Dys4ia
March 9, 2012 5:58 PM   Subscribe

Dys4ia is a new Flash game by Anna Anthropy/Auntie Pixelante about her recent experiences as a trans woman. It is brief, touching, high-polish, and low-res. It possibly represents a new form of diaristic game design. (via gamefilter)
posted by nobody (24 comments total) 48 users marked this as a favorite
 
I liked it. Also, perhaps the first internet game that I feel like I actually won.
posted by Foam Pants at 6:27 PM on March 9, 2012 [3 favorites]


This was really great. Thank you for sharing!
posted by whitneyarner at 6:35 PM on March 9, 2012


It very much feels more like a video piece or an animated short than a game, per se. But that's one of the things I like about it.
posted by Sara C. at 6:56 PM on March 9, 2012


That was very lovely!
posted by Jonathan Harford at 6:59 PM on March 9, 2012


I am totally going to pretend this week's testosterone injection is an Atari-era mini-game. Pew pew pew!

Commence leg pin-cushioning in 3...2...1...
posted by Wossname at 7:08 PM on March 9, 2012 [6 favorites]


Super excellent. Magnificent storytelling and an effective use of the medium. A+
posted by blue t-shirt at 7:34 PM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


beautifully constructed too
posted by PinkMoose at 8:01 PM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Well, it did change my view a bit about the transgendered woman I used to be involved with (and might again - you never know) about her persecution complex. Which was really sad as no one around us ever said a word (other than a mutual friend who was worried I didn't know). It lead to a lot of really annoying behaviors (oh, look, I have to pretty much carry girlfriend upstairs AGAIN, clean her up, and put her to bed since she's completely slobberingly drunk AGAIN.)

I wasn't an ass to her, but people don't change if they don't want to, and, luckily a geographic relocation made the quiet dissolution of the romance possible. We do, however, correspond regularly, and I discovered an amazingly sweet section on her blog about our relationship.
posted by Samizdata at 8:07 PM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


that too - the music really enhances the ebb and flow of the mood.
posted by blue t-shirt at 8:08 PM on March 9, 2012 [4 favorites]


this was a very nice game. It really shows how much better you can understand something in game form than in reading or listening.
posted by rebent at 8:12 PM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Anna's new book, Rise of the Videogame Zinesters sold out at the Game Developers Conference twice this week. I'm only a little ways in, but it's quite excellent.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 8:18 PM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


I prefer my games to be more escapist, or at least not full of the kinds of garbage I already have to put up with every day. In other words, it hit too close to home for me.
posted by jiawen at 8:19 PM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


I bought her book at this weeks GDC, its fucking amazing, y'all need to buy it.
posted by hellojed at 9:10 PM on March 9, 2012


Seriously, that deformed Tetromino dragging its appendage towards the wall... I've never been so heartbroken by a polygon before.
posted by blue t-shirt at 9:12 PM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Yeah, that hits too close to home here, too. The game is well designed enough to trigger me and not really help me feel much better about it.

It's really hard to describe what gender dysphoria is like, how constantly confusing and painful it is. It's not as simple to describe as being in the wrong skin or shape - or simply not liking ones appearance(s) - because it's much more than skin deep. It's not like wishing you could be a different animal at all - I know what that feels like, too.

It colors your entire life. Every last interaction with the people around you feels wrong and disjointed - even your interactions with your own self. All day, every day.

"Wow, that sounds difficult" isn't even accurate. This is probably why so many transfolk are angered and irritated by common platitudes like "you're so brave" or "it gets better". They (I) don't want to be martyrs, or brave, or anything but (somehow, impossibly) simply themselves, with a brain and spirit that match their bodies.

Supposedly I have a way with words, but it's the most difficult thing I've ever had to describe or try to convey - and that's been a sore point for me.
posted by loquacious at 9:32 PM on March 9, 2012 [12 favorites]


Well, that certainly was not about dyslexia.
posted by quadog at 11:44 PM on March 9, 2012


Man, that was really well done. I'm always impressed by Anthropy's work.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 1:47 AM on March 10, 2012


This stuff is far enough in my past that I have some perspective on it; I also didn't have quite the problems with medical professionals that she had. Still, I found it both beautiful and haunting.

Yes, haunting is definitely the right word. Old ghosts.
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 2:40 AM on March 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


That was beautiful and actually educational for me. Thanks for sharing this.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 2:50 AM on March 10, 2012


one of the most beautiful and touching things I've seen in a while. thank you
posted by keepoutofreach at 6:25 AM on March 10, 2012


Beautiful, honest, touching. The soundtrack is awesome too.
posted by en forme de poire at 9:01 AM on March 10, 2012


In the game, the person never got their blood pressure under control.
posted by candasartan at 9:08 AM on March 10, 2012


I wish this was required watching (playing?) by every doctor and specialist out there. I'm also a girlfriend in the clinic waiting room and those pixelated hands clasping each other just totally broke me.

I wish I could be a stand-in significant other for anyone who didn't want to go to that first clinic visit alone. Or the second visit. Or the eleventh. Hell, I'm there with you, if only in my mind.
posted by Wuggie Norple at 6:22 PM on March 10, 2012 [4 favorites]


Very nicely done. The last screen was lovely.
posted by umbĂș at 8:42 PM on March 10, 2012


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