''Dys4ia'' (pronounced dysphoria) is an abstract,

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a mostly discontinuedAlthough it is discontinued by Adobe Inc., for the Chinese market it is developed by Zhongcheng and for the international enterprise market it is developed by Ha ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

that

Anna Anthropy Anna Anthropy is an American video game designer, role-playing game designer, and interactive fiction author whose works include '' Mighty Jill Off'' and '' Dys4ia''. She is the game designer in residence at the DePaul University College of Co ...

, then known as Auntie Pixelante, developed to recount her experiences of

gender dysphoria Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to inconsistency between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The term replaced the previous diagnostic label of gender i ...

and

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. Effects of menopause can include symptoms such ...

. The game was originally published on

Newgrounds Newgrounds is an American entertainment website founded by Tom Fulp in 1995 and owned by Newgrounds.com, Inc. The site hosts user-generated content such as games, films, audio, and artwork. Fulp produces in-house content at the headquarters and ...

but was later removed by Anthropy. In 2023, she republished it on

itch.io Itch.io (stylized in all lowercase) is a website for users to host, sell and download indie video games, indie role-playing games, game assets, comics, zines and music. Launched in March 2013 by Leaf Corcoran, the service hosts over 1,000,000 ...

Plot

Touching on the 'frustrations' of transitioning, particularly taking

estrogen Estrogen (also spelled oestrogen in British English; see spelling differences) is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three ...

, the game documents a six-month period in her treatment via a succession of

mini-games A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...

that reflect on gender politics, identity, and personal development. While discussing the concept with the ''Penny Arcade Report'', Anna Anthropy remarked, "This was a story about frustration—in what other form do people complain as much about being frustrated? A video game lets you set up goals for the player and make her fail to achieve them. A reader can’t fail a book. It’s an entirely different level of empathy."

Reception

After debuting at a

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-based

art game An art game (or arthouse game) is a work of Interactive art, interactive new media art, new media digital art, digital software art as well as a member of the "art game" subgenre of the serious game, serious video game. The term "art game" was ...

convention between 21 and 23 February 2012, ''Dys4ia'' subsequently appeared on the social media website

on 9 March 2012, and achieved a First Place 'Daily Feature'. ''Dys4ia'' received praise from various sources for its ability to communicate a challenging subject. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''s Will Freeman commented that ''Dys4ia'' offered 'a touching and witty insight into an experience many may never even consider in detail'. In response to the mechanics of ''Dys4ia'', Freeman suggested that the game 'does much to prove the power of games to communicate complex concepts through playful interactions'. On the UK gaming blog ''

Rock, Paper, Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' is a British video game journalism website. It was launched in July 2007 to focus on PC games and was acquired by Gamer Network, a network of sites led by ''Eurogamer'', in May 2017. History ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' ...

'', journalist Adam Smith found the content 'uncomfortable' and inherently private, yet nevertheless 'informative and moving'. Regarding the artistic merits of ''Dys4ia'', Smith remarked that the limited visuals were 'effective communicators of extreme discomfort' and that Liz Ryerson's soundtrack to the game deserved special mention.

References

External links

''Dys4ia''
at Freegames.org

at

{{Portal bar, Video games, LGBTQ 2012 video games Art games Browser games Flash games LGBTQ-related video games Retro-style video games Single-player video games Transgender-related video games Video games designed by Anna Anthropy Video games developed in the United States