Okay, I officially love this game too much to be bashful. HARDCODED is one of my favorite games of the year. I’ve been eagerly anticipating the release date for quite some time: the game’s been in development continuously since 2017, with most of the work being done by two to three people, and was just released at the beginning of November, which makes the mere fact of its existence as a finished experience genuinely miraculous.
HARDCODED is a game for and by trans people, and it is evident in every line of dialogue, every piece of characterization, every bit of internal monologue. It is resolutely sex-positive without being exploitative or resorting to transphobic language to “raise the stakes,” and resists the urge to make the story a trans girl’s “journey to acceptance by her community;” the developer was explicit that stories that wrap up neatly rarely if ever represent the actual lived experience of most trans folks.
It’s also a porn game, which is burying the lede a bit, I know. And make no mistake, it is graphic. But it also feels incredibly welcoming and inclusive of non-“standard” (non-cis) sexual identities and behaviors. There are dozens – possibly hundreds? – of examples of trans sexuality in this game, and they’re all rendered with the kind of serene, fierce joy that only two consenting partners seem to be able to generate in bed. There are no bummers, really.
Except for CAPITALISM, THE REAL ENEMY.
I could go on and on about this game, how seen it makes me feel, how validating it is to have a thing of quality and beauty that is also overtly sexual, and unapologetically, thoroughly trans. Thank you.