I’m looking for COG games that have love interests with diverse orientations, as in they have a variety of orientations (gay/bi/straight/other) instead of all being bi or playersexual. Not looking to debate which kind of game is better (to each their own), just looking for games that fit this taste of mine
I know about MetaHuman inc and zombie exodus but would love to find out if there are more games that have defined gay characters
Thanks in advance!
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The Heroes Rise trilogy and the Hero Project spin-off. The spin-off especially has heavy LGBT+ themes and characters.
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I don’t know if want to stick only to characters with predetermined genders but if that’s not hte case, Villeneuve from Choice of Broadsides is always the same gender as the Mc, and therefore canonically gay.
In A Study in Steampunk, it can be debatable whether Finch can be considered canonically gay or not, since it’s not brought up unless your character express interest in the same gender as well.
Some WIPs try this approach to ROs as well. I can’t recall many particular examples but if you are interested, most of them usually feature an explanation about how the romance system works in their original post.
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Thanks for the info! I’m open to gender switching characters I think
I say “Unnatural” has characters with set orientations it also has a romance guide if you want
Saren in Dragon Racer is gay. He starts out as a ‘flirt’ in this game, meaning it doesn’t quite evolve into a full fledged romance yet, but it goes in that direction. This will be expanded on in the sequel. Makes sense as you first have to complete the “rivals to friends” arc with him. As far as I know, the Dragon Racer sequel is also going to introduce a lesbian RO. It’s still a wip though.
The VERSUS series (by the same author as the Heroes rise series mentioned by Jay_Tarrant) also features at least one gay character, and one character is only interested in MCs who do not conform to the gender binary - this character is non binary themselves. I think that makes them ceterosexual? I think both characters are only introduced in the second game.
You will be interested in the upcoming Heart’s Choice label! It’s going to be a sister company of Choice of Games, releasing games with heavy romance focus. There are games in production that focus on love between men, others on love between women.
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Like Villeneuve, JJ in SLAMMED! is always the same gender as the player.
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Rory in Tally Ho is also always the gender of the MC
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HC won’t necessarily form its own company. It’s a production label, similar as Hosted Games to Choice of Games label.
Well, I guess all the ones I was thinking of have already been mentioned 
I do think this is more common in WiPs (Works in Progress) than published games… is that something you’re interested in?
Well, and I could also draw a distinction between games in which the romances are written more as playersexual versus ones where they’re written as more explicitly bi, but that’s a bit of a tangent.
Would a nonbinary RO also be of interest? Asteroid Run has one.
As I understand it, Hosted Games itself is legally a separate company from Choice of Games… just one with the same people in it.
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Only Dan or Jason (or the staffs) can answer that question clearly, I think.
I think this confirms it:
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Ooo, I find that very exciting! I look forward to seeing how that develops. I love romance
oh cool I’ll check it out! I always appreciate a game guide lol
Ah, I’m a Basic so I wasn’t sure about it and can’t find any reference. Now I see.
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I know this is probably a dumb question, but I’ve seen it all over in the forums. What does “RO” stand for? I thought maybe “romantic interest”, but that would be “RI”. I’m confused. Thanks in advance! 
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It stands for “romance option,” so you are quite close! Same idea.
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I really liked “Dylan” in that one, of course I think he is gender-flippable and player-sexual.
By far the best way I’ve seen gender-flippable and player-sexual done on this site is by @ThomB with Dandy/Daisy where there are small but meaningful differences between Dandy/Daisy and them being gay or straight.
Which means that liability-wise they’ve got to be very careful never to mix up their letterheads, unless that is different in the US, which it probably is.
Back on topic the old @Vendetta wip had a very promising gay exclusive with Adamo (and teased lesbian exclusive with Rosie), sadly it seems to be on hiatus again.
Saren is also an asshole who tries to kill the mc and is a cause of much of their misery throughout the first game. So be warned, but, yes, he is gay and a gay exclusive future romance.
I should probably also mention Steel in the upcoming Fallen Hero sequel who is also gay exclusive.
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Thanks!
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Which character in Versus is gay by the way? I can’t seem to find any sort of romance guide.