Video games have always been one of the best mediums to explore social dynamics and themes, and in more recent times, there has been a much greater representation of LGBTQ+ identities within the gaming landscape. It can be hard to find a balance between making a great game that people actually want to play and having a faithful and realistic depiction of LGBTQ+ values that doesn’t feel too on the nose or forced.
Games With Inclusive LGBTQ+ Romance Options
Games have been getting more inclusive with romance options over the years. These titles are some of the best for LGBTQ+ romance.
With that said, there are a few games out there that have managed to hit the nail on the head and create a funny, emotional, or simply believable world that can bring a lot of people from all sides of the spectrum closer together. More importantly, they show a more organic way of thinking that doesn’t rely so much on tropes or simplistic writing, but instead allows the player to become fully immersed in a cast who are predominantly focused on expressing themselves and being comfortable within their own skin.
Fit the 9 games into the grid.
Life Is Strange
What True Friendship Looks Like
Details:
- A choice-based story about solving mysteries by rewinding time
- Powerful bond explored through Chloe and Max
Life is Strange is a time-bending narrative that explores friends, relationships, and all the hardships that come with discovering who you are. The main character, Max, is a shy yet curious photography student who finds herself back alongside her childhood friend, Chloe, and it seems that their bond is destined to remain strong forever.
For me, the reason the game stands out from the crowd is how well it represents different LGBTQ+ groups in a way that is entirely dictated by your choices. You are never forced to make Max and Chloe kiss or told how their story should play out, only to follow your heart and make the decisions that feel right, even if it means making a few sacrifices along the way.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Be With Whoever Your Heart Desires
Details:
- Romance options extend to any of the main party members
- Characters see personalities, not genders or sexuality
Baldur’s Gate 3 is arguably one of the best RPGs ever made, and a big reason for that is the sheer amount of freedom you have to be and be with whoever you want. Right from the get-go, the world is your oyster, and there are plenty of opportunities to build relationships and connections with the main cast, without any strict barriers getting in the way.
Baldur’s Gate 3: All Romances, Ranked
Every romance option in Baldur’s Gate 3 offers unique stories and companion quests that can further the journey and emotional growth of the game.
Mechanically and thematically, all the romance options are pansexual, which means that if you want to pursue a specific lover or become intimate with a specific sex, you are more than welcome to, regardless of whether it is due to your own sexual preference or the path that feels the most fitting. This lack of barriers has made the game a bit of an icon in the LGBTQ+ community and one that so many players have returned to countless times, purely to see how specific characters react to the pressures of love.
Monster Prom
The Stepping Stones Of Love
Details:
- Fantasy dating game with countless endings
- Relationships depend on decisions rather than orientation
Dating sims are a pretty popular genre for exploring LGBTQ+ relationships and themes, and Monster Prom is a much sillier example that still manages to convey the complexities of the dating world. Both you and the entire cast of characters are supernatural creatures from all sides of fiction, some physical like werewolves and others more abstract like ghosts, and the aim is to find a date to the prom over the course of several conversations and activities.
A lot of the decisions and outcomes are dictated by your stats, from boldness to charm, and each love interest has specific choices and interests that will make them fall more or less in love with you over time, meaning that personality and fun become more important than specific orientations. It’s a game all about being yourself and finding comfort in those around you, all within a fantastical world with more than a few strange and mysterious happenings.
If found…
Reliving The Past
Details:
- An emotional story told through a diary
- Internal conflict that extends to those around
If Found… is beautiful in a visual and emotional sense and represents one of the best explorations of personal identity. The story follows Kasio, a trans woman, as she navigates tricky family relationships, friendships, and her own identity, all through a fragmented diary that only becomes more complex over time.
Rather than presenting identity as a background detail, the game places it at the center of its narrative, using a distinctive visual style to convey the heavier elements of the story in a more implicit manner. While I myself cannot personally relate to the struggle on a 1-to-1 basis, I can still appreciate how well the game portrays the themes of acceptance and self-understanding in a way that virtually anyone could feel moved by.
Celeste
Your Greatest Enemy Is You
Details:
- Mechanically tight platformer
- Delves into anxiety, depression, and what it means to conquer your own thoughts
Celeste is primarily remembered for its challenging platforming and themes of mental health, but it has also become an important title within the LGBTQ+ community, due to the crossover between the psychological ideas and the fact that Madeline has now been established as transgender. The game isn’t shy about the ideas it is trying to convey, as the physical act of traversing the mountain is about as close as it gets to a visual depiction of what it means to doubt oneself.
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There was a lot of speculation in the past, but after the creator came out with a confirmation blog post, a lot of the original ideas clearly point to a much larger internal struggle than there initially seemed. I can appreciate the moments of confrontation and the ability to learn to accept yourself for who you are, and the fact that these ideas are so universal has allowed it to become somewhat of an icon within the wider social world.
Gone Home
Returning To An Empty House
Details:
- Exploration again focused on gathering notes and uncovering details
- The main focus is on a younger sister and her decision to run away
Gone Home doesn’t look like your typical LGBTQ+ representative, but the story slowly reveals itself as one of the more serious and powerful stories in the entire genre. After returning home from overseas, players get to experience Katie’s revelations about her family first-hand, from her father’s past to her younger sister’s decision to run away from home with her new lover.
I always thought the game was a horror game, purely due to the aesthetic and the way the gameplay progresses, but when you actually follow the story up close, the ideas are far more nuanced and emotional than scary. Also, the focus being on a different character from the one you play makes a lot of the stakes feel almost more personal, as suddenly, the emotional beats related to family dynamics and expectations become much more real and ultimately, more painful.
We Know The Devil
A Youth From Long Ago
Details:
- Delves into themes of isolation and the alienation of queer youth
- Multiple endings and outcomes for each character
Some games opt for a safer route for presenting LGBTQ+ characters, but We Know the Devil decides to push further into darkness, forcing players into a confrontation with Satan himself to decide which characters remain on the side of good. The game’s characters, Neptune, Jupiter, and Venus, wrestle with questions of identity, acceptance, and how they fit into a world that often treats them as outsiders, something that only becomes more important as they grow closer together as a unit.
As the player, you are given a lot of control over which characters end up together, having a direct impact on the ending and the dialogue that comes after. I would also argue that because of how intimate a lot of the conversations are, you get a much clearer picture of the kinds of struggles and feelings each character has, meaning that in the end, the payoff feels far more impactful and earned, due to how hard their lives have been up until that point.
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