I'd Rather Have Cake: Asexual Representation and Queer Designing of Games

Parker and Ntelia's paper argues that asexual identities are markedly underrepresented in queer game design, and that this shortfall stems from a structural habit of separating formal gameplay elements (rules and mechanics) from dramatic ones (narrative, art, and aesthetics). In this separation, queer representation is typically relegated to ancillary, often skippable content. The authors position asexuality as a case where this divide is especially consequential, since asexual characters in games are usually implicit, minor, or easily missed.

The scale of the gap is central to the argument. Only about 1% of the 4,303 "LGBT"-tagged games on Itch.io carry an asexual tag, and only 2.5% of Steam games are tagged LGBTQIA+, with console storefronts falling below 2% and lacking asexuality-specific search filters. These figures contrast sharply with survey estimates placing asexual prevalence between roughly 1% and 5% of the population.

To address this, the authors develop a design-based study built around AceWars, a playable proof of concept. Playtesting showed that formal mechanics could convey broad themes such as exclusion, isolation, and community, but the asexuality-specific meaning only became legible once explicit interface elements, unit names, and flavour text were added. From this, the authors conclude that formal elements alone are insufficient for representation. They propose a ludonarrative approach and draw on affect theory, particularly Anable's work, to treat aesthetics as an integrated, interface-level experience rather than a secondary layer. The paper calls for comprehensive design processes and future player and developer studies to refine this framework.