9 Games of Color in 2022
Edmond Y. Chang, Contributing Editor
Twenty twenty-two has been a bumpy, busy year, and I have not had much time or space to play many games, I confess. I managed a few hours of Stray, which was thoughtful and stressful and left unfinished, and I still putter about my Animal Crossing: New Horizons island. For the most part, the games that I did get a chance to explore and experience were usually short, sweet, and purposefully included as part of my teaching. If I teach it, I get to play it. In recent years, I have endeavored to foreground digital and analog games of color in my scholarship and pedagogy, and I am always on the lookout for interesting and accessible games by Black, brown, Indigenous, and other writers, artists, and developers of color.
In fact, in 2021, I coauthored an essay “Playing Difference: Towards a Games of Color Pedagogy” with the inestimable Kishonna L. Gray and Ashlee Bird. The essay, published in Critical Pedagogy, Race, and Media edited by Susan Flynn and Melanie A. Marotta, argues that video games are imbued and encoded with “norms, values, and biases in implicit and explicit ways,” particularly regarding race, gender, sexuality, ability, and other identities. Moreover, we maintain, that games themselves are pedagogical—they are designed to “instruct and inform the player” not only in how to play but what the game implicitly and explicitly cares about (or doesn’t care about). We contend that games of color—and by extension a games of color philosophy for teaching, design, and development—offer different stories, settings, characters, rulesets, and modes of play that explicitly foreground or implicitly include alternative, often marginalized perspectives and worldviews.
To that end, I thought I would offer up a few games of color of 2022 that I discovered whilst searching for new and unique titles to play and perhaps include in a future syllabus. A future project might be to start and curate an extended ludography of games of color, but for now, I have drawn these particular games from friends’ suggestions, my own trials and searches, or from various lists like the “2022 Game Devs of Color Expo” or the “2022 Latinx Games Festival.” This list is by no means exhaustive—not even close—but a scattershot of games, presented in no particular order, that left me thinking, asking questions, wondering how my students would respond, and imagining otherwise.
Atuel (Matajuegos, 2022)
A self-described “surrealist documentary game,” Atuel is a colorful, beautiful, and meditative rendering of the Atuel River located western, central Argentina running from the Andes Mountains through the southern part of the province of Mendoza into La Pampa before emptying into the Desaguadero River. The player occupies a range of avatars—water in the river, a school of fish, a cloud, a fox, a hawk, and even a raindrop—which flow, drift, run, and fly through the landscape. The player is offered occasional choices and actions as they progress through the terrain. The game is reminiscent of Thatgamecompany’s Flower (2009), particularly in its commentary on the relationship between humanity and the environment. Waters from the Atuel have been used for farming, ranching, hydroelectric power, and the Atuel Canyon is a major tourist attraction. Akin to a “walking simulator,” this “river simulator” combines impressionistic visuals, ambient music, and voiceover interviews with historians, biologists, geologists, and indigenous people. The game can be played in English or Spanish.
A Taste of the Past (Sondering Studio, 2022)
Written by Emily Pitcher, A Taste of the Past is a free-to-play 2D narrative side-scroller about Mei, a Chinese American high schooler whose mother has recently passed away. The game opens with Mei riding a train with a worn book of recipes on her lap. She falls asleep and wakes to find herself on a train in the afterlife where she encounters and interacts with the spirits of her ancestors. The game is a gentle, dreamy story about grief mixed with a few simple puzzles and cooking mini-games. As Mei recovers her mother’s recipes for longevity noodles and steamed dumplings, she uncovers generational knowledge, cultural tradition, and self-confidence. A Taste of the Past is simple yet poignant and has the feel of a Studio Ghibli film.
Skábma: Snowfall (Red Stage Entertainment, 2022)
Skábma: Snowfall is one of my favorite games out of the bunch and is inspired by the language, stories, and culture of the Sámi, the Indigenous people of Northern Europe whose homeland extends through Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia. Like other First Nations and Indigenous peoples, the Sámi and their lifeways have been and continue to be threatened by colonization, globalization, and environmental and economic destruction. According to the game’s writer and Red Stage cofounder Marjaana Auranen, whose Sámi name is Eira-Teresá Joret Mariánná, “There is so much loss of culture inside the Sámi community…That is, I think, the biggest motivation of telling this story—[to show] that there is hope to regain a culture, and battle against the demons…threatening Sámi culture” (as qtd. in Wired). This single player adventure role-playing game follows Áilu, a young Sámi who must stop a mysterious “disorder” threatening Sámiland and restore balance to the natural world. Áilu finds a magical Noaidi (healer) drum and must use it to fight the danger and darkness spreading across the land by finding the four Familiar Spirits—Skuolfi the Owl, Guovža the Bear, Čámsa the Trout, and Rieban the Fox. The use of the drum is my favorite mechanic of the game: the player clicks either mouse button to tap out a beat, and as long as they continue to play, the magic of the drum reveals clues, animals, spirits, and which way Áilu must go. (Moreover, any game where you can stop just to pet a reindeer is a win in my book.)
Stamped: An Anti-Racist Travel Game (Kawika Guillermo, 2022)
Adapted from Kawika Guillermo’s novel Stamped: An Anti-Travel Novel, this interactive fiction game follows the escapades and experiences of six young travelers as they move from one Asian city to another. The game opens on January 10, 2008 in Bangkok as Skyler and his friends discuss the possibility of Barack Obama winning the US presidency. Though the player occupies the point of view of Skyler, a biracial Filipino, the different chapters reveal the backgrounds, dramas, and motivations of each of the other characters—for example, Sophea’s trauma while working for an NGO in Cambodia or Arthur’s disastrous marriage in China. In between each chapter, the game is punctuated by passages from Skyler’s journals, musings on their own past, present, and future. The game deftly mixes genres, photos, formats, and narratives to think about race, gender, sexuality, class, poverty, privilege, citizenship, and nation. As a visual novel, there are few choices offered to the player-reader, but part of the constraints of the game mirror the constraints of the story. Currently, Stamped is only a demo, offering the first four “levels,” but the developer hopes to complete the game in early 2023.
ValiDate: Struggling Singles in Your Area (Veritable Joy Studios, 2022)
Another visual novel game comes from Veritable Joy Studios: ValiDate: Struggling Singles in Your Area follows thirteen twenty-somethings in the fictionalized “Jercy City” area. The first volume of the game features four playable characters: Malik Paterson (he/him), a 26-year-old Ghanaian man, a manager at Bopeye’s, and an aspiring rap artist; Inaya Saifi (she/they), a 25 year-old chef and live-streamer, who struggles with her Pakistani mother; Emhari Abdi (she/he), a 28-year-old HR specialist, who is Qatari-South African, divorced, and parent to two children; and Isabelle Morrigan, a 27-year-old theater teacher, who lives at her parent’s home with her extended Cuban-Chilean family. According to the developer, “My team and I wanted to flip the script and make a game that shows characters of color as the main characters, not just side characters or caricatures. We want players of color to see that they can star in games if the people behind those games care” (as qtd. in BlerdyOtome). Though there are limited choices in the game—which unlock “good” or “bad” endings for each chapter, ValiDate offers fully developed characters, histories, and realistic hopes, desires, challenges, and situations. The game explores the intersections of Black and Brown identities, stereotypes, relationships, queerness, bodies, family, traditions, and what it means to grow up in a racist, sexist, and often phobic world. It is so important that a game and developers of color unapologetically foreground the stories, embodiments, and desires they want to see in a vibrant and exuberant way. (Hilariously, you can play a fishing mini-game on the characters’ phones.
Butterfly Soup 2 (Brianna Lei, 2022)
Butterfly Soup 2 is the sequel to Brianna Lei’s original Butterfly Soup, which was released in 2017. Butterfly Soup 2 is set in 2009, a year after the first game, and is described as a “romantic sports visual novel” about four Asian American teens in the San Francisco Bay Area. As the story progresses, the game shifts between the points of view of Diya, Min-seo, Noelle, and Akarsha. The game opens from the perspective of Akarsha, who is from an Indian family and has a crush on Noelle. The game is quick, chaotic, funny, and heartfelt; it is inspired by and evokes the slapstick goofiness and teen angst of yuri (girls’ love) manga and anime. (The warbly, off-key recorder cover of “My Heart Will Go On” is amazing.). The game explores teen relationships, friendships, intergenerational differences, Asian and Asian American identities and cultures, homophobia, racism, and popular culture. Like the other visual novels featured here, Butterfly Soup 2 provides a few narrative choices that do not affect the outcome of the story. The game play is about exploring each of the character’s personalities, flaws, and foibles all the while experiencing second-hand embarrassment from all of their cringeworthy moments. While I recognize I may not be the precise target audience of both Butterfly Soups, I very much appreciate the games’ youthful sincerity and disaster lesbian energy.
Lucky Yu (Mike Ren, 2022)
I have written about a number of Mike Ren’s games including Yellow Face (2019) and Night Flyer: A Bat’s Journey (2020). Ren’s newest game Lucky Yu (literally “Lucky Fish”) is a one-button fishing game that transforms Ren’s mother’s hand-painted traditional Chinese black ink art into the backgrounds and settings of the game. The player uses the space bar to cast the fishing lure and line, hoping to entice once of the inky fish in the water, and once hooked, the space bar is used to reel in the catch. The player must manage the tension of the line, which turns red if fish is fighting too hard. As the player collects different kinds of fish, ambient music swirls in the background punctuated simple drums and the tock-tock-tock of a muyu (literally “wood fish”), a Chinese woodblock instrument. While Lucky Yu gives me flashbacks to all of the hours spent leveling up fishing World of Warcraft, the game is sweet, meditative, and beautifully illustrated.
Mothmen 1966 (LCB Game Studio, 2022)
My friend and colleague Paul Shovlin inspired this selection. Paul loves cryptids, spooky folktales, and other regional lore—so much so I invited him to give a talk about cryptids at Ohio University. One of Paul’s favorite creatures: the Mothman of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Inspired by the Mothman legends, Fernando Martínez Ruppel and Nico Saraintaris of LCB Game Studio, two indie developers from Argentina making “Pixel Pulps,” created Mothmen 1966. The game is a visual novel inspired by 20th century pulp fiction and old school 80s computer graphics. Set during the Leonid meteor shower of 1966, the game follows three main characters: Holt, an “old freak” who manages a backwoods gas station, and Lee and Victoria, troubled lovers who stop at Holt’s. Mothmen 1966 is creepy, atmospheric, and tense, painted in green, gray, and black pixels. The game switches between character perspectives offering different versions of the same events. As the mystery unfolds, occasional choose-your-own-adventure style action sequences are fast-paced and often result in sudden death. While the game does not directly address questions of race or ethnicity, it does think about the genres of horror and noir, gender, perception, and definitions of the monstrous. I will have to ask Paul whether or not the lore of the game does the Mothman legend justice.
Spellbook Demonslayers (Xendra, 2022)
This last game is just for fun. Spellbook Demonslayers is an action, bullet hell-type role-playing game. Players begin with the character Tammy, a Living Spellbook Companion gifted with certain abilities. When the first level opens, the player must use the Companion’s magical powers to destroy multitudes of different kinds of demons attacking the Cosmic Library. As enemies are killed, they drop gems, which allow the character to learn new spells and gain upgrades to their powers. The goal is to grow in magic and might and to last as long as possible against the increasingly more difficult hordes of demons. Reaching certain checkpoints opens different Companions with different starting abilities. While light on plot, Spellbook Demonslayers is fun, frenetic, and strangely satisfying as you mow down wave after wave of bad guys.
Part of the Games of Color Column: The column aims to foreground, highlight, and engage with BIPOC games, gamers, scholars, designers, and artists. Given that games code and encode, render and represent social, cultural, political, even pedagogical norms, we hope to address the problems and possibilities of this medium we enjoy. Once or twice a month, we will think, talk, and play through the ways that games and gaming communities must reckon with race, difference, diversity, and equity. For more information or to contribute, contact Contributing Editor Edmond Chang.
