In class this week, we played a game called Dys4ia, which highlighted the trans developer’s experiences with gender dysphoria, how their interactions with others are affected by their identity, and their transitioning process. 

What strikes me the most about this game is that it plays out in four phases of the developer’s experience, with each phase allowing the player to play through a similar series minigames with some variation in terms of tone or difficulty, with many being symbolic of the protagonist’s emotions and view of themselves. The graphics used throughout the game are pixelated and simplistic, with the protagonist in question being anonymous. This allows the game to focus more on the raw feelings of the individual rather than the identity of the individual. The use of minigames seems to emphasize the fact that the protagonist sees many of her daily activities as things that are constantly in need of her undivided attention and has severe consequences if she “loses.” There is also a lot of chaos in the aesthetic, using bright colors and flashing imagery to highlight the struggles the developer goes through during this time of her life. 

The developer of the game created Dys4ia to illustrate a period in her life where she was going through hormone replacement therapy. In class, we discussed how this game gained a bit of traction and increased the public’s visibility on the trans community. However, this turned out to be a double edged sword as many mistakenly see the game as a representation of all trans experiences. I think that it is important when developers make games based on their experiences, that one sees the representation of the developer as an individual, and not as a person part of a larger group.

We also discussed LGBTQ content within fanworks of different media, particularly in game media, and the higher presence of LGBTQ themes within fan content than there are in the canon content that the fan content is based off of. In my experiences of browsing fanfiction and fanart, there is generally a high percentage of works where characters are part of the LGBTQ community. I think that in a lot of fan content for game media, it can be easier to headcanon a character as someone who is part of the LGBTQ community because of the fact that many games emphasize player agency within a story, and for player characters to be a representation of the player themselves. For many members of the LGBTQ community, the writing of fanworks can be an outlet for their desire for representation in canon media. I think that a higher presence of LGBTQ themes within the canon media also encourages more LGBTQ fan media due to the nature of the fact that fans will usually start off with more material to work with from canon in terms of LGBTQ representation. I think that fanfiction and fanart serve as an interesting footnote in terms of fictional media as it is a derivative form where the creators can change and manipulate the original story. It is almost like in games where players are able to have some agency in how the story of a game plays out.

Sources:

Anthropy, Anna. “dys4ia.” Kbhgames, kbhgames.com/game/dys4ia.Dym

Brianna, et al. “Game Studies.” “They’re All Trans Sharon”: Authoring Gender in Video Game Fan Fiction, gamestudies.org/1803/articles/brubaker_dym_fiesler.