very impressive parallel tensions of identifying with the played character during their decisions, but ALSO anxious whether you, as a player, are making the "right" choices according to the twinned criteria of what you think is right, but also what the game expects. this all follows the structure of the in-game gender choices used as the spine of THIS game. lots going on! i think perhaps the best decision was to mix up the chronology, which forced me to think a little more about what kind of arc i was experiencing.  

Relatable content for this nonbinary player! The kind of story that might be told more conventionally in the form of a first-person, autobiographical essay, is instead offered here as an interactive exercise in empathy. The author has used the affordances of the IF medium — second-person narration, choice-based interactivity — to immerse the player inside a very specific set of experiences with gender. I particularly appreciated that each moment or vignette is unapologetic in its emotional nuance, allowing for seemingly "little" moments to carry the kind of weight that they actually hold in one's own life story. In this way, I think this game totally avoids sensationalizing the subject matter. It felt naturalistic and authentic.

I really enjoyed the writing in Pick Your Gender. Short, snappy, and to the point. The line “Disguises are meant to be removed” unironically goes really hard. As a cisgendered man, I felt boxed in by all the forced choices, which I do believe is the author’s intent. Giving the player five options, all of which are terrible, is an excellent way to communicate how difficult it must be to navigate a world not designed for you.

I’m sad that my trans and nonbinary friends are in a perpetual loop of having to explain their gender. That’s not a knock on this game, which I think is lovely, but I wish we would give them the breathing room to tell other stories.