Whether you’re partying at a parade or cuddling up on the couch, Pride Month gives LGBTQ+ people an excellent excuse to play. Play with gender, play with makeup, play with bubbles, play with water balloons, play with ... whatever!
So, if you’re tuckered out from a magical summer day of seasonal celebration, why not kick back and treat yourself to an equally sparkling adventure on the small screen? Here are 22 LGBTQ+ video games that are perfect for playing this Pride.
Arcade Spirits is a dating simulator and futuristic novel set in an alternate reality where arcade gaming never went out of style. Play your way through its neon-soaked levels as an employee at The Funplex whose conversations drive the story. You’ll meet a diverse and inclusive cast of characters. But unlike some other dating simulators, this 2019 game doesn’t “make you” pursue romance—allowing asexual gamers to enjoy a platonic connection exclusively if they want.
An indie dungeon crawler/dating simulator oozing with pansexual tension, Boyfriend Dungeon faced controversy for its creepiest character upon release last year. But if you’re comfortable playing this darkly comedic genre blend from Kitfox Games (TW: It involves some fairly intense simulated stalking), then you can expect a one-of-a-kind play-through that lives up to the killer name. In this fantasy world, you must date—and then fight with—sexy humans who transform into equally powerful, monster-killing weapons for you to wield.
Visit the wondrous Snaktooth Island and you’ll find not only a flourishing community of half-bug-half-snack critters, but one of the cutest gayborhoods in video game history. From indie studio Young Horses, Bugsnax went viral for its banger of a theme song in summer 2020 and later made its way onto The A.V. Club’s best of the year list. Players embody an unnamed journalist in town to solve a mystery who meets a gaggle of LGBTQ+ couples during their stay.
From the beautiful mind of Maddy Thorson, Celeste offers a masterclass in world-building with a charming cast of characters and unbelievably dreamy aesthetic. Heroine Madeline—whose 2018 platform adventure centers on climbing a mountain crawling with her inner demons—is canonically transgender and widely considered among the most iconic LGBTQ+ video game characters to date. It’s a difficult game, but the narrative payoff is worth it.
OK, this Kickstarter-backed title isn’t technically speaking “done.” But some of the very best indie games arrive half-baked and the Drag Her! demo is an undeniable (if bite-sized) treat you can play for free right now. In this drag-meets-Mortal Kombat mashup from Fighting Chance Games, drag superstars Kim Chi, Alaska Thuderfuck 5000, Landon Cider, Asia O’Hara, Manila Luzon, Laganja Estranja, Jiggly Caliente, Tammie Brown, and BenDeLaCreme battle in a highly stylish versus game we can’t wait to see finished sometime in 2024.
The third game in BioWare’s Dragon Age franchise, Dragon Age: Inquisition may not be the series’ best in terms of story or gameplay. But it does feature some super sexy queer fantasy role-playing opportunities, a complex and nuanced relationship mechanic, and a cast of inclusive LGBTQ+ characters, such as trans hero Krem, who you’ll actually really like. Think Game Of Thrones-meets-The Dating Game in the best way (and you don’t even have to have played the first two games to enjoy this one.)
From popular Let’s Play personalities and streamers Game Grumps, Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator is a perfect pick for any weekend in June. This visual novel combines all the warm charm of Father’s Day and the zany fun of Pride Month in a hilarious new-in-town narrative that tasks players with playing as a hot dad looking to date other hot dads.
Gone Home might not seem like an explicitly queer game at first—but venture far enough into its shadowy halls and you’ll uncover a phenomenal LGBTQ+ story-turned-eerie first-person explorer. When college student Katie Greenbriar returns from a trip abroad, she finds something strange has happened in her family home. You’ll dig through drawers and explore hidden passages. But as the questions and clues mount in equal measure, Katie starts to fear the worst.
Heralded as one of the best titles of 2020 by The A.V. Club, Kotaku, and others, Hades, from Supergiant Games, had its moment during lockdown. But that’s no reason to not double-back and play (or re-play!) this rogue-like dungeon crawler with a fun Pride focus. Antihero Zagreus is a gorgeous bisexual whose powerful abilities make him a wicked prince of the underworld and one hell of a flirt.
If Found... is a stunning visual novel, weaving the stories of a space explorer named Cassiopeia and a transgender Irish woman named Kasio into a singular work of art. The 2020 game from developer Dreamfeel is pretty passive as far as play experiences go, only tasking players with slowly erasing parts of a journal to progress a linear story. That said, it’s a worthwhile experience you’ll remember long after the pages are blank—rich with poignant detail and imagination.
Ikenfell is a turn-based RPG that, at least initially, casts players as hero Maritte Hildegaard, a nonmagical human who develops powers amidst a harrowing effort to find her magical sister Safina at the enchanted school of Ikenfell. With a rotating cast of LGBTQ+ characters to get to know, it’s basically Hogwarts with cooler magic and no transphobes.
The Last Of Us blew gamers away in 2013 with its gritty zombie survival epic about rugged hero Joel and his adopted daughter Ellie. In The Last Of Us Part II, Ellie comes into her own as a hero in a revenge plot we won’t spoil in case you haven’t played. Along the way, she explores her sexuality in an arc that’s not only well written, but stirringly examines essential underpinnings of her character that make the entire story work better.
The original Life Is Strange isn’t the most queer the franchise got (that title is up next), but it did establish much of what fans love about this episodic sci-fi adventure series centered on teens with super special abilities. For the first game, you play as 18-year-old photography student Max whose sexuality can be influenced by player choice. It’s not a full-blown dating simulator—the plot goes way deeper than that—but how you do or don’t express your romantic feelings can imbue the entire story with resonant queer meaning.
Life Is Strange: True Colors arrived on consoles in 2021. With it, came the bold (read: totally obvious but still awesome) choice to let a bisexual character “stay” bisexual even after players choose between two love interests. True Colors follows Alex Chen on her intense telekinetic journey toward emotional acceptance and pays specific attention to her sexuality the whole way through. It’s critical representation of queer culture in gaming—not to mention a solid story with striking visuals.
From the developers behind Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect: Andromeda is the fourth installment in the Mass Effect franchise—and some would say its worst. This 2017 sci-fi action RPG was highly anticipated, but left fans wanting more firepower in terms of mechanics and story. To some extent, that was also true of its LGBTQ+ romances—the first-ever in the franchise’s history which Kotaku called “underwhelming.” That said, if you like the dating bits of Dragon Age: Inquisition and want more of that but in space, Mass Effect: Andromeda delivers some reasonably good dating simulation beats.
Night In The Woods tells the poignant story of Mae Borowski, a college dropout who comes back to her hometown only to realize life moved on without her. A staple on any best indie video games list worth its joysticks, this 2017 narrative adventure explores a multitude of themes that may resonate with LGBTQ+ players, including feelings of isolation. Plus, it boasts some seriously relatable queer characters in Mae and her pals Gregg, Angus, Bombshell, and more.
Somewhat similar in feel to the well-liked Undertale, An Outcry follows the trippy story of a nonbinary character known as the Unnamed as they walk the streets of Vienna, Austria. When our 25-year-old protagonist is locked out of their apartment, players must choose their path through the night and keep them alive until morning. It’s an unsettling experience sure to shake queer horror fans up in all the right ways—but proceed with caution. It gets freaky.
Sims have been a lot of things to a lot of people over the years. These days they’re gayer and more inclusive of LGBTQ+ players than ever before. Continuing to evolve away from the gender stereotypes present in earlier iterations of the life simulator, The Sims 4 not only lets you explore relationships outside of what’s heteronormative, but it also allows for countless other kinds of gender play in the Sim builder. The game got an overdue pronoun update earlier this year that’s further cemented its reputation as a growing safe space.
From Thunder Lotus Games, Spiritfarer involves shepherding lost souls to the hereafter aboard a ramshackle ship captained by a kid named Stella and her cat Daffodil. Yes, the 2020 management simulator features numerous LGBTQ+ characters, including a gigantic lesbian snake named Summer. But it’s on this list specifically for its themes of chosen family, identity, and inner peace. This is a solid choice if you’re looking for something particularly wholesome.
Stardew Valley is a cozy RPG from Eric Barone (aka “ConcernedApe”) that tasks players with giving up the hustle and bustle of city life for a fresh start in a magical place called Pelican Town. Players can grow crops, raise animals, fish, mine, and scavenge to make money while fixing up an old farm. But the real fun is in chatting up the many locals (Leah! Shane! Abigail! Elliot! Alex! Penny!) in a queer-friendly dating simulator that’s really sweet—if slightly transactional.
Join Steven and the Crystal Gems in this delightful video game journey based on Cartoon Network’s deeply beloved, very queer Steven Universe. This family-friendly RPG adventure came to consoles in 2017, two years before the TV show ended and the epilogue movie/limited series came out. For that reason, Steven Universe: Save The Light can feel a little outdated—or very nostalgic. YMMV.
Tell Me Why is a three-part adventure mystery set in rural Alaska, where telepathic twins Tyler and Alyson must sort through their shared trauma to uncover the truth about their mother’s death. This 2020 title earned praise for its inclusion of a trans protagonist, deftly exploring themes of identity, rejection and hatred in a complex narrative that’s shaped by player choices.