There is no way I could even begin to imagine the types of struggles a trans person might experience as part of their transition, both before, during, and most certainly after, too. So what does the 18+ rated indie game, He Fucked the Girl Out of Me, have to do with that? Well, it chronicles the tale of a trans person’s traumatic sexual experience and… what follows. It’s not for the faint of heart, and that might have stopped some, but IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) didn’t let that get in the way of having the game join the ranks at this year’s festival. Which is really cool.
So, for those of you who simply skimmed the opening paragraph, I know for a fact that some actually do that: content warnings! He Fucked the Girl Out of Me has a lot, and they’re there for a reason. Do not ignore them. The player is asked whether they want to see them pretty much immediately after the game begins (although I am rather puzzled as to why they’re only available in-game?).
Still with me? Great. Onto the main portion of this article, then: this year’s IDFA, for which He Fucked the Girl Out of Me was selected. More specifically, for the DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling section, featuring a grand total of only ten titles. Which makes its inclusion pretty darn impressive, and important in ways one might not immediately realize. See, I don’t know about you, but I feel sometimes, however rarely, a game with adult/18+ content is released and much to everyone’s surprise, it is not one with pornographic or even erotic intent.
Case and point, the focus of this very article is a walking simulator/visual novel which does feature topics and themes not at all suitable for minors, yet at the same time, there’s a difference between that and something like, say, a game with the simple goal of navigating the shortest path to the bedroom accompanied by the player’s partner of choice for… well, you know the rest. And yet, such games – while perfectly fine in their own right – are always grouped together with ones that simply want to, I don’t know, spread awareness of an otherwise taboo topic of the adult variety. No matter how you look at it, that’s a less-than-ideal situation.
Sure, some might say the title is more than a little crude, immediately moving on to something else without a second glance. I don’t know. Maybe they’re right, but so what? It’s neither inaccurate in terms of depicting the content presented, nor is it trying to offend anyone, so much as… well, it’s not a bad title for actually catching people’s attention. Even if, yes, it is bound to also upset at least a few. But that’ll happen no matter what you call your game or what it’s about. A title like this also helps make a statement immediately clear: no filters or censorship here – just the raw story, experienced through the eyes of its protagonist, Ann, trauma and all.
I’m glad IDFA picked up Taylor McCue‘s He Fucked the Girl Out of Me because while, again, it’s not for everyone, it does deserve more attention than it’s gotten so far. Heartbreaking yet also eye-opening, well worth giving a go – just keep those content warnings in mind.
(Source: IDFA)
He Fucked the Girl Out of Me is available on itch.io.
