Do I Pass? Review

So Trans Day of Visibility was yesterday, and I actually discovered this little game by trans indie creator Taylor McCue thanks to Gayming Mag covering it.  

Summary:

"Do I Pass" is a visual novel where you play as a transgender woman who is worried about if she passes or not. With the help of a magical webpage she becomes a ghost and peeks into the minds of others to determine how they feel about her. There are three endings depending on the types of interactions she encounters from other people.

It's a short game but also very interesting, and I'm very glad I stumbled onto this game!

A quick note that the game does include mentions of misgendering and transphobia, but is not done in an intentionally malicious way. If you do happen to miss these warnings on the game page, the game itself presents the content warning in a unique way as well.

Controls are simple: z to talk/advance and arrow keys to move. The art is cute and retro, and I enjoyed the vibe that the art gives. If you don't want to play on browser, it can also be played on a gameboy emulator!

There are 3 endings to the game: "Misgendered," "Pass," and "No One Gendered You."

Misgendered is of course what it sounds like, where the player overhears various trans microaggressions from the passengers on the bus. While comments may be seemingly innocuous, to the player/character it confirms their worst fear that perhaps people were too polite to say out loud that they could "tell." However, I enjoyed that it reaffirmed that she didn't transition for other people but rather for herself, because if she didn't then she would have "wasted her life."

I'm glad there was a passing ending where the character can feel proud that others view her as only woman. However even that ending can be a little bittersweet: Is she really passing or did she just not talk to the right people? And furthermore to quote from the game: "passing is conditional upon the next person."

The final ending was also a nice one and probably my favorite. Everyone was too caught up in their own worlds to notice the gender of a stranger, and the character feels that as a relief because they can let go of the anxiety they've been holding inside. It takes the most amount of work remembering who to talk to, but in the end it's worth it.

If there would be just one thing to critique about this, it would be the sound. Perhaps it's because I played it in browser rather than in a gameboy emulator, but there was persistent static/crackling noise throughout? It's a little painful on headphones, so I ended up just muting it.

"Do I Pass?" is a thought-provoking and beautifully vulnerable game with lovely quotes that invokes empathy in the player. I really enjoyed playing this and would definitely recommend anyone give this a try. 

Until next time~

"Instead of spending my life hating myself, I chose to live."