Happy Pride Month, also known as Gay Christmas! For the past six months, we have been accruing a series of articles highlighting queer games. With it now being the queer season for celebration, we thought it an apt opportunity to be a bit greedy and perhaps celebrate a bit too much. Without further ado, we have for you five queer games in 2024 and beyond to get hyped for.
Janet DeMornay Is A Slumlord (and a witch)
Developer: Fuzzy Ghost
Release Date: ‘Coming Soon’
From the Sydney-based sweetheart developers of Queer Man Peering into a Rock Pool.jpg comes this new adventure. What exactly is it? Well, it’s topical, to say the least. The Steam bio reads: “An escape room, horror-comedy about the anxieties and horrors of what it is to be a renter in a world run by landlords. …and your landlord is a witch.” That is a hell of a premise. I’d expect no less from Fuzzy Ghost.
As for what the game will look like? The development pair have provided a ‘mood board’ that highlights what to expect. The tone is “80s classics Beetlejuice and Poltergeist via The Real Housewives of Sydney.” The look is described as a hybrid of Nightmare Before Christmas and the body horror of artists like Junji Ito. Crucially, there’s plenty of queer content:
“There’s gay on gay relationship content. With no homophobia or coming out stories. JSYK, we don’t write sad endings for our queers. Let 👏 our 👏 queers 👏 be 👏 happy 👏, being haunted and cursed and doomed is fine.”
It will be a weird and queer-as-hell one to keep an eye on. Stay tuned!
Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To
Developer: Soft Not Weak
Release Date: 2024
I love the satisfying but simple puzzle of Match-3 games. I love queer content. Finally, the game that marries the two in beautiful harmony. It feels tailor-made for me. Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To provides a luscious and pastel-coloured world to engage with. In between your 1v1 matches with other AI-controlled witches, you’ll be engaging in visual novel dialogue and getting to know the other cast of characters. Maybe, you’ll even get to smooch some of them.
Yes, as is quintessential for the hungry and filled-with-desire audiences out there, Spirit Swap looks to have romance options. Each character is diverse in gender, body type and appearance… the whole kit and caboodle. What a smokeshow this cast is. Personally, I’ve got my eyes on Mo, a witch damn near wearing BDSM gear with long boots and a tightly fitting dress that contains many belts. I’m flustered, to say the least.
Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To looks incredibly gay and a thrilling puzzle time. Needless to say, it should very well be on your Steam Wishlist.
Our Life: Now & Forever
Developer: GB Patch Games
Release Date: TBA
What if you could have your own love story be tailor-made? Our Life: Now and Forever is an upcoming visual novel where you can customise your protagonists and make them look how you want. This includes not only the style, including hair and fashion, but pronouns, skin colour, visual quirks and the like. Finally, you can make a visual novel your way.
The importance of this very project is not only the already welcome options of diverse romantic options but also celebrating your own diverse identity and making that part of your story. Better yet, it’s set during a captivating and gorgeous fall. Pumpkin Spice Lattes and falling in love, anyone?
Our Life: Now and Forever doesn’t have a release date yet but stay tuned for its unique spin on the genre.
In The Ocean I Learned to Float
Developer: Oracle and Bone
Release Date: TBA
This one is probably the most self-indulgent choice I’ve included, solely because of the pedigree of Oracle and Bone. Simply put, this is a studio known for quality Yuri. Their previous project is A Summer’s End: Hong Kong 1986, a steamy and emotional story about two women having a chance meeting and falling in love in Hong Kong in the 80’s.
The reason I’m yet to detail much about In the Ocean I Learned to Float is it’s the title we know the least about so far. Here’s the premise that’s available on their development blog thus far:
“Set in 1988, the story begins with a disappearance. A new cast must navigate their fractured pasts in their pursuit for truth. Who is she and where has she gone? Connected by shared memories, they piece together a story of love and resilience.”
Enticing to say the least. If it’s anything like its spiritual predecessor, In the Ocean I Learned to Float will offer a striking and memorable Yuri story when it launches.
Lost Records: Bloom and Rage
Developer: DON’TNOD
Release Date: 2024
They may have left their Life is Strange days behind them, but DON’TNOD can’t seem to escape creating projects with at least those vibes. We can’t blame them for it. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is very much the vibe the development studio is known for.
A group of young adult women in a punk band. There are some real supernatural, and I say some very sapphic, vibes amongst its cast we’ve seen so far! This is just some of what looks to be in store for Lost Records and we can’t wait to see how it unfolds come full release.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is due sometime this year. Whenever it drops, it will certainly be one for discussion and queer adoration everywhere.
And there you have it, there are five of our anticipated upcoming queer games for all your queer goodness? Have you got any you’re excited for? Let us know!
About the Author
Charlie Kelly
She/Her, They/Them
Charlie loves her video games as much as she loves dumb, charming JRPG protagonists: probably way too much. You can often catch her spending too much time being emotional over LGBT stories in games. She also thinks Yakuza 6 is the best one.
