violeta
Currently included in the Queer Games Bundle 2021!
Play as Mo The Cat, in this queer and trans stream-of-consciousness style Twine game, helping him advise his friends in the way that only a cat can.
This game follows Mo as he explores Violeta, talks to his friends Xo and Fran, and offers them an ear to listen to their thoughts and concerns. Listen and advise Xo and Fran as they think critically about their actual desires, reconcile with the overlap between their personal desires and external pressures, and question the heteronormative structures that are the pillars of American society.
This game was inspired by Bo Ruberg and Amanda Phillips’ Not Gay As In Happy, Jose Esteban Muñoz’ Cruising Utopia, and Kara Stone’s Time and Reparative Game Design: Queerness, Disability, and Affect. It aims to “challenge the heteronormative ways of thinking that structure society — such as by disrupting accepted notions of time, space, and feeling” (Ruberg & Phillips).
This game is an introspective exploration of what it means to subvert heteronormative expectations, and what it means to queer your own timeline.
Get a good look at all of the plants, hover your mouse over the text underlined in dots, and don't forget to scroll! Best enjoyed in full screen, and with your favorite lofi playlist in the background ~
Enjoy your time at Violeta. <3
Comments
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this feels like when you wake up and you've gotten the perfect amount of sleep and you have nowhere to be so you can lay in the sun and just be so deliciously alive.
Thank you. I love plants, and I've been struggling a lot under not being white, not being cis, not being male, and not being straight (I'm Asian genderfluid and attracted to masculinity, but that makes me gay rather than straight. My partner is a bisexual agender). It's been difficult finding communities that truly respect me, or stories that reflect my existence. Thanks for being one of the rare few, it always gives me a moment of peace and happiness.
this was so beautifully written & illustrated and i'm glad to have experienced it. it's comforting to know that we're not alone struggling with the ridiculousness that is capitalism, and the dumb heteronormative expectation thrust upon us. i wish fran, xo, and mo a free and happy life ahead, as much as is possible in this society. ;; ok brb going to get myself a pot of snake plant
thank you so much for playing, and for sharing your kind words with me!! <3 & OMG I am beyond thrilled this inspired you to get a snake plant. There are very few plants I can successfully keep alive, but I have had my snake plant named Artemis for about a year now and she is such a trooper :')
oh this is amazing... the ending made me tear up. i relate to a lot of these conversations and Feels, and, wow, it does feel so good to have it on screen. thank you for making this game, i really needed it! gives me hope for a better future even in the face of a world that's falling apart. lovely art too~
thank you so much for your kind words!:') I'm so happy to hear that violeta offered you any sort of solace in these very very trying times.<3
beautiful! this was a very refreshing experience and showed up in my life at the time i needed it to most. the societal pressure placed on queer couples is such a relavant topic, and this game handles it perfectly. i also loved all the plants (and subsequent plant knocking over)
I'm so happy to hear that violeta found you when you needed it most. <3 & so so glad you decided to knock some plants over, it makes Mo very happy hehe
this was wonderful. everyone would be lucky to have a mo in their life.
thank you so much! :')
Wow, I didn't know I needed this game until I played it! I related so much to the bits about capitalism and simply how coercive and destructive it is. I'll forever root for Fran, Xo, and Mo <3
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it, and related to it!! The highest compliment for me is knowing that my art has touched others. <3
Thank you for rooting for these cuties!!
I went into this game not knowing how HARD IN THE FEELS it was going to hit me but HOO BOY DID IT. I thought I was just gonna be a cat knocking over pots. I was wrong but in the best of ways. I relate to it a lot - I just quit my awful 7 - 5 job and am trying to find a better one for my mental health, and it's such a struggle. As a queer trans person I really get that part of what they're going through and when I read the line "But anyway — I really just want to be alive, and to truly live." I almost started crying. This is such a beautiful little game and it's filled with so much queer love.
Also Mo reminds me of my cat Darwin and I love him. <3
Thank you so much for your kind words, I can't tell you how much they mean to me. I'm so grateful that you were able to relate so personally to this game — sometimes we just encounter things at the exact moment we need them. Congrats on quitting that 7 to 5, and very best of luck in finding the right fit for you. :)
Also pls give Darwin a sweet forehead kiss for me lol <3
i loved this so much <3
I'm so glad you enjoyed! And thank you for playing <33
Wow,just wow.I enjoyed that a lot. It was super sweet and shows a lot of the views I have as well. I quite enjoyed it. I wonder what plant everyone knocked over. I would comment on art or the pictures but none of them showed up for me. I hope the two of them find what they're looking for, even if they're not sure what it is yet.
Thank you so so much for your kind words! I truly appreciate it. <3
What a bummer that the pictures did not show up for you, it may be because I linked them from image hosting sites that require an internet connection, so I will try to see if I can fix this! Or perhaps they were just taking their sweet ol' time to load, lol.
Thank you again for playing. :')
Wanted to update you and let you know the pictures issue has been fixed! Would love for you to play with the full visual experience. <333
I just replayed it and that was the cutest thing ever. the art was fantastic and made it all the better. The backgrounds are so pretty and made the game just that much more peaceful. <3
thank you so much, I'm so glad you got to enjoy it with all the visuals! :')