Xword

Solve to your heart’s content: the new Xword is ‘Love and Longing’ (themeless)

By Ada Nicolle

Gaming

Looking for queer video games? Visual novels should be your first stop

Originating in Japan, these games let you flirt, date, solve mysteries and more with a simple point and click

By V.S. Wells

Xword

Start the new year with some poly puzzle play: the newest Xword is ‘Try Anything’ (themeless)

By Ada Nicolle

Xword

The queer wordplay worth living by: ‘Lead with your Heart’ (themed)

By Ada Nicolle

Xword

Our queer puzzle fun debuts: go nuts, it’s ‘Welcome to Xword’ (themeless)

By Ada Nicolle

Inside Xtra

Meet Xtra’s new crossword constructor Ada Nicolle

The young trans puzzle writer and editor has carved out an unusual—and rare—career

By Gordon Bowness

TV & Film

Ashly Burch on Season 3 of ‘Mythic Quest,’ her directing debut and riding in a tank

The Emmy-winning pansexual writer and actress gives her advice for balancing a pile of projects

By Rendy Jones

Gaming

8 times Pokémon got pretty freakin’ fruity

Gender-fluid Pokémon? Openly trans voice actors? Pokémon is queerer than meets the eye

By V.S. Wells

Gaming

‘Splatoon 3’ lets queer chaos reign

How did a game about snazzily dressed little squids gain such a devoted queer fan base?

By V.S. Wells

Identity

A love letter to video game vixens

One writer pays tribute to the video game characters that have helped LGBTQ2S+ folks feel at home in their queerness

By Bobby Box

Gaming

‘I Was a Teenage Exocolonist’ plays with genre, gender and growing up

Writer and narrative designer Lindsay Ishihiro explains how queer and trans themes are baked into the genre-busting indie game

By V.S. Wells

Gaming

‘Curses’ explores the queer magic of owning your darkest feelings

Emily Flynn-Jones’s new semi-autobiographical video game asks players to take big feelings seriously—especially the bad ones

By V.S. Wells

Xtra Weekly

Topline: Getting my queer social fix on Twitch

The streaming platform has become an unlikely community hub for LGBTQ2S+ gamers

By Erica Lenti

Creating Community

A queer settler communications pro finds connection in another world

She and a group of friends have thoroughly queered “Dungeons and Dragons”

By Meg Shannon

Gaming

‘Dream Daddy’ is the gayest game that almost wasn’t

In between dating a husky outdoorsman, a bad dad and a Goth trans man, writer Bobby Box found time to talk with the hit game’s creators

By Bobby Box

Culture

The secret trans history of gaming, according to Rebecca Heineman

The Texas game developer talks trans representation in the industry, appearing in a Netflix doc and winning a coveted Atari championship 40 years ago

By Niko Stratis

Gaming

The inherent queerness of farming games

If you can’t escape the stifling city life, a cottagecore-inspired virtual existence could be your queer fantasy come true

By V.S. Wells

Arts

Gaymer trend hits Ottawa

It’s all fun and games at Swizzles

By Jeremy Willard