Editor’s note: There are some spoilers for the games mentioned below, but we deemed them necessary for this story.

I already highlighted some lovely LGBTQ+ games last week, but today I want to focus on the element of surprise. Sometimes, you can pick up and play a game without expecting any kind of queer themes, and it ends up pleasantly surprising you by the time you’re done. Sneaky, innit?

So please join me in celebrating Pride Month with joyous gay experiences both small and vast.

‘Unpacking’

This adorable indie title tells its story abstractly by tasking the player to do the heavy lifting of putting everything in its proper place after the main character moves somewhere new. You start in childhood with toys and games, move through adolescence and college, and end on a rather pleasant note once the protagonist winds up where they belong. You’re left to decipher life changes by what’s new at different moments, and what’s silently ditched over time.

I don’t know if I expected it to be hetero per se, but I certainly didn’t expect to find such a sweet little lesbian narrative tucked away in a title that doesn’t even have character models.

It’s available on just about anything with a screen, and it’s not very pricey on any platform, so I wholeheartedly endorse playing this pick-and-place game wherever you can.

“Unpacking” is available now on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, Android, and iOS.

‘Haven’

At launch, this game was a delightful third-person adventure starring a man and woman on the run because of their forbidden love. Pretty straight, right? It was right up until The Game Bakers shipped a patch that changed everything.

After the “Couples Update,” Yu and Kay needn’t be a straight-presenting couple. You now get to choose the genders of the pair, and the game allows you to enjoy it however you see fit.

I played the game before this came out, and I already had a superb time with it, so believe me when I say this delivered in the “surprise” category. The change was certainly a little late, but worth the wait. Thanks for baking up something special, TGB!

“Haven” is available now on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC.

‘Burning Shores’

After two full games with Aloy as the protagonist, there wasn’t much inkling that Aloy was particularly interested in romance or sex. The people around her certainly partake, but she’s been laser-focused on saving the world and stabbing robot dinosaurs right up until the DLC for the second game shipped. Which, ya know, fair!

“Burning Shores” is an expansive addition that demands that you spend a whole lot of time up in the sky on a robotic pterosaur, but Aloy won’t be up there alone. She quickly teams up with Seyka, a member of a distant tribe, and their relationship blossoms quickly.

The player can certainly choose to rebuff or delay a romantic encounter between these two adventurous women, but we’ll always be rooting for a smooch.

Snake, can love bloom on a Sunwing? Yes. The answer is “Yes.”

“Horizon: Forbidden West Complete Edition” is available now on PS5 and PC.

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What games are are you playing for Pride?

Image Credit: “Haven,” The Game Bakers