parasite

Like many of Porpentine's games, the short length belies a lot of depth. Most of her games feel very personal, autobiographical in an abstract sense, and this one is no exception. The setting is a blend of futuristic sci-fi and the modern-day US. You play as a trans woman, and there are several personal vignettes about that, which feel like the author speaking directly. To afford hormones you need to sell a part of yourself, more specifically: partitioning off a part of your brain to turn one of your dreams into a simulation that will be sold to other people. This could be read as allegory for many unpleasant things. Literally selling out your dreams, for one.

There are a lot of fascinating things about this story. The dream sold is a deeply personal dream connected to your realization of your gender and who you are, and by selling it you'll never experience it again. The friend you're selling it to puts on these professional airs and acts like a soulless robotic merchant, keep up, don't interrupt the business. When you have doubts, she makes fun of you. You say to her, "You don't even see these dreams. You don't know what they mean to me." To which she responds, "Don't give me that 'I can't sell the family farm!' shit." Nobody cares about what you have to do or what you're going through. It's just what you have to do to survive, you know. Yeah you'll lose something deeply and inexpressibly precious to you and you'll never get it back but too bad, that's just how life is. And the sacrifice you have to make goes completely unacknowledged. Good game.

Playtime: 15 minutes