Video Games with LGBTQ+ Themes

LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) Pride Month is celebrated in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals raises funds to ensure all kids receive the best care. During Pride Month we are celebrating the efforts of those who help kids and families in the LGBTQ community have the care they need when they need it most.

It can be hard sometimes to figure out which games explore relationships outside of heteronormativity. This can be traced, in part, to marketing departments worrying how publicizing gay themes might harm sales. Another part comes down to a perception among some of the game playing public that small pieces of representation amount to video games being overrun with LGBTQ+ content. Those reactions tend to make even minor queer representation in a game have it heralded as “the next big gay game.” The reality is that games brave enough and kind enough to include deep, meaningful LGBTQ+ stories and gameplay are still relatively few. Here are a handful to experience while having yourself an incredibly good time.

Life Is Strange & Life Is Strange: Before the Storm

If you received super powers as a teenage girl in the Pacific Northwest, how would you use them? Life Is Strange explores how the sudden gift of time manipulating powers alters the life of a young girl named Max Caulfield. While these abilities initially reunite her with her old friend Chloe Price and empower her with the freedom to alter her life, she finds herself swept up in the case of a missing girl named Rachel Amber. Despite the power to alter the past, present, and future, Max’s abilities keep bringing her back to Chloe and the town of Arcadia Bay. The game explores themes of friendship and exploring one’s sexuality as a young adult.

A prequel was made sans superpowers titled Life Is Strange: Before the Storm. This new adventure stars Chloe Price that focuses on her relationship with Rachel Amber as the two of them attempt to unravel a mystery surrounding Rachel’s father and mother. Before the Storm more explicitly explores the complicated romantic relationship between Chloe and Rachel.

Undertale

Toby Fox’s debut RPG doesn’t come up often when people think about LGBTQ+ games. However, the game holds a very inclusive ideology showing characters with a wide variety of genders and sexualities in ways that are explicit about their identities. Notably, the main character of Undertale is a non-binary child. Not only are the characters and story progressive, but the choices offered to the player – whether to use violence or extend mercy in an effort to understand adversaries – also speak to the experiences of LGBTQ+ folk and fit nicely within the realm of queer theory, a way of understanding media. Undertale stands out even more among games exploring LGBTQ+ games through what Edmon Chang in Queer Game Studies dubbed “queergaming” where the LGBTQ+ content in a game is explicit and loud in a way that resonates with the audience. This creates a community around a game dedicated to emphasizing the LGBTQ+ elements through fan art and fiction. Also, it has a killer soundtrack!

2064: Read Only Memories

Itching for a neo-noir mystery with LGBTQ+ themes inseparable from the core experience? 2064: Read Only Memories places players in the shoes of a journalist on a mission to track down their kidnapped friend and cutting-edge engineer, Hayden Webber. Aided by Turing, Webber’s most advanced self-modifying robot, the journalist begins unraveling an intricate web of lies, deceit, and murder. 2064: Read Only Memories populates its futurescape with LGBTQ characters, envisioning a world where LGBTQ folk are free to come out publicly and be themselves without negative repercussions. Players can choose their gender identity and pronouns at the beginning of the game, with options for he, her, they, xe, ze, or even an option to manually put in their own. Throw all of that on top of an award-winning cyberpunk mystery with memorable characters, and you have yourself a wonderful ride through an LGBTQ+-friendly adventure.

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals are a safe place for LGBTQ youth to find healing from whatever medical issue they are facing. Check out this recap of our hospitals who earned HRC’s highest honor for LGBTQ equality in 2019. Join Extra Life in celebrating Pride in June (and year-round). Check out our Pride stream overlays to plan your Pride-themed stream today.

We know that the challenges of recent months may be taking a toll on the mental health of our community. Mental wellness is something we hope everyone can access. Here are some resources if you need them from our friends a TakeThis.org.

Don’t forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!