I got this game with the racial injustice bundle a few months back, and I've been trying to sift through the 1,700 different games and other artworks and try to narrow it down to the dozen or so games that really resonated with me. I saw this one, quickly read the entire 200 word ruleset, and moved on. I'm not gay, I've got 1,699 other games to look through, and I can't even imagine an scenario where I'd actually get to play this game, so it probably just isn't for me. But for some reason, a few days or a week later, I still think about it a bit, and I think I've figured out why.
I've read people in these comments argue about whether or not it's a game, I'll suppose because the rules are brief and there is no "win" condition and yada yada. At least, I hope those are the only reasons. I doubt they are though.
However, the schoolyard game "Tag" is still a game, despite its brief rules, no win condition, yada yada. And like the game Tag, this is one of the most blunt games I've ever seen. If games are art, and art is a reflection of the artist, then this game could not make the intentions of the artist clearer. With so few rules and distractions in the game of Tag, it becomes really obvious what the intention of the game is: To run around with other kids and have fun. Similarly, this game's tiny ruleset and brevity makes it abundantly clear what the author's intention is:
- They want be open to sharing their experiences with how facism has hurt them as a queer person
- They want to give the middle finger to those facist systems
- They want to feel safe with another person after being vulnerable sharing their experiences
- They want to make out!
This isn't to call this game childish, or on the same emotional level with a game of Tag, but more so to point out that both are games in a similar way: Their simplicity allows them to wear their hearts on their sleeves. This game doesn't need any more than 200 words for the author to tell me exactly what they want, and that thing they want is so simple and poignant that it's almost impossible not to empathize. I think that's why I love it.
Thanks for the great game, hope you make many more in the future!