This is my hand-curated collection of 15 games, books, and more by creators on itch.io that are about polyamory. Polyamorous relationships have more than two partners, whether they are closed triads, open monogamous relationships, relationship anarchy, or other bespoke relationship arrangements.
This collection is part of my directory of other people's creations on itch.io, Curated Collections of LGBTQIA, where you can find more collections about other topics. I personally select and review each creation in them to make sure they express queer positivity, authenticity, and quality, even if they are different than my own views or experiences as a queer person myself. If you want to ask me to add or remove your creations from my collections, or if you have other comments, you can email me.
- Orion Scribner (they/them)
Content: Rated PG.
Medium: A computer game, sort of a short visual novel. It can run in your web browser.
Length: About ten minutes.
Genre: Slice of life. Educational.
About: As described by the creator, TweedleDim,
"Laura kissed a guy at a party a few days ago and she hasn't stopped thinking about him since. She'd like to see him again but Laura has a boyfriend. What will she do? Tell her boyfriend? See the guy in secret? Forget all about him?"
As a reviewer, although this is a single player game, I enjoyed it the best as a conversation piece that I played together with my friends as we talked about what we thought of the characters' dialog and choices, and each of our perspectives from our own experiences. I get the feeling that's exactly the kind of conversation this game is meant for, and it succeeds at it!
LGBTQIA themes: Polyamory, specifically an open couple, if you choose that course. The main character pairings are straight.
Content: Rated PG.
Medium: A computer game created with GB Studio. It can run in your web browser. You can also download the GameBoy ROM to play on a handheld game.
Genre: Platform game. Fantasy, romance, horror, and comedy.
Length: Half an hour.
About: As described by the creator, Mx. Paige Ashlynn,
"Stheno the gorgon wants her girlfriend Alraune to move in, but to accommodate a plantgirl Stheno's room needs an overhaul! Hopefully their castle community can provide everything they need to make the space comfy for both of them! Explore the Midnight Palace, ask your girlfriends and other monstergirls for help, and make the perfect two-lady lovenest! You might have to avoid some nasty traps or trounce a creepy human along the way, but in the end love always wins!"
LGBTQIA themes: Lesbians and women loving women. Polyamory.
Mood: Fun.
Content: Rated PG-13.
Medium: A computer game created with RPG Maker, though the game play is that of a visual novel rather than an RPG. It can run in your web browser.
Genre: Nonfiction. Slice of life.
Length: About five or ten minutes to explore all choices.
About: This is based on the personal experiences of the game designer and their partner each seeking permanent sterilization. One wants a tubal ligation (rather, a salpingectomy), and the other wants a vasectomy. They talk with their doctors about options for contraception, that this is the best choice for them, and how sure they are that they never want children. As often happens, the doctors show sexist expectations by pushing back against one partner and not the other. Doctors expect that people with wombs surely want babies someday.
LGBTQIA themes: Transgender, trans masculine, and nonbinary people. Polyamory.
Content: Rated G.
Medium: A book, a light novel with some illustrations.
Genre: Slice-of-life fiction with some fantasy and romance elements.
Length: 64 pages.
About: In the beginning of this first volume of a series by Alex Zandra, three college friends rescue a cat, who reveals that she is a divine being and rewards them by granting them each a wish. They surprise themselves by all choosing the same wish: to become a cat girl like her. This story follows their everyday lives as they adjust to this change and learn more about themselves.
LGBTQIA themes: Transgender women and trans feminine people. Lesbians and women loving women. Polyamory.
Mood: Cozy, loving.
Content: Unrated. I haven't read this yet.
Medium/length: Book, a 15k word novella.
Genre: Fiction, fantasy, romance.
About: As described by the author, Verse,
"WHAT MAKES A SOULMATE?
"Fenn does not put much stock in this whole soulmate business, so he does not see anything morally awry with his profession. Fenn works as a tattoo artist, where he is paid to brand others with illegal fake soulmarks.
"Or, rather, he once worked as a tattoo artist.
"A close encounter with the local police forces him to close his shop. Without his job or home, he must rely on his wits and best friends to find a way out of the resulting mess. But Dom and Bark have their own share of troubles, as Fenn comes to learn through the days spent hiding out at their apartment.
"How does one rebuild their life after losing everything? Who reported him? And why does it feel as if his friends are hiding something?"
LGBTQIA themes: Polyamory. The author tells me that a main character has an intersex condition, a form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).
Content: PG. Refers to whether sex or sexual attraction are part of a relationship, but doesn’t go into detail.
Medium: Book, zine.
Genre: Nonfiction.
About: A thorough introduction to what queerplatonic relationships are, with the story from the author’s personal experience in one. Relevant laws in the US. Common questions, whether it’s part of being asexual, queer, or polyamorous, and how to be an ally.
Mood: Informative, factual.
Content: Rated G.
Medium: An instruction book for a physical game, a tabletop role-playing game. You and your friends play it with pencil, paper, and six-sided dice.
Number of players: Three to six players, with no game master.
Genre: Romantic comedy.
About: The players collaborate to create silly randomized queer characters and put them in complicated polyamorous relationships with each other. (This is inspired by the surrealist parlour game Exquisite Corpse, where players take turns drawing different parts of a picture without being able to see the parts that the others drew until it's finished.) This version of the game is free, and the creators sell an expanded version of it.
Vibe: Fun.
Content: Rated PG-13.
Medium: One page of instructions for a physical game, a rules-light tabletop role-playing game, a collaborative storytelling game.
Number of players: Three players, plus a game master (the force of nature).
Genre: Romantic comedy and horror.
About: You are a lesbian werewolf thruple, and you've just gotten to the beach. "This trio of werewolves loves each other very much, and they cannot talk about their feelings to save their lives."
Content: Rated PG. Body horror and gore.
Medium: Instructions for a physical game. This can be read rather than actually played, but you can try to play it through metaphor and role-play.
Genre: Science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Number of players: Play this with three people who love one another.
About: As described by the game creator, "A game about vulnerability and becoming wholly (holy) one with those you love." Strip away your outer selves, share your inner selves, and then reassemble yourselves intertwined.
Vibe: Acceptance of the strange.
Content: Rated G.
Medium: Comic book.
Genre: Nonfiction, memoir, slice of life.
Length: 12 pages. About a ten minute read.
About, as described by the cartoonist:
"I'm queer, auDHD and you're telling me to be aware of the time? Join me with my polycule as I participate in Hourly Comic Day with this 12-page PDF!"
Queer themes: polyamory
Content: Rated G.
Medium: Physical game. The instructions fit on one sheet of paper, front and back.
Genre: Fantasy.
About: You're is on a road trip to kiss a member of your polycule: the moon!
Content: Rated R. "The game features an optional sexually explicit section, which requires the player’s consent before moving forward, and can be skipped in its entirety. The Abridged PDF removes this scene as well."
Medium: "a digital comic with light choose-your-own adventure mechanics". More than 130 full color comic book pages.
Genre: Romance.
About: "... an award-winning interactive graphic novel telling the story of ... two men, with two polar opposite sexualities, working together toward one mutually fulfilling relationship."
Queer themes: Polyamory. Gray-asexuality. Men loving men.
Mood: "gentle, optimistic, and optionally erotic".
Content: Rated PG.
Medium: A booklet.
Length: 10 pages.
About: "Generate the properties of a polycule using random dice tables, for use in a roleplaying game or fiction you're writing or whatever else!"
Content: Unrated.
Medium: Computer game. It can run in your web browser. It is playable, but its development is on hold.
About: "The invasion is happening. Your loves are away. Find them. This game is a strategic polyamorous love quest. You play an engineer on a quest to find your two loves during a time of war. You cannot fight, so it may be wise to avoid any armed forces."
Content: Rated R, 18+.
Medium: Book. An illustrated memoir.
About a long-term relationship between three men within a plural system.
Content: Unrated.
Medium: A huge and extremely complex visual novel created with Ren'py. Ten hours long, with replay value, because it has many meaningful choices.
Story: A high fantasy political mystery and romance.
Relevance: The woman protagonist has many options for romantic, platonic, and polyamorous relationships.
Content: Rated PG-13.
Accessibility: There is no audio, so it's friendly to Deaf/HoH players. The light pastel color scheme would be difficult for people with low vision or sensitive to eye strain.
Medium: A computer game created in Bitsy. It runs in your browser.
Genre and subject: Fiction. Ghost story.
Length: About fifteen minutes to play the whole game.
Story: You are a ghost. Your human boyfriend has a human boyfriend. You like being in a polyamorous relationship, but you feel jealous, so you're talking with your therapist about it.
Vibe: Sad, lonely, anxious, grief, hope.
