The Backlog: Camps, Cults, and Trans Allegories

Ascension: Transition and Silver — I haven’t read Roadside Picnic, which I’ve seen other reviewers insist this game was partially inspired by, so I can’t comment on that. But I will say it’s a wonderful trans allegory. Short, too. It can be finished in an hour and a half, though it took me nearly four cause I wanted all the endings, especially the one where they all make it out. Def worth checking out!

At Eve’s Wake — This one was…alright. I had some mixed feelings about, and not just because the lack of a skip function I love a good murder mystery,. but this one didn’t for much for me. Might revisit in the future.

Bahnsen Knights — I remember being excited for this one. I played Mothmen 1966 some time ago. Varney Lake is also on my backlog, but it might be some time before I play it. We’ll see. The game delivered, though some puzzles were pretty frustrating!

Camp Palut — It’s a short sapphic VN set in a summer camp. I could’ve saved this for next summer, but there’s no guarantee I’d even have time for it. And I wanted to get into it now before winter. The game itself was alright; I liked the art more than the story itself, which was…kinda hit or miss. The mystery was predictable, but Amy is objectively the best girl in the game.

Bonus~

Not part of the backlog, but another queer game I thoroughly enjoyed:

We Know The Devil — Another short one, shorter than Ascension, with similar themes. One of the MCs is trans, which is revealed in an interesting way. Not gonna spoil it for you. The kids are all queer and there are some references to t.A.T.u. (at least in the achievements). There’s a demo that supposedly gives insight into some things (such as the radios), but I haven’t been able to get it to work. I’ve heard the demo is included with the Switch version, at least. Even then…it’s still a hard nut to crack. Less straightforward, and requires sitting with. Not bad at all for a short game. I spent over two hours with it.