment and beyond, the protagonist's story isn't described in text or cutscenes, but rather revealed via what belongings she brings with her to each new place she calls home. The protagonist's bisexuality is revealed when her girlfriend moves in with her. In the game's final level, the player arranges the couple's possessions in their first home, including the nursery for their new baby. Unpacking is a soothing game with an uplifting story about a bisexual woman overcoming her struggles and finding happiness in life.
6 Gone Home: A Coming-Of-Age Story
After a year abroad, Katie Greenbriar returns to her family's home expecting a warm welcome. Instead, she finds a desolate, abandoned house with a note on the door from her younger sister Samantha. In the note, Sam tells Katie not to come looking for her and not to worry. As Katie investigates, she begins to piece together the story of what happened. Gone Home is an exploration game detailing the story of Samantha and how she fell in love with her classmate Yolanda. Despite judgment from both of their families and conflicting future plans, the two decide to run away and find their own lives together.
5 Night In The Woods: Trying To Go Home Again
Night in the Woods is an adventure game about Mae Borowski, who has dropped out of college and returned to her dying hometown of Possum Springs. Though she's anxious for everything to go back to the way it was before she left, she finds that everything is different and there's something spooky going on in the woods.
Two members of Mae's main friend group are Gregg and his boyfriend Angus. The two have a very sweet relationship together and embody a fantastic example of including LGBTQ+ characters in a story that doesn't wholly revolve around their identities.
4 If Found...: Intertwining The Future And The Past
If Found... is a visual novel that tells two very different stories that end up coming together over time. The first story is the sci-fi tale of Doctor Cassiopeia attempting to close a rogue black hole caused by an image sending a signal to the future. At the same time, gamers experience the story of Kasio, a young transgender woman in early-1990's Ireland. Kasio and her friends struggle with the stress of entering adulthood and being cast out by their rural community while Kasio repeatedly tries to repair her strained relationships with her family.
3 One Night, Hot Springs: A Brief Window Into Trans Experiences
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Haru just wants to go and enjoy the Japanese hot springs with her friends. Being a transgender woman makes that endeavor more complicated, however. One night, hot springs takes players along with Haru and invites them to guide her through her night at the hot springs. Their choices matter and will lead to one of seven different endings. Though this game is quite short, it opens a realistic and honest window into the experiences that trans women can face even when trying to do the simplest things.
2 Bugsnax: It's All About Relationships
Though the primary gameplay mechanic in Bugsnax is about catching the eponymous snack creatures, the game's story is all about the relationships between the various residents of Snacktooth Island. The founder of the Snacktooth Island expedition, Lizbert, has gone missing, and her shy girlfriend Eggabell has run off to find her. Their realistic spats and unconditional love shine through to carry their storylines.
Floofty is expressly non-binary, and all other characters refer to the purple Grumpus with they/them pronouns. Though Snorpy may be too focused on his studies and paranoid about the Grumpinati to realize it, he and Chandlo have been dating for years. Their abiding, committed relationship guides them through the hardships they face upon their return to Snaxburg.
1 Psychonauts 2: A Happy Ending For Two Husbands
Though it is not the main plotline of Psychonauts 2, one big event is the reunion of a married, gay couple who have been apart for the entirety of the cult-classic platforming series. Players see memories of Helmut Fullbear and Bob Zanotto being engaged and then married. Unfortunately, the two founders of the Psychonauts were separated during an intense battle, and Helmut's body was never found. Throughout the events of Psychonauts 2, the player discovers what happened to Helmut and finds his lost brain. This allows the two lovers to be together once again.