Although there's still a long way to go, LBGTQ+ representation in video games has gotten significantly better in recent years. Even in Triple-A games, LGBTQ+ characters are beginning to have positive and major roles in titles rather than simply being the villains or throwaway side characters, and more games are allowing players to date same-sex characters.
The best representation still occurs in the indie space where many developers are creating games centered around LGBTQ+ protagonists and their experiences. Hopefully, these indie games will continue to inspire more representation in games and other media.
Newfound Courage
Released in 2019, Newfound Courage is a short adventure game about a young gay man named Alex who moves to the cliffside town of Silverpine. While working through his romantic feelings for a local boy named Jake, Alex explores the area, helps all the unique townspeople, investigates the mysteries surrounding an institute called The Vault, and tries to save the small town.
Although the game is only about three hours long, the well-written dialogue and in-depth lore easily draw players into this fantasy-esque world. Besides the gorgeous custom-made pixel art, the game also has an excellent soundtrack composed by the award-winning British composer Jessica Kelly, who also worked on the soundtrack for Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
If Found...
Released in 2020, If Found... is a visual novel game that centers around two stories that initially seem completely separate but are slowly revealed to be linked as the narrative progresses. At the start, the player is introduced to Doctor Cassiopeia who is traveling through space to Planet X, which in real life is a term used for a hypothetical planet, but instead finds a black hole that will soon destroy the Earth. Meanwhile, on Achill Island in 1993, a trans-woman named Kasio visits home after completing university.
Similarly to other great visual novel games, If Found... takes the genre and does something unique from a gameplay perspective. To uncover the story, the player reads through Kasio's diary entries and uses the cursor to erase the contents, which reveals more of the tale underneath. Besides some final choices in the end, the story is largely linear and mostly focuses on Kasio's experiences with her family, who don't her identity, and the new friends she makes after running away.
Ikenfell
Ikenfell is a 2020 turn-based tactical RPG that follows a teenage girl named Maritte Hildegaard who is a supposedly ordinary person within a world where some people are gifted with magical abilities. But, when she tries to enter the magical school Ikenfell to find her magically-gifted sister Safina who has mysteriously disappeared, she suddenly develops pyromancy.
Together with several of Safina's friends, Maritte goes on a journey to uncover why she now has powers, what happened to her sister, and why other strange magical phenomena are occurring. Every main character in the story is part of the LGBTQ+ community with Maritte ending up with Pertisia, Gilda having a crush on Maritte, male magicians Bax and Ibn being a couple, and several party , like Petronella and Rook, being non-binary.
Timespinner
Considered one of the best metroidvanias available on the Switch, Timespinner is a 2018 science fiction fantasy adventure that mixes gameplay from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, art-style from Chrono Trigger, and themes from LOOM. After the interstellar Lachiem empire invades the planet of Winderia and destroys the Qaelan Clan, the main character, a bisexual woman named Lunais, must use her powers as a Time Messenger to avenge her family and change the future.
Because of the destruction of the ancient Timespinner device, Lunais is transported to another world in a different time period. As she explores this unknown territory, she encounters many NPCs that fall under various LGBTQ+ identities.
Unsighted
Released in 2021, Unsighted is a post-apocalyptic science fiction metroidvania and one of the best games that focus on a female protagonist. Created by two LGBTQ+ Brazilian game developers, the game follows an amnesiac Automaton named Alma who wakes up in the world of Arcadia, which has been devastated by a war between Automatons and humans.
Alma learns that Automatons are turning into mindless killing machines called the Unsighted because the resource that gives them sentience, Anima, is running out. Besides trying to re-release the Anima and save her friends, Alma also races against the clock to find her girlfriend Raquel.
An Outcry
While there are plenty of great RPG Maker horror games, one of the best examples that released this year is An Outcry, which follows a 25-year-old non-binary shut-in known as the Unnamed. When the Unnamed accidentally gets locked out of their run-down apartment, they decide to talk to the various neighbors on the floor to try to obtain some cigarettes. But, after hearing a strange outcry, the building is quickly surrounded by supernatural birds who attempt to kill the Unnamed and their comrades.
As the player either fights or kills the birds, the intense emotional narrative tackles important topics such as LGBTQ+ issues, anxiety, addiction, social justice, and corruption. Depending on the player's choices, they will obtain one of five endings that either have the Unnamed standing up for themself or allowing themself to be swallowed up by society.
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action
Modeled after the unique art-style of classic PC-98 titles, VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action is a science fiction visual novel bartending sim that takes place in a futuristic dystopia where everyone is oppressed by nanobots and forced to obey the corrupt system by White Knights. In Glitch City, the main character, a bisexual woman named Jill, works as a bartender at the titular bar VA-11 Hall-A.
Unlike most visual novels, the player makes choices by making and serving certain drinks to the multiple unique customers that visit the small establishment. Depending on the drinks served, the player will achieve one of several different endings.
Night in the Woods
Released in 2017, Night in the Woods is a story-focused mystery adventure game that centers around a diverse cast of zoomorphic characters. The main character, Mae Borowski, is a young pansexual woman who has recently dropped out of college. After returning to her small hometown Possum Springs, Mae discovers that her friend has disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and she also witnesses what seems to be a ghost kidnapping a local teenager during the Halloween Party.
With these strange occurrences going on, Mae and her friends Bea Santello, Gregg Lee, and Gregg's boyfriend Angus Delaney decide to work together to solve the mysteries. Over the course of the adventure, the game explores important topics such as mental health and economic problems.
Celeste
Created by trans-woman Maddy Thorson, Celeste is a 2018 platformer that centers around a young trans-woman named Madeline who attempts to climb Mount Celeste. As she climbs the mountain, she encounters an old woman named Granny who lives on the mountain and a fellow climber named Theo. After a part of herself, known as "Part of Me" or Badeline, separates from Madeline, she is forced to confront her demons in order to reach the mountaintop.
Developed as a full version of the original 2016 PICO-8 game of the same game, this game focuses on struggles with mental health and learning to accept oneself. For the title's third anniversary, Thorson created a free sequel to the original PICO-8 game.
Hades
Created by award-winning developer Supergiant Games, who also developed Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre, Hades is a 2020 action roguelike dungeon-crawler that follows the son of Hades, Zagreus, who has recently discovered that his birth mother is Persephone. After learning that his father has hid this truth from him, he decides to fight his way through the Underworld in order to reach the mortal realm and meet her.
During the game, Zagreus can romance the male personification of death Thanatos or one of the three fury sisters Megaera. If he romances both of them, the three of them will begin a polyamorous relationship. While Zagreus can also try to romance the shade known as Dusa, she will turn him down and the two will remain friends.