Summary
LGBTQ+ video gameshave become far more prominent over the years. Indie developers have especially stepped up to fill the hole in the gaming market, and the resulting games have been fantastic. Queer creators often use their own experiences in the stories, making it a more natural and relatable experience.
Among the selection of great games, you’ll find down-to-earth stories about dating and surviving in the world, as well as outlandish stories with supernatural elements and catgirls. No matter what you’re looking for, there’s something to suit your taste.
Updated on June 23, 2025, by PJ Molloy:Indie titles are still the best places to look for superb queer representation in gaming. Our new recommendations, in particular, feature well-written non-binary characters and charming queer romances.
10Wylde Flowers
A Magical Farming Sim With Pansexual Romance
In Wylde Flowers, you control an aspiring witch named Tara, who must use magic to maintain a farm. You can explore the magical town of Fairhaven, take to the skies on your broom, harvest crops, and mingle with the villagers, each with an intricate backstory.
Like many farming sims, Wylde Flowers features dating mechanics. Tara can romance people of all genders, including a flirtatious doctor named Amira and a non-binary butcher named Kim. Overall, Wylde Flowers is a whimsical, inclusive experience for those looking for something cozy.
Undertale is famous for many things, most notably its innovative turn-based combat system, in which battles can be resolved peacefully. In addition, Toby Fox’s iconic RPG features a memorable cast ofendearing LGBTQ+ charactersand even a few queer romances.
The protagonist, Frisk, is depicted as non-binary and goes by they/them pronouns. In terms of romance, Undertale offers a wholesome lesbian love story between the gritty warrior Undyne and shy scientist Alphys. And those are just a few examples of the many queer characters from this charming adventure.
At first glance, Celeste looks like a cute platformer that you could maybe knock out in a couple of hours. You’ll take control of Madeline, a young woman attempting to climb the titular mountain. And then you’ll remember - looks can be deceiving.
This game chronicles the journey of a young trans woman battling anxiety and depression. As she climbs Celeste Mountain, she faces her own demons along the way.
The writer, Maddy Thorson, is a trans woman. She worked on the game while dealing with her own ongoing mental health issues and exploration of her queer identity. Those experiences became a core part of the game’s story. Celeste will touch your heart, and you’ll find yourself relating to Madeline. Take a break if you have to - the mountain isn’t going anywhere.
7A Normal Lost Phone
Solve A Mystery While Exploring Gender Identity
You’ve found a lost cell phone whose owner, Sam, appears to be missing. As you search through it, you start to see that Sam is struggling with sexuality and gender identity. Upon further inspection, you discover that she’s recently begun the process of coming out as a trans woman.
While A Normal Lost Phone is fairly simple in its style and execution, the narrative is engaging and heart-wrenching. Messages between Sam and her friends reveal the struggles she faces as a closeted queer person with an unsupportive family. You must keep unraveling her past until you discover her fate. Sam isn’t real, but her story certainly is.
6We Know The Devil
A Horror Visual Novel Featuring A Queer Cast
We Know the Devil is anLGBTQ+ visual novelwith a story many will recognize. Three queer teens are sent to a summer camp for misbehaving children, where they’re bullied and ostracized by counselors and other camp attendees. During their last week, they’re sent to an isolated cabin where it’s said they’ll meet the devil.
The game is classified as horror, but you won’t find disturbingly realistic graphics or jump scares. Instead, it relies on suspense and your emotional attachment to the characters. You’ll be asked to choose between your friends, introducing another universal experience - growing up and leaving people behind. There are four different endings based on your choices. All are true to real-life experiences, yet only one is truly happy.
5Dream Daddy
A Dating Sim With LGBTQ+ Romance Options
Dream Daddy is a dating sim that allows you to havegay or bisexual romances, depending on which preference you choose for your character. Step into the shoes of a single father exploring the dating scene in a small town, where you’ll find eight eligible bachelors vying for your affection.
It can be a little over the top sometimes (brace yourself for The Dad Jokes). However, the story is ultimately sweet, reflecting the struggles of single fathers trying to balance many roles while finding happiness. Even you aren’t exempt from it - your thirteen-year-old daughter Amanda has her own problems, and it’s up to you to figure out how to help her.
You’re a millennial college dropout moving into your parent’s attic. Also, you’re an anthropomorphic cat girl. Welcome to Night in the Woods. The story of Mae Borowski is a little too relatable sometimes. She’s a queer young adult trying to find her place in the world and come to terms with how things have changed in her small hometown.
Mae doesn’t get much support at home, but she has a large group of supportive queer friends, and you’ll get to know all of them and their unique views on life. If Mae herself doesn’t resonate with you, one of her friends certainly will.
3One Night, Hot Springs
A Visual Novel With Excellent Trans Representation
Travel to Japan in One Night, Hot Springs, and slip into the role of Haru,a trans womantrying to survive in a society that doesn’t always accept her. She just wants to go to the hot springs with her friends, but even a simple outing can be complicated and emotionally draining when you feel like you don’t fit in.
Haru’s anxiety is strong and almost visceral, to the point where it begins to bleed into you. Maybe this is a horror game, and the cutesy art style doesn’t mean anything? Is there a monster around the corner? Under the bed? But no. There are no horror movie monsters - just Haru’s mental health and the pressure of societal expectations.
2If Found…
An Emotional Visual Novel
Confront your greatest fear - letting go and moving on. If Found tells two stories - one of a lost space adventurer and one of a sad, lonely trans woman struggling to find her place in the world. To progress each story, you must erase what’s on-screen to reveal the next scene underneath. It’s a unique but pointed way of showing the characters letting go of the past.
One of the writers on the game is a trans woman, Llaura McGee, who channeled a lot of her own experiences into the story. You might find it equally heartbreaking and relatable, and it can be hard to let go of games like that. But you have to erase the scene and move on.
Relationships are only one part of Stardew Valley, yet it likes to ensure you have many options. The gender you choose at the beginning of the game doesn’t limit your choice of bachelors or bachelorettes. Your choice of which, if any, villager to pursue is entirely your own.
For queer people, it can be a breath of fresh air to realize, possibly for the first time, that your romantic options aren’t limited because you committed yourself to being male or female. Plus, no one makes a big deal about it. Love is love in Pelican Town.
