Queering Spacetime : Positive Representation, Liminality & Intimacy In A Card Game

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How can I use an analog game design project to create positive representation of race and sexuality that better reflects the future I wish to see?

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Introduction

My work and research is important within the context of games because:

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* Positive representations of queer relationships are rare in media and even rarer in games, especially for women of color. There are token characters, and “bury your gays/lesbians” tropes. People want to see media that reflects them.

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* Design patterns moving away from straight and capitalistic patterns - my mentor pointed out that the original points-earning and judging mechanic reflect systems that we would like to see deestablished.

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How can we build games that reflect the futures we wish to see? Can I build a game world that is a queer utopia, where you can “dream and enact new and better pleasures, other ways of being in the world, and ultimately new worlds"? (Muñoz)

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Methods & Inspirations:

Exploring buildings and liminal spaces at night with friends and my partner (“this is research!”); magical realism, the Welcome to Night Vale podcast; queer culture on Tumblr; as well as scholarly readings

Improvement to gameplay from iterating prototypes and playtesting feedback

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Specific representation of ethnicity & sexuality

Asian and African characters are often depicted without the recognition that those categories hold many specific ethnicities. So I created characters specifically Nigerian and Vietnamese, which excited players of those ethnicities. 

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Similarly, sexuality is often portrayed as either gay or straight. So, I included romantic and sexual orientations such as biromanticism, asexuality, and demisexuality.

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Redefinitions

Focusing on liminality’s connections with exploring queerness, and reflecting on personal experience, I redefined liminality, queering, and chrononormativity, in terms of queerness, and have infused them into the game.

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liminal - adj. an in-between, transitional space that can feel inherently lonely or strangely nostalgic, comforting and cathartic. exploring that space or void can be vulnerable but fruitful, and when done with another person, can indicate trust, be bonding, or just plain fun

e.g. a playground in the moonlight at 2am, or a gas station bathroom

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queering - subverting structure and rules, perhaps creating new better ones based on shared values

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chrononormativity (in terms of cisheteronormativity) -
Queer people often don’t follow social timelines of getting into a relationship, etc. due to delay from being closeted or not having the knowledge to realize that they were queer. 

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Research & Redesign

Inspired by the idea that “non-normative temporal acts such as resetting, rewinding” are playfully queer” (Knutson), and the game Queers In Love at the End of the World,

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=> Shifting timeline mechanic - At the beginning of each turn, if the D12 rolls 1, time shifts and players enter a new timeline with new characters. With this mechanic, I wanted to emphasize the importance of here and now, and how we do our best to enjoy it with the people we love. 

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Inspired by:
* Mathis’ radical words on tenderness, healing, & platonic intimacy, and my mentor’s values-based class ARTG 129: Speculative Futures

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* Subverting chrononormativity with the idea of joy in living slowly (Hesse, Popova) and “queered temporality in... unrushed pacing and nonlinear structure” of games (Pelurson).

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=> Value-inspired gameplay - Players now work together to create enjoyable dates for both/all of them. The rules state outright that the game is about taking care of yourself and others.

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=> Flexible gameplay - Subverting chrononormativity, the game is as long or short as players want it to be. Players win if they are smiling and enjoying themselves, having crafted an experience that takes care of both/all of them and is wholesome and good.

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Juxtaposition of liminal settings with intimate 
gameplay and characterization:

=> Adding more small juicy-feeling choices to queer the time (slower, more pleasurable) and space (joy where you expect loneliness/existentialism) 

=> Keeping consistent endearing and quirky characterization

Asian and African characters are often depicted without the recognition that those categories hold many specific ethnicities. So I created characters specifically Nigerian and Vietnamese, which excited players of those ethnicities. 

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Similarly, sexuality is often portrayed as either gay or straight. So, I included romantic and sexual orientations such as biromanticism, asexuality, and demisexuality.

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Example cards image: (If on desktop, click to magnify)

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The prompt cards on the right:

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You plan to climb up onto a rooftop.

a) completely scout the perimeter beforehand for climbing spaces

b) bring sweaters and hot cocoa

c) hold hands the whole time cuddle, float, talk about absolutely anything

d) bring nail polish & watch the sunset

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The local news reports sightings of aliens in the corn fields.

a) plan to check it out afterschool

b)bake cookies with her for the aliens

c) theorize with her about the aliens

d) other: __________

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On your first date, she waits, expectant for a kiss. You decide to kiss her __________.

a) on the forehead

b) on the cheek next to her eye

c) on the lips

d) eyebrow/nose (you missed!)

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Playground in full moonlight.

a) pretend to be ghosts

b) make a movie, what nice lighting!

c) write poetry

d) other: __________

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