The Queer Games Avant-Garde

Bonnie Ruberg is Assistant Professor in the Department of Informatics and the Program in Visual Studies at the University of California, Irvine, and is author of Video Games Have Always Been Queer and coeditor of Queer Game Studies.

Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction. Reimagining the Medium of Video Games  1
Part I. Queer People, Queer Desires, Queer Games
1. Dietrich Squinkifer: Nonbinary Characters, Asexuality, and Game Design as Joyful Resistance  33
2. Robert Yang: The Politics and Pleasures of Representing Sex between Men  42
3. Aevee Bee: On Designing for Queer Players and Remaking Autobiographical Truth  51
Part II. Queerness as a Mode of Game-Making
4. Llaura McGee: Leaving Space for Messiness, Complexity, and Chance  63
5. Andi McClure: Algorithms, Accidents, and the Queerness of Abstraction  73
6. Liz Ryerson: Resisting Empathy and Rewriting the Rules of Game Design  81
Part III. Designing Queer Intimacy in Games
7. Jimmy Andrews + Loren Schmidt: Queer Body Physics, Awkwardness as Emotional Realism, and the Challenge of Designing Consent  93
8. Naomi Clark: Disrupting Norms and Critiquing Systems through "Good, Nice Sex with a Tentacle Monster"  102
9. Elizabeth Sampat: Safe Spaces for Queerness and Games against Suffering  113
Part IV. The Legacy of Feminist Performance Art in Queer Games
10. Kara Stone: Softness, Strength, and Danger in Games about Mental Health and Healing  125
11. Mattie Brice: Radical Play through Vulnerability  134
12. Seanna Musgrave: "Touchy-Feely" Virtual Reality and Reclaiming the Trans Body  143
Part V. Intersectional Perspectives in/on Queer Games
13. Tonia B****** + Emilia Yang: Making Games about Queer Women of Color by Queer Women of Color  153
14. Nicky Case: Playable Politics and Interactivity for Understanding  162
15. Nina Freeman: More Than Just "the Women Who Make Sex Games"  171
Part VI. Analog Games: Exploreing Queerness Through Non-Digital Play
16. Avery Alder: Queer Storytelling and the Mechanics of Desire  183
17. Kat Jones: Bisexuality, Latina Identity, and the Power of Physical Presence  192
Part VII. Making Queer Games, Queer Change, and Queer Community
18. Mo Cohen: On Self-Care, Funding, and Other Advice for Aspiring Queer Indie Game Makers  205
19. Jerome Hagan: Are Queer Games Bringing "Diversity" to Mainstream Industry?  215
20. Sarah Schoemann: The Power of Community Organizing  223
Afterword. The Future of the Queer Games Avant-Garde  233
Appendix. Queer Indie Games to Play at Home or in the Classroom  245
Notes  257
Bibliography  265
Index  271