Coming Out Simulator 2014

Game: Coming Out Simulator 2014

Developer: Nicky Case (Twitter: @ncasenmare)

Play in browser: https://ncase.itch.io/coming-out-simulator-2014

I don't pretend to know what it's like for one to come out as LGBTQ+ in this day in age. The closest that I could come to relating to it is coming out with my non-belief in the religion I grew up in, which I've stated which one it was in a previous post, I'm sure. I do not wish to appropriate coming out as areligious/agnostic in the same vein as coming out as LGBTQ+, but having played this game and talked to people who identify themselves within such community, I can certainly draw parallels. I'm sure some of my peers may not appreciate my disaffiliation from their church, but the only thing I will ask if you respect my decision to follow my own path in life. That being said though, I'm looking to talk about this game, which, ironically, was in my suggestion section on itch.io for well over a year or so. Combined with my burnout and ultimate canceling of my video for Swallow The Sea, a game I was looking forward to talking about, I pretty much said "what the hell" and gave it a shot.

Coming Out Simulator 2014 is a small, visual novel-esque game about the game's developer, Nicky Case, and their semi-fictionalized story of coming out. The game is mostly dialogue-based and is interesting in the fact that it remembers the words you have used in conversation, which ultimately have consequences in how conversations progress. Your conversations take place between Nicky's boyfriend at the time, Jack, and the former's hyper-conservative Asian parents.

Judging by the premise of this piece, you probably expect things to go all hunky-dory, right? No, but seriously, it goes about as poorly as you might expect. As fictionalized as the game may be in Nicky's story of coming out, there is still truth to behold in the story of many people who live in these real-life situations. 

From an artistic angle, I can say this game excels in a lot of areas. I do like the sort of anonymous, faceless characters, enough emotion gets communicated through body language to give the player an idea of the emotions being conveyed. Despite the sound effects being public domain, I like the sort of atmosphere it gives this game, especially with the ticking clock in the dining room scene creating a sort of tense atmosphere as you go through dialogue.

If there's any criticism I can throw at this game, it would probably be that the idea of choosing your words carefully is kind of misleading, as the game itself tells you that there are no right answers. The game kind of sets the fictionalized version of Nicky up for failure no matter what, which while I can understand from a thematic standpoint of coming out being a sort of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario, it kind of makes the branching dialogue kind of meaningless, and kind of shoots down its replayability.

Despite having had a little bit of criticism for its lack of replayability, this game still holds a lot of value for those who are still "in the closet" about certain aspects of themselves. It could very well be a good piece for those who aren't openly LGBTQ+ or even open about being of a different religious persuasion or lack thereof. Coming Out Simulator 2014 has a lot of goodwill to it and is certainly a good video game piece that is encouraging of self-worth, despite the negative outcome the story presents. The game is a short, roughly 20-minute experience, but I do believe it's worth your time, whether you're looking for something relatable or looking to get some perspective.