Dueling, Dice Rolls, Kisses Await in Thirsty Sword Lesbians Game

During quarantine, many of us lost our social skills, and that means that flirting went out the window as did the prospect for romance and love. That's where the game Thirsty Sword Lesbians comes in.

Playing Thirsty Sword Lesbians, created by trans lesbian April Kit Walsh, is like if Dungeons & Dragons took place at a Pride parade, was directed by the Wachowski siblings (The Matrix, Bound), and starred Janelle Monae, Kristen Stewart, Lena Waithe, and Hayley Kiyoko. In other words, it's the best tabletop role-playing game (RPG) ever invented.

Playing is simple, and it's in the Powered by the Apocalypse family of RPGs, so if you've played any others like Apocaylpse World, Dungeon World, or Monsterhearts, you'll already have the upper hand. One player will act as the game master, or gay master, as they're called in Thirsty Sword Lesbians, and the others choose from nine character types or playbooks.

These characters include the wild and dangerous Beast, the playful Trickster, the lovable Scoundrel, and the world-weary Chosen. You create your character based on one of these playbooks, and then you and the other characters are placed in a situation or story that could be self-written, or it could be one of the many prewritten adventures and settings that come in the game book.

From there, you and the other players make various decisions and rolls of the dice to see what kind of interactions you have with each other. And those interactions will usually be flirting.

Throughout the game, you can decide if your character is smitten with another character, and then you can use both your real-life flirting skills and the built-in flirting techniques that come with your character type to learn more about the others and to possibly get closer to them.

Unlike with most RPGs, the goal in Thirsty Sword Lesbians isn't to defeat a bad guy or save a princess; it's to build relationships. Walsh says one of her favorite things about the game is "how it prompts moments of heartbreaking drama and really sweet and meaningful connection," something that feels crucial after so many have been isolated these past few years.

"The genre is 'queer action romance' rather than sci-fi or fantasy," she continues, "with a focus on interpersonal drama and emotional character arcs that don't depend on any particular setting."

Additionally, the game is loaded with sexy and stylish art. The first book includes art by Kanesha C. Bryant and Hannah Templer, with more interior art by Avery Andruszkiewicz, Chelsea Geter, Feather, Schaffer, Kiku Hughes, Marty Tina G., Naomi Castor, Ryan Kingdom, and Trivia Fox.

The books are worth the purchase just to look at the gorgeous sapphic art inside them. It's filled with a variety of women, queers, and lesbians in a wide variety of situations. But in all of them, they're cute, they're hot, and they kick ass.

Characters in Thirsty Sword Lesbians can adapt to any kind of flirting style, whether it's sexually charged sword fights, hilariously intense pun battles, or deep and dramatic heart-to-hearts.

Even if you don't like romantic or sexual flirting, you can still play the game and make it about friend flirting and building a chosen family.

It's also a heavily customizable game. While you can do any of the prewritten settings or adventures, you can also make the game fit that erotic space vampire fanfic you wrote as a teen.

"Thirsty Sword Lesbians is for everyone who is excited about telling stories of found family or romance in settings where swords cross and hearts race," Walsh says. "It's designed to be easy to learn and easy to run, welcoming for queers of all kinds and flexible enough that you can tell space opera stories or swashbuckling pirate stories or anything in between."

This story is part of The Advocate's 2022 Love issue, which is out on newsstands February 2022. To get your own copy directly, support queer media and subscribe -- or download yours for Amazon, Kindle, Nook, or Apple News.