You Can Play Iconic Queer Games During Pride On a Budget (& Support Charity)

With triple-A games like The Last of Us Part II and Horizon Forbidden West providing fantastic LGBTQ+ stories and characters, it’s a great time to be a queer gamer. However, those games come with a price tag on top of needing a console and some of the gameplay is a little dense. But for those who want to dabble in some lighter (but important) queer gaming this Pride month, there’s a great solution.

Humble Bundle Is offering a special game bundle that they’re calling “Pixel Pride.” All are playable on a PC with a free Steam account, the packages are cheap and include a range of games from platformers to dating sims for some relaxed queer gaming. And to top it all off, purchasing Humble Bundle’s Pixel Pride selection supports charity as well!

How Humble Bundle’s Pride Package & Charity Donation Works

Humble Bundle’s Pixel Pride comes in two sizes: a 4-game Bundle and a 7-game Bundle. If you purchase the Bundle, the games will be added to your Steam library and be playable in perpetuity – not just for Pride. The 7-game Bundle includes all the same games as the 4-game one, but includes 3 additional ones that add in queer dungeon crawling and more.

Humble Bundle works on a “Pay What You Want” system, which means that the lowest price for these games is astonishingly low. You can pick up the 4 game Bundle for just $7, and the 7 game Bundle for only $12. If you want to pay more than that, you’re entirely free to, and doing so helps to support the game designers, the Humble Bundle system, and most importantly the charity that Humble is supporting with these packages. You can even use the “Adjust Donation” setting to alter how much of your payment goes to the publishers, Humble, or the charity.

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A portion of all purchases of the Humble Bundle Pixel Pride purchases go to The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is a huge name in support for the LGBTQ+ community with a goal to “end suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning young people.” You can learn more about The Trevor Project, support their work, and reach out for support here.

Humble Bundle’s Pixel Pride Includes 1 Iconic Trans Game

The most notable inclusion in Humble Bundle’s Pixel Pride collection is the 2018 game Celeste. Created by Maddy Thorson, Celeste has become a cornerstone for LGBTQ+ gaming. The story follows Madeline as she decides to climb Celeste Mountain on a journey of self-discovery as she pushes herself to reach the summit despite all of the odds stacked against her. This journey includes instances such as the battle against “Badeline,” a representation of Madeline’s own depression and anxiety about herself.

While Celeste was not explicitly a trans story on its initial release, many of the themes throughout the game resonated with the trans experience. A 2019 free DLC for the game, Farewell, provided a new chapter for the game, and in the ending scenes Madeline can be seen with a trans pride flag. In 2020, Maddy Thorson went on the record to answer the question “Is Madeline Canonically Trans?” with an article that opens simply with the phrase “Well, yeah, of course she is.” Thorson then goes on to discuss how Madeline’s exploration of her gender identity mirrored Thorson’s own.

Celeste is a 2D platformer that is a must for queer gamers. While it is renowned for its challenging difficulty, there are accessibility options that make it easier to play if you just want to enjoy the story.

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Why You Should Play The Other Games In Humble Bundle’s Pixel Pride

Celeste normally goes for $19.99 on Steam, so Humble Bundle’s Pixel Pride packages are honestly a great deal even if that’s the only game that you want to play. However, the other games in the package are well worth exploring as well. Here are the games you get in each package and what to expect from them.

Humble Bundle’s 4-Game Pixel Pride ($7+)

Alongside Celeste, the 4-game Bundle gives you:

Later Alligator – A 2d point-and-click adventure from Pillow Fight, Later Alligator puts you in control of an unnamed character as they explore Alligator New York City. Tasked with investigating a mysterious event and a potential murder plot, the player must complete ingenious minigames around the city before time runs out. Depending on their performance, there are a range of different possible endings, offering a lot of replay value. Across the world of Later Alligator, the player can meet a range of LGBTQ+ characters, including a non-binary alligator named Joanie.

Bad End Theater – A visual novel puzzle game, Bad End Theater is a peaceful chance for players to explore puzzles and find a different ending to the story each time they play. While the player can choose their own adventure, ambiguously gendered characters and a variety of relationship options open Bad End Theater up to some great LGBTQ+ storytelling.

Get In The Car Loser – This one is an indie RPG that fans of classic Final Fantasy will love. Three lesbians and an angel must road trip their way to stopping a machine devil while escaping the Divine order that is hunting them. If that doesn’t sell you on the game, nothing I can say will.

Humble Bundle’s 7-Game Pixel Pride ($12+)

All of the games in the 4-game Bundle, along with:

Boyfriend Dungeon – If visual novels, puzzle games, and RPGs aren’t your thing, then the 7 game bundle does you a favor by adding a dungeon crawler and a dating sim all rolled into 1 convenient package with Boyfriend Dungeon. The player fights their way through dungeons wielding a sentient weapon. When not in the dungeon, the sword transforms into a human that the player can date. Naturally.

Growing Up – Starting off as a toddler, Growing Up gives the player the opportunity to experience life all the way up to adulthood. The life sim lets you make many choices about how your story goes to get different endings. It also lets you be wonderfully gay.

Super Lesbian Animal RPG – A dungeon-crawling RPG that puts players in the shoes of Melody Amaranth, as she joins her girlfriend Alison on an adventure. Along with two of their friends, the party find themselves embroiled in complex forces and fighting for the future of their hometown. This is even closer to a very gay Final Fantasy than Get In The Car Loser.♦

Get Humble Bundle’s Pixel Pride here and support The Trevor Project.