Wholesome Games is a gaming community, focused around a Twitter account, that brings attention to gorgeous, sweet, friendly games, for no reason other than the sheer joy of it. So of course, after they recently announced a second, higher profile Wholesome Direct showcase for this weekend, June 12, some miserable people did their best to spoil it.
Wholesome Games had been getting on merrily for a couple of years, cheerfully recommending games that are âuplifting, thoughtful, compassionate, cozy,â with no incentive beyond wanting such games to get noticed and played. Last year they organized a Nintendo-style âWholesome Directâ, a live YouTube showcase of a collection of up-and-coming indie video games that fell into their wheelhouse.
It was a huge success, scoring almost 150,000 views for games that mostly would have gone completely unnoticed by the broader gaming press. So this year, buoyed by experience, they are upping the scale. They have partnered up with Twitch, the Guerrilla Collective, IGN and Gamespot (who they? -Ed), to get the Direct into as many eyeballs as possible.
But with greater attention comes more idiots, and the Little Twitter Account That Could suddenly found itself being bombarded by criticism, snark and outright fury for having the temerity to be⌠wholesome? Some seemed just angry at their success. They were derided on Twitter for being âbig business with major sponsors,â despite Wholesome Games being wholly non-profit. Much sneering ensued as people debated the label, and whether or not it might be applied to games with developers who did not welcome that vibe.
A lot of the invective came from what really had to be a willing misinterpretation of their call for games that represented âthoughtful representation of marginalized groupsâ. Rather than the good faith understanding most would take from reading this, that Wholesome had the good human decency to strive to represent as many people as possible, a loud faction decided they were patronizing the inclusion of marginalized groups as being inherently wholesome.
Wholesome Games co-founder James Tillman was altogether far too gracious in response to such accusations, pointing out that it was of course stating the precise opposite. He replied to one tweet saying, ââthoughtful representationâ is a guide we included to explain that no matter how âcuteâ or âcozyâ a game is, if itâs e.g. transphobic it doesnât belong in our community.â
Despite the reasonable, needlessly apologetic response, Wholesome Games still seem to be reeling from the shock of such a vitriolic response to their attempt to focus attention on lovely, upbeat games. They have recently produced an FAQ for June 12thâs event, in which they fall over themselves to justify their own existence, to an audience that never deserved their attention.
In it they highlight the eventâs plans to provide an hour of exclusive footage and game reveals, plus developer interviews and announcements, including an astonishing 75 games. They go on to make clear that thereâs no simple, fixed definition for âwholesomeâ, but rather itâs the judgement of their small curation team. The FAQ agrees that âwholesomeâ could be interpreted as âtoxic positivityâ, as in the way far-right groups will often use the term âfamily valuesâ, before absolutely rejecting such values.
They say a lot of other things that make an awful lot of sense, like rejecting the ridiculous defective induction that they might be in any way anti non-wholesome gamesâas if they might be echoing the astonishing outburst from Apple during the Epic trial, when Apple condemned games on Itch.io as âso offensive we cannot speak about them here.â Wholesome Games also point out that all media, no matter its content or agenda, is political. They also make clear that partnering with big-name gaming sites and streaming platforms is not in any sense the same thing as being âsponsoredâ. The only money they make is from merch, and all the proceeds from that go to charities like AbleGamers and Galaxy Fund
We reached out to Wholesome Games to get their perspective. Regarding the Direct, co-founder Matthew Taylor tells us he hopes to âmake an entertaining showcase thatâs as fast-paced and exciting as the E3s I grew up with, and bring attention to indie developers who otherwise might not get it.â Regarding the negative response, heâs as decent as ever, explaining that they understand why people are âcautiousâ about the label.
âWeâve come to find that âwholesomeâ means a lot of different things to different people,â Taylor tells me via Twitter DM. âThose who follow us closely know our values just based on the work we do, but the FAQ we published recently is just another way to get that message across, especially for those who might not know us very well. Hopefully, the FAQ is a quick way for people to learn more about us, straight from the source.â
Please may they now be left alone to get on with helping positive, happy games gain attention? This yearâs Wholesome Direct starts at 10am PT/1pm ET on June 12, and can be watched via their YouTube channel, on Twitch, on the Guerrilla Collectiveâs event page on Steam, or via Gamespot
