MO SADEK
Staff Writer
Have you ever wanted to experience life as a farmer? There’s a simulator for that. Have you ever wanted to build spaceship? There’s a simulator for that.
Have you ever had the urge to headbutt through someone’s house, into a gas station, and cause an explosion that will project you into orbit? Well, friend, there’s a simulator for that, too.
Simulator games have always been a sweet spot in gaming, allowing players to experience tasks that rarely occur in everyday lives. What if that simulator took one of the hardest moment of a person’s life and put us in his or her place?
This is what Coming Out Simulator 2014 is all about.
The creator, Nick Case, puts the player in what he says was the most difficult time of his life: coming out. “Coming out” is a term used by anyone of the queer community who has decided to announce his or her sexual orientation, gender identity or expression with another person. Coming Out Simulator 2014 is not just a game detailing a person coming to terms with his or her sexuality; it’s a story of the challenges many people in a similar position face.
Coming out is a process that involves a lot of consideration to one’s family and to one’s own self-image, which are things Nick constantly refers to in Coming Out Simulator 2014. Think of it as a classic game of choose-your-own-fate. It’s a story in which Nick’s concentration on each step helps players realize how much pressure this change may have on a person.
A simulator is a machine used to recreate certain environmental, or other, conditions for purposes of training or experimentation. This game may, in fact, be considered a visual novel of sorts, however, it acts with the purpose of a simulator. After completing the game, the player has a view of what it’s like pushing open the heavy door on the way to gender and sexual identification, but we only get a small taste of the world that people live in today. The world is cold, full of intolerance, and is a horrifying place for people who do not fit into a suffocating cultural norm.
Members of the queer community are the targets of large amounts of hate crimes and violence, sometimes even more so after they have clearly identified themselves. But there’s one thing that will always bring them back: pride. Pride is the one thing that you cannot take from an individual who is comfortable with who he or she is.
On the other side of that door, there is a light. Coming Out Simulator 2014 clearly shows a few of the problems faced by many who are prepared to come to terms with their sexuality and gender expression, as well as what families do that contribute to this hardship. It also shows that at the end of the day, it does get better.
So, to end, here is a quote from the game itself: “At the end of this long, stupid, painful game where I played against people who should have been on my side, I won … I won.”