Video games, like all art forms, can inform and inspire people…and their sex lives. Popular culture might like associating games with crushed cans of Monster Energy and glasses held in the middle with tape, but some video games are sexually active. Some, like the ones in this slideshow, can welcome their ready players into a type of desire they’ve never felt before through BDSM, or bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism and masochism (it’s a mouthful).
Popular titles like Ladykiller in a Bind, Monster Girl Island feature aspects of BDSM, as, frequently, will whatever whiny VR girl you find on video game porn site Nutaku (no relation). Sometimes it’s as subtle as a rope restraint, other times there are more overt displays of dominance or submission. People who have played NSFW video games before will be familiar with the game industry’s take on BDSM, but if you’re hungry for more on your computer screen or brainstorming for real life, look no further.
No matter what you’re here for, though, remember—“real life BDSM is a lot different from video games,” Mistress Shayla Lange, co-creator of educational BDSM web series 7 Days of Domination, told me. “Something that is really hot in a game might be overwhelming or unpleasant in person.”
Though many NSFW video games employ aspects of BDSM that may spark your interest, not every depiction of BDSM in games translates well to the actual bedroom. Some sex games even perpetuate dangerous misconceptions about women and kink, so it’s important you know that a video game fantasy can’t exist out of your head. The seven games you’ll find in this slideshow are dignified introductions to the subculture. They’ll help make your game time stimulating while Mistress Shayla advises on how you can get ready for the real thing, if you’re ready for it.