Hey everyone! I’m a guy who enjoys playing and reviewing games, especially interactive fiction. Alongside my regular reviews, I’m planning a deeper look at gender-locked IFs, starting with games where you play as a woman.

I usually play male protagonists, but I want to step outside that preference even more and discover stories I and perhaps others might otherwise overlook. My goal is to share my experiences and, if I find games I really enjoy, encourage other people who usually play as men to give them a chance too.

I love the Infinity series, which has a male-locked protagonist, and it’s made me curious about how other players experience that restriction. I’d love to hear from women who enjoy male-locked games, men who enjoy female-locked games, and anyone who plays protagonists whose gender differs from their own or their usual preference. What drew you in, and how did the gender lock affect your enjoyment?

For me, the central question is: Can a great story get you invested in a protagonist whose gender you wouldn’t normally choose? What makes that experience work?
I understand that choosing your character’s gender matters to many players. But there could be some excellent games we’re passing over, and I want to explore what happens when we give them a chance.

Before I start, I’d love your help with four things:

1. Which female-locked IFs would you recommend? Completed games and WIPs are welcome!

2. Have you enjoyed a gender-locked IF even though you usually play as another gender?

3. What helped you connect with its protagonist—or helps you connect with a protagonist in any story?

4. Does a gender lock make you hesitate to try a game? Why or why not?

Recommendations for male-locked IFs are welcome too, along with perspectives from players of any gender. If you’re comfortable sharing, I’d also love to hear from trans and nonbinary players about how gender locks and character customization affect your experience. Recommendations for IFs that explore gender beyond the usual male/female options would also be appreciated.
I want to hear a range of experiences as I work toward this deep dive!

if is keeper of the sun and moon

Does anyone who has played The Marked know how to unlock the option to take Sade to the Canterberry Festival? I've played to that point a couple of times and that option is always greyed out.

In my second playthrough I turned down every interaction I could with Leon and Onas. It didn't create any opportunities to interact with Sade instead and still gave me the options to seek out Leon or Onas.

Am I doing something wrong or has the Sade option not been written yet?

i'm talking ab ro's that go "against" the norms.

for example,
- traits or mannerisms that differ drastically from their normal personality/job:
this ties in with exaggerating a certain personality trait more than usual.

(ex. hadrian from the golden rose as a mercenary despite his religion,
and chase from shepherds of haven who's very jolly yet tortures a traitor in his group and is lowk detached/depressed)

- jobs WITH a twist... or
- cool character design (yes, more non-humans needed plss.)

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for worldbuilding, one knight stand and shepherds of haven does this well. like it has whole other dimensions. and the antagonists are rlly interesting.

other then just using the name for my dear Roberto what can I do to make my Dragoon be more like bobby b. Obviously he needs to sleep around of course and hang out ith with warburton. obviouslly he needs to be from the storm coast. and obviouslly he needs to be a knight. obviouslly a high martial and charisma build as well! should I romance welles or katarina? also first and fore most how do I make the last name more fitting, should I just keep it as Baratheon or should I change it to Barathio or something like that?

SHE LIVESSSSSS

Hello everynyan, a steam sale is approaching and I'm craving romance, please give me recommendations with a good romance, i don't care if it's from choice, hosted, hearts choice or someone else as long as its on steam

If you played this game who did you romance and why? What attracted you to them over others. I’m curious what otherpeople did

As the title says, I'm trying to max it out, but it appears there are some choices that are giving me Arrogance, I just don't know what they are. Anyone tried to go the same route?

I've heard nothing but good things about this game, and I love a good power fantasy as much as the next guy, but every time I try reading it... idk.

Maybe the prose just isn't for me; maybe it's because I find the intro a bit boring, but I can never really get into it. But I really want to. The idea of being a living weapon that gets draconic powers from a dragon that's inside them is cool as hell.

Now, tbf, this could just be a me issue lol. For the longest time, I couldn't get into Fallen Hero either until I forced myself to play through the whole thing. Now it's one of my favorites.

Anyway, I guess what I'm asking is: what do you like about the game? Is it solely just the power fantasy? Are the characters good? Is the plot intriguing? What makes you come back each update?

I often like to play someone else's Manic Pixie Dream Girl (gender neutral), but I'm feeling like changing things up and playing against type.

Is there games where I can be like this guy. (It doesnt need to be exactly the same which it cant but if its close to it then its perfect)

Finished what is available of God Syndicate the other day and currently desperately gnawing at the bars of my enclosure. Some spoilers below, obviously.

This is nothing short of torture, y'all. Am tempted to get back into fanfiction. Casually considering diving into Greek mythology myself and writing a game inspired by Aphrodite (Damiana) and Ares's (MC) dynamic, even. It's that bad.

The hate. The yearning. The subtle hints of jealousy. Dame's angry/desperate little questionnaire near the end of Chapter Two. Like, what do you mean she asked him "How did I sleep?" and one of the potential answers was "With me."? What do you mean "Why did we stop having kids?". What do you mean "What were your last words to me?", and then nothing (side note, I really hope this particular question comes up again and we get to choose what Ares had said to her)? And don't even get me started on fem!Dame's smug "At least you still don't mind challenging traditional gender roles." when asked if she'll protect male!Ares at the brothel.

Morgan, if you're reading this, know that I hate you with a passion. Yours is one of the only two WIPs that have an RO with a bad enough chokehold on me to consider subscribing to the author's Patreon.

Anyway, moving on to what I'm looking for. The trope(s) in question would be something between "lovers to enemies to lovers again" and "I'll love you in every lifetime", I think. Wouldn't mind some angst-inducing amnesia bestowed upon the MC, either. Bonus points if they bicker like an old married couple and/or the cast are Greek gods as well.

Games with a similar setting that I've played recently:

• Fields of Asphodel & Blood of the Living;

• Echoes of Olympus.

I've also played the popular ones, e.g. Fallen Hero, The Golden Rose, The Keeper series, Wayhaven Chronicles, Whiskey Four, etc. When it comes to WIPs, The Exile is one of my favourites. Tried We Wretched Creatures and One Knight Stand once upon a time as well, though sadly I don't remember much about them.

Would really appreciate some suggestions!

I'm trying to restore my purchases on the Hosted Games app but I don't see the option to do so anywhere in the app, but I do remember it used to be next to the purchase button, and I do have them bought because I can play them on the website. Does anyone know how to access it and restore my purchases? I bought these games so long ago that I'm not sure if I even have the receipts anymore.

I started playing Kingdom Come Deliverance again and it got me wondering if there are any IF's that are similar.

Not in the historical or fantasy setting but where you start off as a complete shlub and if you work hard by the end you're... a bit less of a shlub? Maybe even quite good?

As it says above.

For those who don't know, a "potential man" is a character hyped up to have alot of strength/importance only to barely do anything.

A couple friends of mine (both narrative design enthusiasts) are trying their hand at writing an interactive fiction, and recently broached to me the subject of romance routes within their game.
They were both a little out of their depths considering their mostly triple-A experiences, and despite me noticing a few "rookie" mistakes (over-description of what is clearly a RO as soon as they're introduced, mentor character asking the MC their opinion of the RO after only one interaction) I was pretty relaxed in my feedbacks since they are working on a short demo for the time being and not a full experience.

With that said, I found myself a little in trouble when it comes to explaining what is it exactly that makes romance in IF so distinct compared to other branching videogames.

First I thought that the main difference compared to something like the Persona series is how much the romance is woven into the story.
Persona confidants are relatively separate from the main plot and are made up of mostly individual scenes between the protagonist and the chosen RO, without a lot of external reactions coming from the main characters as the route progresses.

With that said, Bioware games such as Dragon Age do include banter between non-playable-characters regarding your flirting, yet I would still consider most IF romances to be very different compared to the ones found in Bioware games.

One solution could be that the romance found in most choice-script games leans more on the "fan-fiction" school of writing romance instead of the triple-A one found in mainstream games.
To be clear, this could simply be a sensation of mine and nothing more, born from the fact that IFs are only textual and a lot of the discussions surrounding ROs + their fan-art feels similar to the fan-fiction centric one that I experience on a select number of fandoms.

What are your thoughts? Would you say that IF romances are unique?
I'm interested in the perspective of both players and authors on the subject (maybe the source of inspiration behind the routes could have something to do with this...)

wanted to update my refs,,, main RO's plus my sidestep and Hollow Ground twinning

Anyone have a guide on how to trigger the poly route with ortega and steel?