There’s an ever-growing amount of LGBTQ+ representation in gaming, from AAA titles to indie gems. February may be UK pride month, but our love for these characters and games lasts all year. We’re breaking down some of our favourite LGBTQ+ inclusive games and characters.
Video games have always offered a unique form of escapism, from RPGs where you can be whoever you want, to the storylines that steal our hearts time and time again. We’re breaking down our favourite inclusive games, and of course, taking a look at some great PCs to play them on!
Life Is Strange: True Colors
The Life is Strange series has introduced us to some of the best story-based, ‘choices matter’ video game content in a decade. From deciding between a bacon omelette and Belgian waffles to how you play out life and death situations.
True Colors, the latest entry into the series, sees us take control of Alex Chen as she uses her gift to find out the truth behind her brother’s death. Alongside beautiful landscapes and the iconic graphic styling of the Life is Strange series, this is an emotional and moving masterpiece of a story. With that story comes the coming-of-age trope we all expect, two potential love interests! However, the game keeps these interests refreshingly interesting. Steph and Ryan are unique and complex characters and offer the player a choice of who they want to be with. True Colors story is centred around empathy and Alex’s bisexuality allows the player freedom.
There is no doubt that Life is Strange: True Colors is a breathtakingly beautiful game. If you’re looking to play at the best settings and resolutions possible Overclockers UK have the perfect gaming PC for any budget.
OcUK Gaming Radiance Draft Powered By ASUS Configurable PC
- Stunning All White Hardware
- Intel i9-14900KF CPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU
- 32GB DDR5 RAM
- ASUS ROG AiO Liquid-Cooler
Discover more of the Life is Strange franchise and some great laptops to enjoy this emotional adventure.
Stardew Valley
From a AAA all the way to fan favourite indie game, Stardew Valley. Developed by ConcernedApe, otherwise known as Eric Barone, Stardew Valley sees you create the farm of your dreams whilst learning to live off the land and becoming part of Pelican Towns’ 30-person strong local community. What’s more, with 12 townspeople to date, you can even meet someone special and start a family.
Stardew Valley really hit the nail on the head, becoming a massive success across all platforms. There is no doubt that part of this success can be attributed to the game’s extensive list of things to do, from preparing for festivals, fishing, mining, and even slowly dating, gifting, and falling in love with one of 12 super cute romance options.
You can choose to start a romantic relationship with 12 of the 30 Pelican Town residents:
- Shane
- Alex
- Harvey
- Penny
- Maru
- Emily
- Haley
- Sam
- Sebastian
- Leah
- Abigail
- Elliott
All of them have unique personalities, likes, and dislikes alongside their own story you’ll progress through on your way through friendship, dating, and marriage. You can pick up the ever-successful Stardew Valley on PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and even mobile on both IOS and Android.
Stardew Valley is the ideal game to play in Steam’s Big Picture Mode with a wireless controller. There’s nothing like planting some crops and heading out fishing from the comfort of your couch after a hard day’s work.
Microsoft Official Xbox Elite Wireless Controller v2 Core
- Official Xbox wireless controller
- Adjustable tension thumbsticks
- Short hair trigger locks
- Optimised design
- 40 Hour Battery Life
There are plenty more farming sims out there just waiting for you to live your best cosy life with the person of your dreams.
Forza Horizon 5
Not only is Forza Horizon 5 one of the best looking and atmospheric driving and racing games on the market, but it also features some great inclusivity.
I’ll be the first to admit when I think of inclusivity, racing games are not what immediately jumps to mind as good examples. However, Forza Horizon 5 launched with refreshingly inclusive character customisation.
Players can choose their pronouns, voice, skin colour, and even have prosthetic limbs. Additionally, the game itself is populated with a whole host of characters and locations we rarely see in the spotlight in gaming.
You can check out our full Forza Horizon 5 review and some ideal PCs to play the game!
The Sims
You can’t mention LGBTQ+ inclusivity in video games and not mention The Sims. And for good reason, not only does The Sims allow you to create your own little world, get a job as a Super-Secret Agent or even an Astronaut, but you can play as you are.
We’ve come a long way in the two decades since the iconic 1999 E3 Sims conference, where two female Sims kissed during the live demo. In that time, the Sims has developed into a giant in the gaming industry, where you can create a character that truly represents you, fall in love, get married, and even adopt children.
Notably, the latest Sims 4 DLC, My Wedding Stories, added a whole host of new wedding planning and furniture to give that special sim in your life the wedding they deserve.
The Sims is a great game to play on the go, whether you’re sitting in the back of a lecture and “taking notes” or on the train home. There is nothing better than seeing how the smaller more successful you that lives in your computer is doing. Lightweight gaming laptops have also come a long way so there’s no need to compromise on your portable gaming experience.
ASUS TUF Gaming F15 Gaming Laptop
- 15.6″ FHD 144Hz gaming laptop
- Intel Core i7-13620H CPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU
- 16GB DDR5 RAM and 1TB SSD
- 2 x 84-blade Arc Flow Fans
The Sims 4 is now free-to-play! That means you have more budget for buying expansion, game, and stuff packs, right?
Hades
Hades is one of the best roguelike action dungeon crawlers to be released in a long time. Not only did this aesthetically beautiful game with a soundtrack that will stay with you for weeks clear up during last year’s awards season, but it absolutely won over us here at Overclockers UK.
Drop-dead gorgeous, sarcastic queer icon Zagreus is the bisexual, polyamorous protagonist and hero of roguelike Hades. Both often-overlooked and underrepresented communities, our bi poly character is just a part of what makes Hades so awesome! And we’re not alone in our thinking, with Hades picking up countless awards, including winning the Readers Award and GOTY in 2021’s Gayming Awards.
Why not take on Hades from the comfort of a deviantly attractive all AMD PC work of art. The 8Pack Frame R8 has never met a more suitable match than Hades. This wall-mounted unique form factor liquid-cooled Ryzen 5900X CPU and Radeon 6800XT GPU system not only looks the part but has the horsepower to back it up.
8Pack Frame R8 Extreme Overclocked Wall Mount PC
- Gallery-quality PC build
- Wall-mounted
- Fully custom water-cooling loop
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X CPU
- AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX GPU
Hades and Hades II are games we love to play on the Steam Deck. Check out what else we’ve been playing!
More LGBTQ+ Inclusive Gameplay
More and more LGBTQ+ inclusive games are filling our libraries, and we are here for it.
Did We Miss Your Favourite?
With so many LGBTQ+ inclusive games to choose from, we’ve barely scraped the surface in this list. If we missed your favourite character, game, or storyline, let us know in the comments.
PC specs are subject to change.
- 7 min read
Robert Mullane
Author
When not working, you'll find me in VR or losing in bottom-tier Valorant matches. I write about all topic's tech and gaming with a particular focus on representation in gaming, virtual reality, and LGBTQ+ themes. If you're still not fed up with me, you can also catch me over on the Overclockers UK TikTok and YouTube accounts.
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I would’ve for sure though that cyberpunk would’ve been on here???