Mastodawn

So this is a thing that is VERY VERY much nowhere near done yet, but I want to share what I've got so far. It's a list of as many retro games as I can find which had a trans person on the dev team or otherwise involved in some way, along with a quick summary of who and what they did. It's partially an attempt to counter the narrative that trans people are some New Thing that's only just showed up on the gameing scene and also society in general, which sometimes these kinds of lists can accidentally imply, and also it's just kind of a fun bit of HEY LOOK AT ALL THIS COOL SHIT TRANS PEOPLE DID. I've found over 170 games so far, with quite a lot I'm still to properly go off on.

(Edit: That's over 300 (!) games now. Thank you SO much people who've pointed me at stuff I've missed. I'll be working on trying to play all of these and write up stuff about the ones I haven't really said anything about yet.)

https://dotmaetrix.neocities.org/classictranslist

A List Of Games By Trans People Before 2010

Dot Maetrix May 30

Thank you so much everyone sharing and providing feedback on this. I'm aiming to flesh out a bunch of the games I've not said much about yet over the coming days. I've got some really fun ones to add as well from stuff people have shown me since last night and all.

I'm hoping this'll be a good resource for people when it's done 💜

Dot Maetrix May 30

I've added a few more games based on stuff peeps have mentioned to me. There's some Guitar Hero on there now, and Club Penguin, and another Sonic, and some more Pokemon games.

Dot Maetrix Jun 2

200 games!!!

Happy fuckin' Pride :D

@DotMaetrix is it alright to share this elsewhere? or do you want it to be more done first?

Dot Maetrix May 29

@holly There's a LOT that I still gotta do with it, but the list is accurate and extensive enough to the best of my knowledge that I'm happy to have it shared about with the understanding that there's very much Words To Be Added.

Also once it's out there people can tell me about all the great stuff out there that I've missed :D

@DotMaetrix i can't well whether that's a yes or a no haha :P

@DotMaetrix wait nvm i reread and now i can tell

Dot Maetrix May 29

@holly it's a yeah

@DotMaetrix also i had no idea there was a gbc dragon's lair lmao

babble_endanger May 29

@DotMaetrix "PAQ" love that, it's mine now thank you

babble_endanger May 29

@DotMaetrix do you want typos pointed out or no?

Dot Maetrix May 29

@babble_endanger pls

Adamski the Hodgepodge May 30

@DotMaetrix @babble_endanger *please

babble_endanger May 30

@Adamski @DotMaetrix 🧠

@DotMaetrix dang you really gotta play m.u.l.e.! way ahead of its time like much of berry’s work.

there’ve been a couple of attempts at remaking it over the years, i feel like it could actually work if it was a team of trans folks giving it the love it deserves lol

@brhfl @DotMaetrix Dani Bunten was a goddamn genius.

Mads (DBD 🏳️‍⚧️)May 29

@DotMaetrix Fantastic idea, I love this so much

@DotMaetrix I showed this to my friend and they pointed out that we did make games before 2010 but also they were bad

Dot Maetrix May 29

@niki Trans people should be allowed to make Bad Games, as a treat

merzbow and chill May 29

@DotMaetrix I get why the focus is on videogames, but it feels unfair to people like Jennell Jaquays to not mention all their previous work in the tabletop space

Dot Maetrix May 29

@emptyfortress Also to people like Sophie Wilson and Lynn Conway, who made MASSIVE contributions to computers as we know them today, but didn't make any games.

Adamski the Hodgepodge May 30

@DotMaetrix @emptyfortress Bonus categories!

sharleen 💜 she/her May 29

@DotMaetrix (hey i don’t know if this fits but i worked at club penguin in a creative capacity from 2007 and im trans)

Dot Maetrix May 29

@sharleen This 100% fits! What was it you did on it? I'm sure I remember you posting some artwork before

sharleen 💜 she/her May 29

@DotMaetrix i did some parties and newspapers and stage plays between 2007 and like uhhhh the next bunch of years lol. and i did the comics. and then went on to directing/producing stuff like the epf relaunch and some of the games post 2010

Dot Maetrix May 30

@sharleen Do you have any screenshots to hand of one of the newspapers or comics that you drew? I think it would be pretty cool if the screenshot I put in there specifically had some of your stuff in it.

sharleen 💜 she/her May 30

@DotMaetrix here’s some of the pre 2010 stuff i did!

Dot Maetrix May 30

@sharleen omg green glasses penguin rules!

sharleen 💜 she/her May 30

@DotMaetrix that’s aunt arctic she was the editor of the newspaper lol

@DotMaetrix Interesting to see Transexual people through Old video game production ! Thank you infinitely for this list!

Susan Calvin May 29

@DotMaetrix have you got "everything ever written in BBC Basic" because they all had Sophie Wilson to thank for the environment?

Dot Maetrix May 29

@Susan_calvin and considering her work on ARM architecture, every GBA game and every mobile game.

Susan Calvin May 29

@DotMaetrix I had that at one more remove but yes. BBC Basic was such an amazing interpreter.

Dot Maetrix May 29

@Susan_calvin While I was looking stuff up for this I also learned that Jamie Fenton, as part of her work on the Bally Astrocade, wrote the BASIC for that console as well.

so yeah, trans people writing BASIC is a thing that happened at least TWICE in the early days of computing

Trans Rescue Jun 4

@DotMaetrix @Susan_calvin
At least 3 times. I implemented a BASIC for the Apple ][

Nate Allen May 29

@DotMaetrix yeah for sure you need to play M.U.L.E. Awesome game. Reading about it was probably my first exposure to the fact trans people existed as a kid.

J M Berntson May 30

@DotMaetrix Ooh... This was a nice way to also find out that the Fallout source code has actually been preserved!

Dot Maetrix May 30

@jedimb oh yeah the absolute DELIGHT on my face when the PC Gamer article popped up on my feed :3

Adamski the Hodgepodge May 30

@DotMaetrix I see Maddie Blaustein is on The List for Pokémon Channel's Meowth. Awesome. Can I also add;

Pokémon Snap, where she voiced Meowth again. (Albeit a wild one this time)

Pokémon Puzzle League (Panel De Pon dressed up as the Pokémon anime) where she reprised several roles from the cartoon including Team Rocket's Meowth once again, Sabrina's Alakazam, and Lieutenant Surge.

And perhaps her greatest role on the N64, Pokémon Stadium - in which she specifically voices Magikarp yelling "KAAAARRP!" in the Magikarp's Splash minigame.

More at Bulbapedia: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Maddie_Blaustein

Maddie Blaustein

Bulbapedia

Dot Maetrix May 30

@Adamski Magikarp Splash is absolute peak! 10/10 no notes! Thanks for the deets on these.

Video Game King May 31

@DotMaetrix Here's an entire developer's worth of games to add to the page:
https://www.mobygames.com/person/54608/sarah-jane-avory/

Dot Maetrix May 31

@Video_Game_King oh, this is brilliant! Thanks

Dot Maetrix May 31

@Video_Game_King it's a bit outside the range I'm covering but I love that she worked on Elite Dangerous. Kinda brings things full circle after Julie Dunn doing the Blue Danube cover on the C64 version.

Dot Maetrix Jun 1

@Video_Game_King I also gotta add how absolutely delighted I am that I get to add this to the list and all. The sheer... Amigawave(?) of it makes me very happy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n__WagRmTw0

Jaguar XJ220 Amiga version

YouTube

@DotMaetrix > age of empires 3
> classic

@DotMaetrix Might want to add MegaZeux (1994-present); the original creator is trans, as well as some among the later maintainers.

https://bsky.app/profile/megazeux.bsky.social/post/3llphmmblp22y

MegaZeux (@megazeux.bsky.social)

yep: 3+ trans lead developers/maintainers and likely dozens of MegaZeux games made by trans authors. Unfortunately I don't think exhaustivity was the goal because MegaZeux is not hard to find, particularly if you scrutinize the works of other mentioned authors

Bluesky Social

Dot Maetrix May 31

@asie oh this is great, I'm going to have to look into this one.

I absolutely LOVE how this post is in reply to the article that inspired this page in the first place as well lol

@DotMaetrix The community lives at https://www.digitalmzx.com/

MegaZeux is a game creation tool from 1994 which is a spiritual successor to Tim Sweeney's ZZT; to clarify, both share a roster of trans game creators, but only MegaZeux was also itself developed by trans people.

Home | DigitalMZX

Home of MegaZeux, a free and open-source cross-platform game creation system.

tunnel slug May 31

@DotMaetrix sorry if this has been shared with you before, but you can add all the games mentioned in this interview (virtual lab, lady sword, quiz toukou shashin, chiki chiki tengoku, armored metal police jack) https://www.badgamehalloffame.com/interview-megu-tan/

Interview: 'Virtual Lab' Developer, Megu-tan - Bad Game Hall of Fame

An interview with the elusive Megu-tan -- the developer of Virtual Lab! We discuss their brief time in the games industry, the circumstances of their game's troubled development, and the endless wonders of virtual reality.

Bad Game Hall of Fame

Dot Maetrix May 31

@Dij no need to apologise. I'd rather be told about ones I've already got than NOT told about ones I've missed, and as it happens I've got most of these already EXCEPT armored metal police jack. I've read this article too so it must have just slipped my mind to get that one down. Thanks.

Weird Socks May 31

@DotMaetrix
I love this.

StenPett / St Midium May 31

@DotMaetrix Just based on statistics, and the amount of Trans people working in tech in general, I'm willing to bet every single game made by any team counting more than ten people had at least one Trans person working on it at some point...

Trans Rescue Jun 1

@DotMaetrix
Radio Free Lawrence - 1984
GCOS on UKANACC Honeywell 66/60
Anne Ogborn & another trans woman (think she doesn't want outed)

Stefan Ihringer Jun 2

@DotMaetrix I actually remember playing "Boppin".
https://www.jenniverse.com/boppin%20main.html

Boppin' By Accursed Toys

The works of artist and designer Jennifer Diane Reitz

@Betty_Fn0rd ~ %Jun 3

@DotMaetrix Fond player of M.U.L.E. here (on 🏳️‍🌈 C=64 breadbins) and 💯on 🏳️‍⚧️ appreciation! There's https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/M.U.L.E. for an infodump. Loadsa screenshots exist out there, too.

Fun fact:
Native 4player support on Atari x00 series, modded versions for C=64 (Userport adapter provided) exist, too. A superb & entertaining group gameplay 🥳🕹️.

Fav random event quote:
"YOUR OFFWORLD INVESTMENTS IN ARTIFICIAL DUMBNESS PAID $? IN DIVIDENDS."
[Remember that was ©1983 … so contemporary, innit? 😹]

M.U.L.E. - C64-Wiki