I played the game “with those we love alive” which was an exploration narrative-based Twine game by Porpentine in which you first create your profile and then walk through the story by clicking highlighted words that help you draw further symbols on your arm – though this portion is not required to progress through the story.
Though not explicitly feminist, I feel that this game pushes forward the sector of feminist-centered gaming without being overtly feminist as the ruler of the land is an Empress, and I as a AFAB player had the occupation of an inventor (often cast-typed as male). Additionally, the palette of the bisexual flag felt like subliminal messaging infused into the digital interface.
More than this, Chess speaks in Chapter 4 about narrative content and structure aligning with feminist ideals. The practice of drawing symbols on your skin is one that is steeped into female and queer intimacy, and having this practice tied into the game felt like the carrying out a feminist ideal to me.
Going into more specifics about the game, Chess refers to the beginning of feminine gaze in games, as noted by Stephanie Jennings, and I personally felt that this was evident in the descriptions of the various populations of the game’s fictional world. Many of the issues around non-feminist games are that depictions of women are clearly serving a patriarchal purpose, but here we flip that narrative to have a morally-ambiguous female ruler who is not evil for any gender-related reason but rather because rulers of any gender may cause harm.
For example, this depiction of urchins states that the ills of starvation and police brutality exist in this world, even with a female leader. And more than that, our female leader is inaugurated by bathing in blood.
I personally do not have critiques from a feminist standpoint of the game, it was a very eye-opening experience to play what felt like a very intimate game and to witness a narrative that contained primarily female characters in a natural way that wasn’t explicitly tied to elevating one particular gender. This could also be seen in the introduction, where the story told me that I had entered the palace specifically based on merit/skill. (As opposed to stories where a female ruler keeps circles of women around her as a way to protect against some vague male threat.) I appreciated that the psychological horror/gore elements felt more tied to the game theme itself as opposed to pushing a message of “women can be gory/cause for horror too.”
(I was noticed from showings and victories – merit/skill)
Speaking more generally, it feels that this game is trying to transport us into a future in which gender is not a basis that we as a society will have to be overly concerned with, as it is no longer an identity is used as an excuse to perpetuate structural oppression. Though Chess does not tread into this territory in the chapter we read, I feel like games such as “with those we love alive” can be categorized as post-liberation. It helps immerse people into an experience that exists in a relative world where we have achieved a society that is not necessarily predicated on our existing structural inequities and the money that can be made off the backs of the most oppressed.
