https://blog.archive.org/2020/08/28/the-legend-of-gayblade/ Internet Archive Blogs A blog from the team at archive.org Internet Archive Blogs Menu Skip to content * Blog * Announcements * Internet Archive Store * archive.org * About * Events * Developers * Donate The Legend of GayBlade Posted on August 28, 2020 by Jason Scott [GayBlade-s] The recently released video game documentary High Score includes a sequence in the third episode about a game called GayBlade. GayBlade is one of the first commercially-sold LGTBQ-themed video games, a role-playing romp for Windows and Macintosh occasionally referred to as "Dungeons and Drag Queens". Once thought to have been lost, the game's software was recently discovered and preserved--and is now available in the Internet Archive! Although LGTBQ people have been creating video games since the earliest days of the industry, there were very few games before the 21st century that explicitly had LGTBQ themes. Game creator Ryan Best hoped to change that with GayBlade, remarking, "This game gives lesbians and gays--and straight people--a chance to strike back at homophobia from behind our computer screen." [gayblade-c] The game is definitely political, racy and unafraid to make waves, as it definitely did in 1992 when it was released. Players are tasked with exploring a deep dungeon filled with homophobic enemies, trying to rescue the Empress Nelda and return her to Castle GayKeep. Best (and co-creator John Theurer) filled the game with humorous spells, items and antagonists while still keeping it all within the traditional role-playing genre. There are over 13 levels and 1,300 different rooms in this dungeon, reflecting the remarkable amount of work put into it by its creators--truly a unique work of art. After being lost in a move from Honolulu to San Francisco, the game was thought to have disappeared forever. In High Score, creator Ryan Best laments that he was unable to find any of the game files, and was not very hopeful he would ever find them. But that's not the end of the story--between the close of filming and the release of the documentary, Best discovered another copy of his game. Thanks to efforts by the LGTBQ Game Archive, Strong Museum of Play, and Internet Archive, it was preserved. [Screen-Sho] If you want to experience GayBlade for yourself, it's available in our emulated games collection. You can play it directly in your browser if you'd like, or download the original source code. Additionally, an even earlier LGTBQ game called Caper In The Castro, a mystery adventure dating to 1989, is also emulated in the archive. So hit play and take a look at a little-known slice of LGTBQ history! Posted in News | 2 Replies Post navigation - Harvard Copyright Scholar: "Libraries have special authority" 2 thoughts on "The Legend of GayBlade" 1. [2ffe0]Berita Mataram August 28, 2020 at 11:32 pm Has a very captived market Reply | 2. [baee0]SuzieQ August 29, 2020 at 5:03 am This is a wonderful story of the Archive bringing things thought to be lost back to life!!! One thing to say though, is that perhaps you should be careful to have an accurate historical record? Queer theory did not exist until ~mid 1990s, so perhaps none of these games are LGBTQIA+ -- they're Gay and Lesbian works. Especially Caper In The Castro. And don't get me wrong, I don't say that with a mean spirit, it's just a comment to point this out in all honesty. Even the game copy/descriptions provided refer to them being Gay and Lesbian works. They should be celebrated for what they are, and an archive shouldn't rewrite the past. Other than that, love it! xoxo Reply | Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Comment [ ] Name * [ ] Email * [ ] Website [ ] [Post Comment] Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Search for: [ ] [Search] Recent Posts * The Legend of GayBlade * Harvard Copyright Scholar: "Libraries have special authority" * An Archive of a Different Type * Open Libraries Director: "Everyone should have equal and equitable access to a comprehensive library" * Back to School With the Internet Archive Recent Comments * Lars Aronsson on Can You Help us Make the 19th Century Searchable? * SuzieQ on The Legend of GayBlade * Berita Mataram on The Legend of GayBlade * Timothy Campbell on An Archive of a Different Type * Lars Aronsson on Can You Help us Make the 19th Century Searchable? Categories * 78rpm * Announcements * Archive Version 2 * Archive-It * Audio Archive * Books Archive * Cool items * Education Archive * Emulation * Event * Image Archive * Jobs * Lending Books * Live Music Archive * Movie Archive * Music * News * Newsletter * Open Library * Past Event * Software Archive * Technical * Television Archive * Upcoming Event * Video Archive * Wayback Machine - Web Archive * Web & Data Services Archives Archives [Select Month ] Meta * Log in * Entries feed * Comments feed * WordPress.org Proudly powered by WordPress