![]() ![]() The male character also requires that the woman kiss him, in order to retrieve a drink he’s taken from her. It features a woman who claims to be bisexual in an attempt to make herself seem “more interesting” to a male love interest (image above). The pitfalls inherent to designing dating games also came to light this weekend, following a story in The Independent about Fusebox Games, which makes Love Island: The Game (based on the popular TV dating reality show) and Matchmaker: Puzzles and Stories.Įmployees at the company complained to their bosses that one scene in Matchmaker is offensive. But harassing developers and demanding huge changes to the design and its concept – that’s some weird consumerist gamer entitlement getting mixed in with valid concern about safety, which is what makes this conversation so fraught.” – Academic and game developer Robert Yang. “There are many criticisms to be made of any work, and the content warning definitely could’ve been more accurate, and maybe even the narrative / game design could’ve treated the topic better. “The standard is so different from non-queer media, that even if we stay on the subject of stalking, you can click to watch Jessica Jones or You on Netflix and there’s no content warning at all.” – Anonymous Kitfox employee. Sometimes that leftover anger and pain gets misdirected at the very creators trying to make it better.” – Kylan Coats, maker of upcoming queer space opera A Long Journey to an Uncertain End. While it’s gotten easier, part of the queer experience is working through that trauma to accept who you are. “Existing as a queer person means growing up with trauma and pain. “It’s unfortunate that much of this harassment didn’t come from the usual suspects, but from ostensibly progressive, queer players,” writes Clayton, adding that “queer audiences can be particularly hostile to works made for them.’ Clayton’s insightful article interviews game developers about the challenges involved in writing dating games, most especially those that embrace queer relationships. ![]() It’s been more than a week since the height of the Boyfriend Dungeon Twitter conversation (eons in social media terms), but that’s not a long time to produce a valid piece of journalism (as opposed to an explainer or op-ed). It’s about the responsibilities of interactive storytellers, and the fluid boundaries of what is appropriate in games that speak to romance in all its forms and complexities. You can see why this entire episode is about more than just a storyline in what would otherwise be a fairly obscure dating game. “Encountering something you don’t like or even something triggering in media is not a violation of ‘consent.’ It’s a frankly gross bastardization of language to act as if that’s the case.” It’s serious and it means something specific,” she wrote. “In this usage, ‘consent’ usually refers to boundaries around acts of physical or emotional intimacy, the violation of which is frequently assault, harassment, or abuse. In a widely shared Twitter thread, writer and former critic Kallie Plagge pushed back on what amounts to a call to censor challenging stories. There are some who say the entire stalking storyline should never have been included in the first place, accusing the game of a violation of consent. Kitfox responded by changing the warning, tweeting that “the content warning for Boyfriend Dungeon inadequately describes the events of stalking and emotional manipulation that exist in the story…We apologize for any hurt inflicted by our mistake.” Players with experiences of stalkers said that the Boyfriend Dungeon’s trigger warnings were not sufficiently clear about the game’s narrative direction. Dating games should be about giving the player freedom to explore romance with NPCs who they actually like, and not with those who are making their lives miserable, or who make them feel unsafe. Players ought to be allowed to block the villain and move on. ![]() ![]() The short version of this controversy is that Kitfox’s dating game includes a storyline in which the player is forced to engage with a deeply unpleasant man who turns out to be a gaslighting stalker.Ĭritics like IGN’s Miranda Sanchez make a strong case that this was a serious game design error. Today, PC Gamer’s Natalie Clayton has an excellent dive into the game’s issues, and the challenges faced by designers of dating games, especially those games that include “queer” experiences. (yes, it’s free)Īside from the Activision-Blizzard shitshow, the most important gaming story of the last few weeks surrounds the dating game Boyfriend Dungeon. This newsletter is about game design innovations and how gaming intersects with society, science, and education. ![]()
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