To lazily point to a Wikipedia article to explain my choice of words in the title of this collection... in sociology, "Passing is the ability of a person to be regarded as a member of an identity group or category, such as racial identity, ethnicity, caste, social class, sexual orientation, gender, religion, age and/or disability status, that is often different from their own."
These games, stories, and other creations are about nonhumans who pass as, disguise themselves as, or are taken for humans.
If the story focuses on the discomfort of trying to fit in, it can be a metaphor what it feels like to pass as one of the groups listed in the sociological definition. Using a nonhuman fantasy metaphor instead of a literal real-world marginalized group helps the audience imagine themselves in a different role than their own and think for themselves about how the story might be similar to various real-world groups.
If the story focuses on how strange human life can seem when viewed from a nonhuman's perspective, then it can help the audience to see things that they take for granted in their daily lives. Making the familiar feel strange is a narrative device called defamiliarization.
In some cases, these stories can be about literally feeling as though you are a foreigner to human society.
Here are some other itch.io collections that might interest you for similar reasons as this one:
This collection is part of a series of curated collections of itch.io creations for alterhumans.
Content: Rated G.
Medium: TTRPG.
Story: You are young monsters who go trick or treating in the human world, without the humans knowing that's what they are.
Medium: TTRPG.
Story: You are a stack of creatures in a Halloween costume. This is a competitive sequel to Totally Real Human Adult.
Content: Rated PG.
Medium: A TTRPG. The instructions are one page. For at least one player, plus the GM (goat master).
Story: You are a goat and you want to party. The humans are throwing a party and no goats are allowed. Sneak in by any means necessary. Have a hell of a time and spread chaos without them realizing you're a goat.
Vibe: Bizarre over-the-top comedy mischief.
Content: Rated G. Friendly for all ages.
Medium: Tabletop role-playing game. For a Game Master and 2+ players.
Story: "You and your Skeleton Crew are the minions of the great and powerful Necromancer! Your duty is to fulfill their wishes to the best of your ability, the only problem is Necromancy is forbidden, so you must pretend to be human while out in public spaces."
Content: Rated G.
Medium: A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) with a single page of rules for 2-10 players, plus a game master. Each of you will play one of the animals in the coat as you cooperate. (Alternatively, you split into two or more teams, and compete against each other.) Depending on where you are in the stack, you have different responsibilities. For example, the animals on top do the talking, and the animals in the middle operate the hands.
Story: You are one animal in a stack of animals in a coat. Do everyday errands or jobs without anyone discovering that that's what you are. I love this game's tagline, "What is a (hu)man... but a miserable pile of animals?"
Content: Unrated. Warning that it may agitate social anxiety.
Medium: A computer game.
Accessibility notes: In the options, you can turn off screen shake and background animation.
Story: You are a coat full of rats. When you talk to your human friends, make sure you say the right things that won't make them upset... which can only be learned through trial and error, and is unique to each of your human friends. Each time you mess up, you have to do more to hold yourself together.
Metaphor: This is meant to be about social anxiety. It conveys that talking with your friends can feel like a high-stakes puzzle that you can never master.
Vibe: similar to the sense of comedic but genuine tension that you get when you're supposed to play each verse of a song faster and faster without making any mistakes.
Content: Rated PG.
Medium: A solo journaling tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) based on the format of Wretched & Alone, in which random elements are introduced by drawing cards to get a prompt to journal about, and using a tumbling block tower (Jenga) to determine when the end arrives.
Story: Horror fantasy. You find yourself in a mysterious place and unfamiliar body. Wondering how this happened and what you can do, you begin to explore, but it's dangerous.
Metaphor: Inspired by alterhuman experiences.
Vibe: Dark, pensive, and lonely.
Content: Rated G. Friendly for all ages.
Medium: A solo tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG).
Story: You are a dragon trying to go to a human festival without them knowing.
Metaphor: Inspired by draconic alterhuman experiences.
Vibe: Mischief.
Content: Rated G. The game page gives some content warnings, but they're for optional parts of the game.
Medium: A a one-page rules-lite TTRPG.
Story: You are a bird. To save your endangered rain forest, you magically transform into the likeness of a human from a book of fiction, and try to enter human society. If you could lose all memory of being a bird, then you will be stuck as a human, wandering the world with a feeling that you don't belong.
Metaphor: The game designer doesn't say what real-world situation they intended the human-passing themes to represent. I get the impression that the focus is on self-sacrifice in pursuit of a larger cause.
Content: Unrated. I haven't tried it yet, so explore with caution.
Medium: A solo journaling tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG).
About: You play a changeling as their loved ones find out that they are secretly a fairy.
Metaphor: It's meant to be about autism, ableism, and the pain of pretending to be neurotypical.
Content: Rated G? I haven't played this yet.
Medium: Computer game.
Story: You are a secret octopus doing his best to fit into a world made for folks who have bones. Everyday tasks are difficult for him. He's a good guy, but he's afraid that if people find out he's an octopus, he'll be rejected by everyone, even his human family.
Metaphor: The game developers talked about how interesting it was to them that players related to the human-passing themes as a metaphor for a variety of real-world situations. For example, impostor syndrome, various disabilities, and being in the closet about being LGBTQIA.
