GAMING LIFE
Great heroes who represent you
Bit fed up with seeing similar faces fronting the games you love? This diverse set of lead and playable characters brings better representation to the gaming world.
Within each of these titles you’ll find a protagonist with a different perspective to share – one that might reflect your own heritage or experiences.
Fresh: Subway Surfers
In this endless runner game you must dodge oncoming trains and escape a dastardly railway inspector on foot or hoverboard. Fresh is one of the early unlockable main characters. This teen (played by Ogie Banks in the Subway Surfers animated TV series) is one cool kid, sporting ’80s-style high flat-top hair and forever carrying his boom box as he runs.
Fresh is not the only playable Black character in Subway Surfers, you can also take on the guise of his big sister Ella. The game’s limited-time characters have also spanned multiple ethnicities and backgrounds.
Jariya al-Zakiyya: Assassin’s Creed Rebellion
The mythology behind Jariya’s character in Rebellion states that she is the child of Sultan Abu al-Hasan Ali. She is “half-Moorish” and, as a Muslim character from Granada, she wears a headscarf and face covering in the game. She carries a hidden blade to defeat enemies stealthily.
Ubisoft has always highlighted that its Assassin’s Creed franchise is made by a diverse team. In Rebellion, which is a miniaturised version of the game, there is also a mix of genders and ethnicities in its cast of characters.
Custom character: Stardew Valley
You build your own protagonist in Stardew Valley – a game in which you move to a farm and must learn to tend to the land. Alongside raising livestock and caring for crops, however, there is also romancing to do. And the lovely aspect of Stardew Valley is that it is not prescriptive about whom you should wed.
There are 12 marriage candidates – an equal mix of male and female. Whichever way you lean, you’ll have the same opportunities for a wedding and, subsequently, family life, as children can be both born and adopted.
Kasio: If Found…
In this interactive novel, you follow the story of Kasio, who is facing an impending apocalypse as a black hole threatens to destroy the world. As you play, you erase Kasio’s diary and, as you do so, discover more about her and the challenges of her life.
Kasio is transgender. The game’s creator, Llaura McGee (who is transgender herself), says she didn’t consciously set out to write a trans narrative, but that she imparted autobiographical experiences to the story organically.
The old man: Old Man’s Journey
It is not often that we find stories about the older generation in games. Yet in this tale, you play as an elderly man on a pilgrimage that is both physical and emotional. You’ll navigate beautifully drawn landscapes and along the way, when his legs are tired, you will stop for moments of reflection.
It is in these moments that you will begin to understand his life story, his isolation and the grief he experiences.