Read on Twitter
I spent 2 years editing "Honey & Hot Wax: An Anthology of Erotic Art Games" with @oh_theogony. It's a collection of analogue games about sex, queerness, & romance, & I'm super proud of it. Have a thread.
Trailer by @WisePapaGrant
#indiegames #LARP #TTRPG
Trailer by @WisePapaGrant
#indiegames #LARP #TTRPG
You can get the game from @PelgranePress or from @DriveThruRPG
All the game designers get royalties, & part of our proceeds go to sex-positive charities!
https://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/honey-hot-wax-an-anthology-of-erotic-art-games/
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/321495/Honey--Hot-Wax-An-Anthology-of-Erotic-Art-Games
Now the story and the games:
#gaming #intimacy
All the game designers get royalties, & part of our proceeds go to sex-positive charities!
https://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/honey-hot-wax-an-anthology-of-erotic-art-games/
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/321495/Honey--Hot-Wax-An-Anthology-of-Erotic-Art-Games
Now the story and the games:
#gaming #intimacy
2 years ago, I wrote "Several Miles from Heaven" for @200WordRPG, featuring stripping as a game mechanic. I thought, "What if sex acts were part of the procedures for an RPG?"
(I later made a full version of the game: https://astrolingus.itch.io/several-miles-from-heaven
Art by @teletechphilia & @mjbarrosm)
(I later made a full version of the game: https://astrolingus.itch.io/several-miles-from-heaven
Art by @teletechphilia & @mjbarrosm)
I teamed up with Lucian. "Let's make a whole anthology, some games that involve sex, some which discuss it. We can recruit a cool team. And pay them well!"
@EffingFound liked our pitch enough to give us two grants for the project. https://www.effing.org/
@EffingFound liked our pitch enough to give us two grants for the project. https://www.effing.org/
We put out a call. We wanted a diverse team. We wanted artists to take risks & get paid BEFORE finishing their pitched game (spec work is bad). We wanted to discuss an important topic. We wanted to expand what games could do.
@PelgranePress was interested in publishing. Woot!
@PelgranePress was interested in publishing. Woot!
Context was important. @metasynthie agreed to write a killer Forward for us. @maurybrown wrote a full chapter of safet & consent.
We vetted pitches, cosidering how we wanted the book to represent sexuality. @CatTHM & @vortacist helped a tonne.
We vetted pitches, cosidering how we wanted the book to represent sexuality. @CatTHM & @vortacist helped a tonne.
We had a truckload of awesome proposals! We could only pick 6 games (plus Lucian & mine), so winnowing them down was a difficult task. We paid 15 designers to make their games, then cut down & paid more to acquire 8 finished works..
Deciding on a title & cover was hard.
Deciding on a title & cover was hard.
@metasynthie wrote a super thoughtful forward about how to approach the games, & why we might want to play them!
Some of the games tackle challenging subject matter. @maurybrown wrote a thorough chapter about how to deal with them from a place of consent and emotional safety
Some of the games tackle challenging subject matter. @maurybrown wrote a thorough chapter about how to deal with them from a place of consent and emotional safety
The games we ended up with discuss sex, queerness, and relationships through a variety of lenses. The team is diverse across many axes. It's an awesome list! Gonna talk about each one!
1) @muscularpikachu is already well-known for a @DianaJonesAward, for the Jenga-romance game "Star-Crossed", & the storytelling game "For the Queen" (among others).
"Pop!" is about balloon-fetishists.
#Balloons
"Pop!" is about balloon-fetishists.
#Balloons
It treats the subject matter without judgement. "Looners are real people," Roberts writes.
The game transposes online chatroom & social media interactions onto the meatspace. You silently play anonymous internet fetishists.
It's full of heart.
The game transposes online chatroom & social media interactions onto the meatspace. You silently play anonymous internet fetishists.
It's full of heart.
2) The Echo of the Unsaid was very hard for me to write. Telling the players "now have sex" is easy; making it meaningful & artistic is not.
You play straight bros who keep hooking up...and keep adamantly refusing to talk about it.
#queer #Identity
You play straight bros who keep hooking up...and keep adamantly refusing to talk about it.
#queer #Identity
Academic reading went into it, in particular @MyOwnVelouria & @thequeerjane.
I wanted to explore unrequited, unvoiced desire & what it means about identity.
You also perform oral sex on the other player: how does this change the experience of play? Does it colour the narrative?
I wanted to explore unrequited, unvoiced desire & what it means about identity.
You also perform oral sex on the other player: how does this change the experience of play? Does it colour the narrative?
3) @QueenOvPirates & Kat Jones' "The Sleepover" is charming.
You're teens at a slumber party gossiping about what you think sex means, about crushes & 1st experiences, about awkward chats with your parents.
#Teens
You're teens at a slumber party gossiping about what you think sex means, about crushes & 1st experiences, about awkward chats with your parents.
#Teens
The game is literally a chill hangout. You gossip, do nails, play kising games. The designers created techniques to simulate kissing & the 2nd-hand embarrassment is REAL!
It's cozy and giggly and A BLAST!
It's cozy and giggly and A BLAST!
4) Follow my Lead by Susanne is about exploring and negotiating kink. What does one enjoy? How does one navigate the social world and find partners they'll have a good time with?
#kink
#kink
It's a bit of an outlier in the collection: it's a lot less about a constructed story and more about physical roleplay.
It's a wonderful, quiet game that let's you explore your body and think about what you desire.
It's a wonderful, quiet game that let's you explore your body and think about what you desire.
5) @cysdavis made the hilarious "Pass the Sugar, Please", about trying to tell your sex partners things about you wild BDSM night, but only by describing the food in front of you, lest you shock the other tea-party guests.
#BDSM #food
#BDSM #food
While it's laugh-out-loud, it discusses the importance of clear, open communication in relationships!
@NoProscenium did a nice review of the interactive theatre version that @intramersive mounted:
https://noproscenium.com/pass-the-sugar-please-is-a-treat-for-cunning-linguists-review-43232ccef2a1
@NoProscenium did a nice review of the interactive theatre version that @intramersive mounted:
https://noproscenium.com/pass-the-sugar-please-is-a-treat-for-cunning-linguists-review-43232ccef2a1
6) @oh_theogony's In The Clefts of The Rock asks you to embody an explorer of surreal landscapes as well as a landscape other explorers will navigate.
You touch each other in pre-defined ways while describing the land.
You touch each other in pre-defined ways while describing the land.
While its word-count is short, its meaning is deep. The game asks us to consider the stories, truth, & fictions we layer onto our bodies. It forces us to find meaning in touch and in the imperfections of our own anatomy.
It's also...err...amazing foreplay?
It's also...err...amazing foreplay?
7) @VioletRiotGames translates "Dracula" into a sex-game. What if Lucy & Dracula had consensual, steamy sex? What if Lucy was actually trying to shed repression and take control of their sexuality?
#vampires
#vampires
The game uses literary archetypes (plus a healthy dose of campy, dramatic flair...at least when I played it!) to explore liberation & the expression of desire.
The game encourages you to explore each others' bodies, and in doing so, tries to help you set yourself free.
The game encourages you to explore each others' bodies, and in doing so, tries to help you set yourself free.
8) In Kat Jones & @RiverOfInk's "You Inside Us", 2 players play an astronaut and the alien parasite that's housed in them.
You clasp hands throughout the game, and frame narrative beats that literally rewrite what sex & the erotic mean.
#scifi
You clasp hands throughout the game, and frame narrative beats that literally rewrite what sex & the erotic mean.
#scifi
Is eating soup sexy for an alien? Is the smell of a book arousing?
The game is all about our senses & delights. It affirms that we can enjoy unique things individually. It's very smart.
The game is all about our senses & delights. It affirms that we can enjoy unique things individually. It's very smart.
All in all, I believe @oh_theogony and I edited a really great collection of games. Many of them are playable on-line during social-distancing!
Do check it out, and please leave reviews if you liked it!
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/321495/Honey--Hot-Wax-An-Anthology-of-Erotic-Art-Games https://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/honey-hot-wax-an-anthology-of-erotic-art-games/
Do check it out, and please leave reviews if you liked it!
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/321495/Honey--Hot-Wax-An-Anthology-of-Erotic-Art-Games https://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/honey-hot-wax-an-anthology-of-erotic-art-games/
