Okay, let’s say you’re in a good relationship. A gay one. And you want to play something with the lover(s) — I know that feeling. Some of us rope our partners into our gaming habits. Others founded their relationships on gaming. It’s a great way to entertain ourselves interactively. It’s a fast-track route to learning that you’re great in a team, or truly awful in competition. Plus, you won’t have to pay a therapist to assess you for the same lesson.
So here’s a list of great games for queers in relationships.
Stardew Valley
What do I need to run it?
PC, Mac, Linux, PS 4, XBox One Nintendo Switch, PS VIta, iOS, Android… honestly, Stardew Valley could run on a baked potato.
What’s the level of commitment?
About $15 for what is universally considered a genre-defining, perfect, and complete experience.
What’s the vibe?
Get together with your favorite people to (mis)manage an adorable farm in a pixel-perfect classic. If you’re not an ultra-productive morning person, you can pretend to be one in Stardew Valley.
Stardew Valley has defined the last few years of charming indie farming simulators. It’s a delightful bundle of escapist joy that has your character(s) inheriting a small town farm. Your days start by tending crops, gathering produce, and petting the cows. Petting the cows is mandatory because your adorable animals make better produce if you pet them.
Once your farming is done, there’s a roster of interesting characters to explore (and date), plus a startling pile of side activities that contribute to your farm. Fishing? Plunging into the depths of an ancient dungeon full of dangerous enemies? Taking a bus to a desert town? Saving your favorite character from themselves? It’s all here.
If you’re in a relationship, it’s a delightful, goal-driven cooperative experience. Split the labor. Plan aesthetically pleasing crop arrangements. Pet your cat/dog and learn recipes together. It’s a perfect game for what it was meant to be — 30 million sales can’t be wrong.
Oh, and it’s getting a big free update in a couple weeks.
Baldur’s Gate 3
What do I need to run it?
Gaming PC, Mac, Xbox Series X/S, PS 5
What’s the level of commitment?
$60 and your soul. Want to be devoured by an extraordinary piece of long-form storytelling? What if it’s your first step into a whole genre of excellence (CRPGs), and could induct you into pen-and-paper roleplaying games?
What’s the vibe?
A definitive roleplaying game with some of the finest characters, voice work, and storytelling put to screen. Or, you’re building a throwing weapon barbarian who tosses your partner’s vicious gnome paladin into close combat. You can do both.
BG3 made a bloodbath of last year’s Game of the Year awards. It’s an expansive, rich world of masterful tactical combat and heartbreaking storytelling. It’s got something for everyone who wants a fantasy epic. My girlfriend plays it because she loves making new characters, starting a romance with her vampire, then restarting because she’s bored. She’s done this for over 400 hours and loves every moment. Me? I play the game to the end: different classes and quest paths each time. Some people treat it as a queer dress-up game and dating sim. There are powergamers who see a tactical combat system that’s meant to be as hard as possible.
It’s a magnificent game. I don’t have the word count to describe it. It looks great. The animation is lovely. The characters are downright wild. The combat is stellar for players of all skill levels. Play it with your lover(s). Romance weirdos. Slay dragons. Play dress-up (or dress-down). Save people from evil. Throw rotten cheese at a hostile wizard. Unlimited possibilities.
The only reason I can’t recommend it harder is the system requirements. You need a gaming PC or a modern console to handle it. If you can run it but are sitting on the fence, then I implore you to listen to this compilation of outtakes from the woman who plays the narrator. If that’s your only exposure to BG3, then I’ve done a good deed.
Monster Prom
What do I need to run it?
PC, Mac, Linux, XBox One, PS 4, Nintendo Switch. It’s super light on PC specs, too.
What’s the level of commitment?
$12 is the entry price for a trail of broken hearts IRL and in-game. Talk about value for money.
What’s the vibe?
It’s a competitive multiplayer dating sim about hot monster people. That’s the vibe.
Your character attends a high school of hot monster people. Prom is on its way. You made the mistake of launching the game with funny people. You’re all pining for the flirty ghost girl. It goes downhill from there: branching dialogue trees, zany events, and hot tub shenanigans. Play cafeteria politics. Dominate extramurals. Maybe, just maybe… attend a class.
Monster Prom is a gorgon-eat-demon dating sim without the worst made-for-the-male gaze trappings of dating sims. The humor is whip-sharp and the shenanigans are plentiful. It’s a casual dip into competitive gaming that combines the best of couch multiplayer and comedy. It’s exactly as silly as it sounds.
And by the end of the round, maybe you’ll learn that the truest love is the friends you made along the way.
Uh, no. Bite my ass. I want the sexy, scary gorgon, and I will fight my girlfriend for her.
Apex Legends
What do I need to run it?
PC (at least a low-end gaming PC), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS 4, PS 5, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android
What’s the level of commitment?
It’s free-to-play, and an average round goes on for about half an hour. If your team is bad, it goes by much faster.
What’s the vibe?
Fast, positional gunplay in a highly competitive multiplayer setting. It’s a Battle Royale — that’s the same genre as Fortnite. But for people who share my gaming tastes. That is, I prefer games where shooting somebody doesn’t turn them into a four-story building.
It’s a fast, competitive shooter. Tactics, situational awareness and reflexes are paramount. Apex Legends is easy to get into (free to play!), but you will get your ass handed to you by a trio of 15 year olds who do this six hours a day. You will lose to others with a near-metaphysical grasp of twitch gunplay. If you have someone in your life who likes characterful, competitive firefights, give it a try.
Me? I play it for the enjoyment of a team-based shooter that doesn’t take itself too seriously. My idea of a good round is being in a team that places in the top 3. I also play it because Apex Legends dragged queer representation into competitive shooters kicking and screaming. The character roster is aggressively queer. Aggressive as in all of them are highly talented killers. Queer as in hot, lesbian, gay, bi, non-binary, pan, and a couple other identities.
My favorite character is Lifeline, the medic. But my heart skips whenever I hear Catalyst on my team.
Fae Farm
What do I need to run it?
A PC (but your work laptop won’t enjoy running it). Nintendo Switch
What’s the level of commitment?
$40 for a beautifully realized, cozy farm sim.
What’s the vibe?
Someone saw Stardew Valley and decided it wasn’t gay enough. That’s how we ended up with Fae Farm.
Different personal pronouns are there, and the game’s romance system has a lot more options. Dates and progression are more complex an- oh, right. Farming sim.
Fae Farm is also a relaxing farming sim that improves on the standard set by some of its peers. Quality-of-life improvements that make the game easier to navigate. It carries a charming, full 3D art style that appeals to gamers who like a bit of push in their visuals. The titular fae are in full force, too. Faeries, mythical creatures and mushroom-core homesteading are the aesthetics of the day. It’s pretty, modernized, and up to the wingtips in happy charm.
Although it receives criticism for its flatter character arcs than similar games, the game is a modern take on the cozy farm sim that might just be your fit.
Some other queer and cozy games I’d recommend are:
Coral Island (currently PC only, I believe, but has planned releases for all consoles). It’s very similar to Stardew Valley, but it’s set on a very Southeast Asian island – – think Indonesia or Malaysia. Lots of dateable characters (including a character that uses they/them pronouns), beautiful art, scuba diving, merfolk, and a strong focus on environmentalist.
My Time at Sandrock. I think it’s available on all major platforms? It’s listed with PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch, but I’ve only played it on pc. It’s also similar to Stardew, but with more of a focus on mining and manufacturing, which is a lot more fun than it sounds. It’s fully 3D, so system requirements will be a bit higher, but it’s a big game with an even bigger cast of well-developed characters. Lots of mini games, house building and marriage.
Yeees to Coral Island. My eyes are on it.
I’m shocked, shocked I say, that you haven’t included Wylde Flowers in this listing. LGBTQ romance, LGBTQ neighbors, fae-folk, and witchy-stuff. And cats. And gardening! What more could one want?
I am but one small potato and couldn’t include all the great stuff. Thanks for recommending this one – I’ll have a look!
“you will get your ass handed to you by a trio of 15 year olds who do this six hours a day” I didn’t realize this until I tried hopping back into CoD last year and wondered why I was nowhere near the K/D I had when I was 15 and a friend said “because it’s made for children”. I understand now lol
SMH they’re so much better than us. This is why I play co-op nowadays.
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