ABSTRACT

Hoping to add some steam and sex to your next game? Then this book is for you. This practical guide provides you with the foundational tools needed to write, design, and create healthy sexual content in video games in ways that are narratively compelling, varied, and hot! Challenging the assumptions that sex in games is superfluous, exploitative, or only of interest to straight guys, this book encourages designers to create meaningful, enjoyable sexual content for all audiences.

Using examples from well-known AAA games (and some standout indie content!), each chapter provides a framework to guide game writers, designers, and developers through the steps of creating and executing sexual content in their games – from early concept, to setting it up in larger game narrative, and finally to executing specific sexual scenes and sequences. It also lays out a host of details and considerations that, while easily missed or forgotten, can have a major impact on the quality or theme of the scene.

Offering expert insight and ideas for creating sex scenes in games, this book is vital reading for game designers, writers, and narrative designers who are interested in making games with sexual content. It will also appeal to artists, cutscene directors, audio engineers, composers, and programmers working on these games – or really, any game developer with an interest in the topic!

part Part 1|54 pages

Sex, Games, and Culture

chapter Chapter 1|9 pages

What This Book Is (And Isn't)

ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 2|14 pages

The Myths and “Myths” of Video Game Sex

ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 3|16 pages

Challenges Part 1

Censorship and Storefronts
ByKris Wise

chapter Chapter 4|12 pages

Challenges Part 2

The Terrors of Tech
ByMichelle Clough

part Part 2|49 pages

Sex and Pre-Production

chapter Chapter 5|12 pages

The Narrative Functions of Sex Scenes (And Why/Why Not to Have Them)

ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 6|6 pages

Considering Your Thirsty Audience

Diverse Desires vs. Target Demographics
ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 7|20 pages

The Trifecta of Sexual Approach and Aesthetic

ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 8|9 pages

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!

BySouha Al-Samkari, Michelle Clough

part Part 3|80 pages

Sex in the Larger Game Structure

chapter Chapter 9|19 pages

Characters and Sex

ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 10|19 pages

Sex and the Three-Act Structure (Part 1)

ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 11|24 pages

Kindness Coins and the Chemistry Casino

ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 12|14 pages

Sex in Quest Design

ByMichelle Clough

part Part 4|197 pages

The Craft of Sex Scenes

chapter Chapter 13|12 pages

Queer Sex in Games

ByKris Wise, Monica Fan, Aubrey Jane Scott, Antonin Fusco

chapter Chapter 14|9 pages

Initiating Sex with Branching Choices

ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 15|15 pages

Consent in Video Game Sex

ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 16|14 pages

Building Anticipation!

Sex Scenes and the Four Types of Tension
ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 17|11 pages

Bringing to a Climax

Sex and the Three-Act Structure (Part 2)
ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 18|8 pages

Sex Cutscene Direction and Design

An Interview with Ashley Ruhl
ByAshley Ruhl, Michelle Clough

chapter Chapter 19|12 pages

Fade to Black vs. Showing the Sex

ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 20|21 pages

Coming to Grips with Gaze in Sex Scenes

ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 21|10 pages

Setting the Sex Scene!

Sex and Environment Design
ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 22|16 pages

“Aural Sex” and Audio

BySouha Al-Samkari

chapter Chapter 23|18 pages

Tender Talk and Naughty Narration

Dialogue and Sex
ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 24|15 pages

Sex and Game Design (Part 1)

Branching Choices, Interactivity, and Agency
ByMichelle Clough

chapter Chapter 25|12 pages

Sex and Game Design (Part 2)

Mechanics and Verbs
BySharang Biswas

chapter Chapter 26|17 pages

The Aftermath of Sex Scenes

ByMichelle Clough