Spade Memory is a visual novel that goes through the memories of Wisteria (or Wis), who is an aromantic-asexual. The game begins with the premise that the earth has been attacked by Martians who are devoid of emotion. The humans have a built a resistance and began recruiting civilians to help end the war effort. To form a closer bond with comrades, a memory archive was set for soldiers to log information about their past relationships. This is an interesting premise as it does two things simultaneously. Firstly, it combats a stereo-type that aromantic and asexual people are unfeeling robots. Secondly, it introduces the player to the concept that it is okay to not have romantic/sexual relationships and that other types of relationships can be just as fulfilling. After this short introduction, the player is invited to choose between three paths (which can be swapped at any time): dating, family, and friendship. Dating shows the player Wis’s lack of desire to pursue any form of romantic or sexual relationship. Family gives the player insight into what Wis’s family situation is like and how that affected her sexuality. Her immediate family is in general very open and accepting of Wis’ sister who is a lesbian, although Wis is still nervous about telling them. She is worried that they will not understand. On top of that, Wis’s aunt is openly homophobic making her feel less comfortable. When Wis does eventually tell them, they are accepting. Wis also faces similar worries when around her friends. One of her friends is particularly hyper sexual, which contrasts greatly with Wis’s sex-repulsed nature. Though eventually when she does tell them they are accepting. These interactions attempt the give the player an idea of what it is like to be in the closet as well as the importance of having an accepting community when someone comes out. Other highlights of this game are how it brings up issues, such as bad representation and lack of education. Wis has the option to play a dating sim with her friends. Her one friend really wants her to play it because of the datable characters is asexual. The game starts out fine, but by the end of the game it turns out that said asexual character was actually cursed to be asexual, but by the end the curse is removed, and the character is “cured.” Negative representation can be seen in real life media as well, for example, the medical drama House has an episode where a similar thing happens (well obviously with less magic but the general idea of a character’s asexuality being cured). This plays off the misconception that asexuality means a person is broken and that they can be fixed, which is not that case what so ever. This form of representation alienates the asexual-aromantic community by making their experiences seem invalid. Spade Memory also talks about how Wis learned about aromanticism and asexuality through browsing online forums and eventually finding AVEN (the Asexual Visibility and Education Network) where she learned about the spectrum of sexual and romantic orientations as well as sex positivity scale. This interaction shows the lack of education the average person has on different identities as well as the failures of the current education system to inform the public of these. Spade Memory covers many aspects of asexuality and aromanticism, giving the player a thorough background on not only the information side of things, but also the impacts of the current society on those who are apart of the aromantic/asexual spectrum.