GayBlade is a video game developed by Ryan Best and released in 1992. It has been thought to be the earliest LGBT-themed video game, but was preceded by 1989's Caper in the Castro. In the 2020 Netflix documentary, High Score, Ryan Best claimed that the game was lost as he misplaced the masters to the game. The game was later found with the help of the LGBTQ Video Game Archive. The player has to fight hordes of enemies including rednecks and homophobes. The final boss of the game is conservative commentator and politician Pat Buchanan.
Reviews View More
man what the fuck
Played during the Backloggd’s Game of the Week (18th Jul. – 24th Jul., 2023).
Attempts to find the first 'representation' of a given group in fiction amount at best to historical anecdote [1] – and at worst to ideological invention – insofar as the contours of any social group are fluid. Tracking down the first representation of kathoey in Thai cinema, for example, would be a complex task because the term encompasses so many different realities – so far removed from Western categorisation. Effeminate men, trans women and intersex people can all be found in this group, which has been a classic archetype of the buffoon in films and series since the post-war years [2]. The consensus is that the turning point in representation came with Phisan Akraseranee's Phleng sut-thai (1985), which followed the social turn in Thai cinema and offered a tragic vision of kathoey – mistreated by society and forced to commit suicide – instead of simple comic relief.
Contours of LGBT studies on cultural production
Does this make Phleng sut-thai the first sensitive representation of kathoey on screen? Some argue that Satri lek (2000), with its positive portrayal, should be given this status [3]. In a sense, the matter is secondary: it is more useful to understand the socio-cultural transformations that help to explain shifts in cultural production, both in isolated instances and in more widespread trends. The same principles can be applied to the first wave of American LGBT games. These were motivated by socio-political and cultural transformations in the United States, and offered a range of responses to the difficulties faced by LGBT communities during the extended Reagan era [4]. Just as Caper in the Castro was a tribute to the homonymous neighbourhood and a response to institutional inaction regarding AIDS, GayBlade is intended to be a cathartic response to the consolidation of the culture war promoted by Patrick J. Buchanan.
On the 17th of August 1992, Buchanan's speech to the Republican National Convention marked an ideological turning point in conservative circles, although he adopted a more 'democratic' tone than usual, by highlighting the ideological divide in the country without directly attacking minorities [5]. This speech cemented the ideological conflict that had gripped the United States since the 1960s. Buchanan had been working on this project for a long time; in his political prescriptions Right from the Beginning (1988), he is particularly violent towards the LGBT community, as they represent a transgression of what he considers to be the sacred order of the United States [6]. In many ways, Buchanan epitomised Republican political extremism – so much so that he was largely rejected by the moderate faction in the 1996 primaries. The violence that Buchanan instigated can be seen in everyday life and in the new American mentalities – it lies at the heart of the genesis of GayBlade. Ryan Best explains that the production of the game was a response to the harassment he suffered during his high school years in suburban Illinois, and that it was a way of exorcising his experiences: the purpose of the title was simply to put on an image and destroy what had caused his distress [7].
Cathartic and personal screams
In this respect, GayBlade is a far cry from the haloed image portrayed by High Score. The title is a very unimpressive variation on the formula of Wizardry (1981); its design suffers from the inexperience of its creator, who fails to communicate all the essential information needed to progress. Character creation is particularly cryptic and painful: rolling statistics follows incomprehensible probabilities and favours small outcomes, while the choice of classes is opaque because Best has replaced their usual names with 'Queer', 'Gypsy', 'Lesbian' and the like, without giving the slightest explanation. The same lack of clarity is evident when it comes to purchasing equipment, with the player having no idea what the various weapons are or what they do.
Exploring the dungeon is hardly more enjoyable as the subjective perspective is so clumsily implemented: the player constantly feels as if they are visually moving across two tiles, ruining any hope of drawing a proper map. Battles are miserable, boiling down to pressing the same attack button and hoping to emerge victorious. Therein lies the problem: traps abound, as do opportunities to take damage for no apparent reason – even walking into a wall will take one HP from a random character. Ultimately, GayBlade is unbearable in every way, reducing the LGBT player to merely reliving the frustration and oppression experienced in real life. Unlike Caper in the Castro, the title does not feature any strong LGBT characters with aspirations of their own, instead sprinkling its defective dungeon-crawling experience with a handful of camp archetypes. The numerous slurs hurled by enemies each time they attack only serve to alienate the player, unwittingly replicating the same experience in the flesh, to the point where GayBlade almost comes across as an offensive parody of the LGBT struggle.
This was certainly not Best's intention, whose efforts are evident, but his expression of anger at the symbols of institutional oppression – from the media to politicians – is ultimately clumsy. But there is something almost endearing about this personal performance, which ironically underlines – in its harshness – Buchanan's sickening legacy, still widely felt today [8]. A product of despair, GayBlade stands in stark contrast to later, more positive games such as Foobar Versus the DEA (1996) and especially Furcadia (1996), which provided a real creative outlet for the LGBT and furry communities by encouraging the use of mods, with all the positive and negative consequences it entails. GayBlade is perhaps less relevant on its own, and should instead be placed in a galaxy of games published between the late 1980s and the 1990s, as part of an overall trend that underlines the socio-cultural changes in the United States, the affirmation of a counter-culture and the critique of institutions.
__________
[1] I will not discuss the floating and undoubtedly misleading chronology of Ryan Best's account, which undermines the importance of GayBlade as a precursor to LGBT games, doubtless acquired after the rediscovery of the game and France Costrel's documentary High Score (2020). On the topic, see CRPG Addict, 'What I Can Tell You About DragonBlade, GayBlade, and Citadel of the Dead', 3rd April 2020, consulted on 20th July 2023.
[2] The term kathoey is still widely misunderstood by Westerners, who clumsily translate it as 'ladyboy'. The term goes beyond this simple definition and refers to a range of legal, cultural and economic realities. It should be emphasised that Western LGBT categories are usually incapable of translating foreign experiences. In Asia, Filipino kabaklaan and Indonesian béncong/waria also construct unique relationships to masculinity and gender.
[3] Oradaol Kaewprasert insists that there was a first wave of queer Thai cinema in the 1980s, but that: 'even though these films allowed audiences to empathize with their characters, some characterization of queers in the films still replicated stereotypes of queer people as [...] screaming, miserable, suicidal and so on' (Oradaol Kaewprasert, 'The very first series of Thai queer cinemas: what was happening in the 1980s?', presented at the 1st International Conference of Asian Queer Studies, Bangkok, 2005, p. 1).
[4] I mention various contextual elements in my reviews of A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985), Caper in the Castro (1989) and Foobar Versus the DEA (1996).
[5] Of particular note is the passage: 'My friends, this election is about more than who gets what. It is about who we are. It is about what we believe, and what we stand for as Americans. There is a religious war going on in this country. It is a cultural war. [...] And in that struggle for the soul of America, Clinton & Clinton are on the other side, and George Bush is on our side' (Patrick J. Buchanan, 'Culture War Speech: Address to the Republican National Convention', 1992).
[6] On the topic, see Mark P. Worrell, 'The Veil of Piacular Subjectivity: Buchananism and the New World Order', in Electronic Journal of Sociology, vol. 4, no. 3, 1999.
[7] LGBTQ Video Game Archive, 'GayBlade', 18th June 2018, consulted on 20th July 2023.
[8] Mark Davis, '"Culture Is Inseparable from Race": Culture Wars from Pat Buchanan to Milo Yiannopoulos', in M/C Journal, vol. 21, no. 5, 2018.
Attempts to find the first 'representation' of a given group in fiction amount at best to historical anecdote [1] – and at worst to ideological invention – insofar as the contours of any social group are fluid. Tracking down the first representation of kathoey in Thai cinema, for example, would be a complex task because the term encompasses so many different realities – so far removed from Western categorisation. Effeminate men, trans women and intersex people can all be found in this group, which has been a classic archetype of the buffoon in films and series since the post-war years [2]. The consensus is that the turning point in representation came with Phisan Akraseranee's Phleng sut-thai (1985), which followed the social turn in Thai cinema and offered a tragic vision of kathoey – mistreated by society and forced to commit suicide – instead of simple comic relief.
Contours of LGBT studies on cultural production
Does this make Phleng sut-thai the first sensitive representation of kathoey on screen? Some argue that Satri lek (2000), with its positive portrayal, should be given this status [3]. In a sense, the matter is secondary: it is more useful to understand the socio-cultural transformations that help to explain shifts in cultural production, both in isolated instances and in more widespread trends. The same principles can be applied to the first wave of American LGBT games. These were motivated by socio-political and cultural transformations in the United States, and offered a range of responses to the difficulties faced by LGBT communities during the extended Reagan era [4]. Just as Caper in the Castro was a tribute to the homonymous neighbourhood and a response to institutional inaction regarding AIDS, GayBlade is intended to be a cathartic response to the consolidation of the culture war promoted by Patrick J. Buchanan.
On the 17th of August 1992, Buchanan's speech to the Republican National Convention marked an ideological turning point in conservative circles, although he adopted a more 'democratic' tone than usual, by highlighting the ideological divide in the country without directly attacking minorities [5]. This speech cemented the ideological conflict that had gripped the United States since the 1960s. Buchanan had been working on this project for a long time; in his political prescriptions Right from the Beginning (1988), he is particularly violent towards the LGBT community, as they represent a transgression of what he considers to be the sacred order of the United States [6]. In many ways, Buchanan epitomised Republican political extremism – so much so that he was largely rejected by the moderate faction in the 1996 primaries. The violence that Buchanan instigated can be seen in everyday life and in the new American mentalities – it lies at the heart of the genesis of GayBlade. Ryan Best explains that the production of the game was a response to the harassment he suffered during his high school years in suburban Illinois, and that it was a way of exorcising his experiences: the purpose of the title was simply to put on an image and destroy what had caused his distress [7].
Cathartic and personal screams
In this respect, GayBlade is a far cry from the haloed image portrayed by High Score. The title is a very unimpressive variation on the formula of Wizardry (1981); its design suffers from the inexperience of its creator, who fails to communicate all the essential information needed to progress. Character creation is particularly cryptic and painful: rolling statistics follows incomprehensible probabilities and favours small outcomes, while the choice of classes is opaque because Best has replaced their usual names with 'Queer', 'Gypsy', 'Lesbian' and the like, without giving the slightest explanation. The same lack of clarity is evident when it comes to purchasing equipment, with the player having no idea what the various weapons are or what they do.
Exploring the dungeon is hardly more enjoyable as the subjective perspective is so clumsily implemented: the player constantly feels as if they are visually moving across two tiles, ruining any hope of drawing a proper map. Battles are miserable, boiling down to pressing the same attack button and hoping to emerge victorious. Therein lies the problem: traps abound, as do opportunities to take damage for no apparent reason – even walking into a wall will take one HP from a random character. Ultimately, GayBlade is unbearable in every way, reducing the LGBT player to merely reliving the frustration and oppression experienced in real life. Unlike Caper in the Castro, the title does not feature any strong LGBT characters with aspirations of their own, instead sprinkling its defective dungeon-crawling experience with a handful of camp archetypes. The numerous slurs hurled by enemies each time they attack only serve to alienate the player, unwittingly replicating the same experience in the flesh, to the point where GayBlade almost comes across as an offensive parody of the LGBT struggle.
This was certainly not Best's intention, whose efforts are evident, but his expression of anger at the symbols of institutional oppression – from the media to politicians – is ultimately clumsy. But there is something almost endearing about this personal performance, which ironically underlines – in its harshness – Buchanan's sickening legacy, still widely felt today [8]. A product of despair, GayBlade stands in stark contrast to later, more positive games such as Foobar Versus the DEA (1996) and especially Furcadia (1996), which provided a real creative outlet for the LGBT and furry communities by encouraging the use of mods, with all the positive and negative consequences it entails. GayBlade is perhaps less relevant on its own, and should instead be placed in a galaxy of games published between the late 1980s and the 1990s, as part of an overall trend that underlines the socio-cultural changes in the United States, the affirmation of a counter-culture and the critique of institutions.
__________
[1] I will not discuss the floating and undoubtedly misleading chronology of Ryan Best's account, which undermines the importance of GayBlade as a precursor to LGBT games, doubtless acquired after the rediscovery of the game and France Costrel's documentary High Score (2020). On the topic, see CRPG Addict, 'What I Can Tell You About DragonBlade, GayBlade, and Citadel of the Dead', 3rd April 2020, consulted on 20th July 2023.
[2] The term kathoey is still widely misunderstood by Westerners, who clumsily translate it as 'ladyboy'. The term goes beyond this simple definition and refers to a range of legal, cultural and economic realities. It should be emphasised that Western LGBT categories are usually incapable of translating foreign experiences. In Asia, Filipino kabaklaan and Indonesian béncong/waria also construct unique relationships to masculinity and gender.
[3] Oradaol Kaewprasert insists that there was a first wave of queer Thai cinema in the 1980s, but that: 'even though these films allowed audiences to empathize with their characters, some characterization of queers in the films still replicated stereotypes of queer people as [...] screaming, miserable, suicidal and so on' (Oradaol Kaewprasert, 'The very first series of Thai queer cinemas: what was happening in the 1980s?', presented at the 1st International Conference of Asian Queer Studies, Bangkok, 2005, p. 1).
[4] I mention various contextual elements in my reviews of A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985), Caper in the Castro (1989) and Foobar Versus the DEA (1996).
[5] Of particular note is the passage: 'My friends, this election is about more than who gets what. It is about who we are. It is about what we believe, and what we stand for as Americans. There is a religious war going on in this country. It is a cultural war. [...] And in that struggle for the soul of America, Clinton & Clinton are on the other side, and George Bush is on our side' (Patrick J. Buchanan, 'Culture War Speech: Address to the Republican National Convention', 1992).
[6] On the topic, see Mark P. Worrell, 'The Veil of Piacular Subjectivity: Buchananism and the New World Order', in Electronic Journal of Sociology, vol. 4, no. 3, 1999.
[7] LGBTQ Video Game Archive, 'GayBlade', 18th June 2018, consulted on 20th July 2023.
[8] Mark Davis, '"Culture Is Inseparable from Race": Culture Wars from Pat Buchanan to Milo Yiannopoulos', in M/C Journal, vol. 21, no. 5, 2018.
A neat piece of history, but not a tremendously fun experience
So like, It seems kinda cool, just a lgbt rpg, maybe the first of its kind. It's just a basic table top rpg as far as i could tell, but i couldnt get that far because it is a old table top based rpg, so you just die to the first encounter you find.