I'm seeing so many takes on my feed today insinuating wholesome games as a genre is harmful and it makes me so so sad as some1 proudly making a wholesome game, and someone who enjoys them. Look things are really really stressful right now and maybe not everything needs a hot take

This isn't hating on anyone making these takes I'm just like tired and sad

For a year or so people have been also saying we're oversaturated with people making these games right now which hurts so much because it only seems that way because they exist at all now. Let us live a little longer before you treat it like establishment

Wholesome isn't uncritical, wholesome isn't softness without meaning or context. Wholesome is very specifically a genre of games for good. What good means is up to you. For me it means prioritizing comfort via accessibility, representation and the betterment of the player.

I've said before in a panel, if a cute game doesn't have ample representation, it isn't wholesome, it's just cute. If am easy game isn't also easy for people with disabilities, then it isn't wholesome.

anyway end rant, wholesome is good and new and still not a norm in gaming.

I guess if I could pinpoint what hurts so much about this critique, is that a lot of it assumes wholesome as a descriptor is now popular and mainstream, deserving of a challenge, when it took us YEARS to find a publisher because everyone told us our game was too niche/ different

I just request you empathize with someone who was told 20 times "we love your game but it doesn't fit with our spread!" and "Are you sure you shouldn't add a fighting element?" and now has to read tweets saying "I'm so sick of ppl making uwu stuff just to make money"

This is like a super big topic, so maybe I'll write something longer eventually! Sorry I rambled. ;-;''

Gah I keep meaning to stop rambling but I just need to say I keep seeing some people on twitter putting down cute games by somehow insinuating these are feeding into the patriarchy or something and I don't know how to explain clearly how unwoke this actually is.

Especially in an industry where usually the only accepted women are ones who can "hang with the boys" I assert that cute is actually radical and brave. please stop insinuating cute games are somehow fake and not just that people are making games they like and want to play

On a more productive note, I genuinely want to know what word people would use to describe all the games in the WG showcase as an alternative to wholesome. They're not all nonviolent, nor are they all cute, cozy, feminine, casual or easy. To me, wholesome seems to work best