Traumatic art game He F—ed the Girl Out of Me gets physical release
He Fucked the Girl Out of Me by Taylor McCue was one of the most impactful games I played last year. Largely a semi-autobiographical narrative game, it covers some extremely heavy topics about trauma and sex work. It’s not entertaining, it’s not meant to be, but it is very important. It’s also getting a physical release for the Toronto Comics Art Festival.
I feel like I need this, but paradoxically, I also feel like I shouldn’t have it. As I said, I appreciate He Fucked the Girl Out of Me as an evocative and impactful piece of art. Therefore, I have a sentimental attachment towards it, but I’m also not sure I want to play it again.
Interestingly, the store listing notes, “Each cartridge had its label attached by hand. The games are made from repurposed bootleg GameBoy games which have been modded to contain a brand new game. Please expect imperfections. The games may have wear and tear from being tested.”
That’s actually pretty neat. It’s one thing to have a perfect reproduction of a GameBoy cartridge, it’s another to have a bootleg game repurposed.
As I warned in my initial article, be careful going into He Fucked the Girl Out of Me. It’s an extremely affecting story, and if you’re prone to vicarious trauma, there’s certainly a risk there. It’s a great way to extend your perspective on the situations of others and can be helpful to build your empathy, but your own mental well-being comes before those things.
You can order the physical version of He Fucked the Girl Out of Me now for $50 Canadian Loonies. However, copies won’t ship out until June at the earliest. You can play the digital version of the game for free right over here.
The Toronto Comics Art Festival is open April 29th and 30th, but the digital marketplace
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