WHAT DOES THE GAME SAY ABOUT SEXUAL RELATIONS? Real consent is a lot more nuanced and ongoing. Treating consent as a single mechanical choice is reductive at best and trivialising at worst. We consider this representation of consent to be just barely adequate, but we’ve struggled to come up with a better system that fits the constraints of the game. We also do not allow sex with any of the NPC characters in the game, as they have not expressed explicit consent. In Genital Jousting all players must provide explicit consent before any game can start, and any player can revoke their consent from the pause menu at any time. Given the prevalence of rape culture in society, penetration as a mechanic is something that can potentially be extremely harmful. It’s one of the very few explicit ways that players can interact with each other and with the world. If even just a few people challenge their assumptions about sexuality, then perhaps we've made something worthwhile?Īs you might expect in a game where the player avatars are penises, penetration is one of the primary verbs in Genital Jousting. Now that the game is available to the public, the most rewarding moments are when we see it provoking discussion or critical thinking amongst players. In the early days of the project, we were highly motivated by the fact that Genital Jousting gave us a vehicle to have those discussions amongst ourselves. These are also the kinds of conversations we want to have with our friends, but as men, we've been socialized not to. These are the kinds of questions we hope the game can elicit. How do you feel about penises touching each other? Why do you feel that way? What about anal pleasure? Genital Jousting is as much a way for us to explore our own feelings about sexuality as we hope it is for our players. We're just a bunch of default white dudes with a passing interest in sticking things in our butts. We, the developers, largely fall into this same demographic. And perhaps more pertinently, that often means someone who grew up in a sexually repressive (or at the very least, conservative) environment.Īka: us. And for the most part that probably means someone who identifies as a cisgendered heterosexual male. It’s the same demographic as Broforce, it’s the median Steam player, it’s the people who love dick jokes. While we're definitely putting things into the game in the hopes that it might appeal to a broader range of people (for example women and queer folk), we have no misconceptions about who our major audience is. By making the content of the game appear softer, we hope that penises can be viewed as approachable, not just tools, or worse, weapons. The colourful art style, the doll-like clothes, the lullaby music - all of these things are done in the name of presenting an alternate view of masculinity. We like to think of dicks as lovable and laughable. It’s a game where two quivering cocks can go on a date, eat spaghetti, and fall in love. On the contrary, Genital Jousting is also meant to be a loving homage to the penis. That isn’t to say that we want to portray penises (and by extension - masculinity) in a purely negative manner. We want to present the phallus as something silly, abject, and non-threatening. But in Genital Jousting, they are often the butt of the joke. They are considered the dominant sexual organ. In a patriarchal society, penises are associated with power. Genital Jousting is largely about disarming masculinity. We have feelings to explore, and things to say, and by wrapping them in a big joke, we're hoping to sneak some of our ideas past the watchful gaze of unsuspecting cis-het dudes. Free Lives does not pretend to be above a fart joke.īut we like to think of the game as a trojan horse - a way to deliver a sex positive message to an audience that might never get to hear it otherwise. We're talking lowest common denominator humour at its finest. It's a comedy game, and a lot of the design is simply informed by what we think is funny, ridiculous or gross. IMPORTANT? VALUABLE? BUT ISN'T GENITAL JOUSTING JUST A BIG JOKE? If you're somehow still not convinced by this incredibly compelling argument then please allow me to spend several more paragraphs rambling about what we're trying to make, why we're trying to make it, and whether or not we're screwing it up. We think our work is (at least somewhat) culturally valuable. The short answer is we're making Genital Jousting because we want to, and because we think it should exist. Why would anyone make this? Why is this a thing that even exists? If you've ever risked browsing the comments section of a Genital Jousting video, you may have noticed the recurring question of "why?" cropping up. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?
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