Family Dinner
BAFTA YGD 2020 finalist!
"...a poignant and emotional experience that I would highly recommend."
- Indie Hive
"Family Dinner is eye-opening and a very crucial game"
- Gayming Magazine
"...perfectly encapsulated the awkwardness of enduring familial transphobia"
- PinkNews
~~~
It only takes one night to change everything.
Family Dinner is an interactive-fiction game about being a closeted transgender teenager at a family dinner, and all the awkwardness and upset that entails.
As featured on: PinkNews / Stevivor / Checkpoint Gaming / Gayming Magazine / BAFTA / The Orwell Youth Prize
Playtime: ~15 minutes per story
Content Warning: Instances of transphobia, distressing scenes
Download
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Development log
- Family Dinner in hindsight (aka the final update)Jul 01, 2022
- Family Dinner is a part of Indiepocalypse #18!Jul 04, 2021
- Update - Improved Windows version... and the usualJun 17, 2021
- Update - QoL features and Fireworks Night for WindowsMay 15, 2021
- Update - Fireworks Night is OUT NOW!Dec 30, 2020
- The October RecapOct 02, 2020
- ANNOUNCING: Fireworks Night, a free, full-length expansion to Family DinnerAug 01, 2020
Comments
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I love this game
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
THE BL OMG
wow. just. wow. my heart. also i might have been screaming at toby a few times but i still love him
edit: i finished the second game and AHHHHHHH🥹🥹🥹🥹
Unsettlingly close to my real life in terms of details, like me being a transgender man called Toby and having a close friend called Jack. Talk about game immersion. Good game though
This game is gold. I ended up really feeling as though I was toby 10/10 would recommend
Trying to play this but it wont work, says something about somthing not being compatible with my version of windows (Win10)
Hope this is fixable as I wanna play this :)
Hi! What version of Windows 10 are you running? If it’s an older version it might not have the required webview features to run the game.
In any case I’d recommend trying the web build instead!
hi! i really enjoy this, but when i click on fireworks night it doesn't work, i'm not sure what's up. (update. i got it to work and i loved it so much! thank you for this cute sweet story)
Enjoyable game so far but my mind is on Very Impatient mode right now so I must confess - the text goes way too slow for me! I'm a very fast reader and as much as I really really want to enjoy this, I'd love a way to make the next bubble come up because my mind cannot handle how slow it is to me. My apologies, my mind just... goes really fast and I hate it (my mind) sometimes.
Agreed!
Hello! Sorry, looks like I missed this until this reply. You can change the text speed from the settings - there's a few different options, and the game's by-default on the 2nd slowest.
I see! I just tried it out, but unfortunately it keeps switching to "slow", and then becomes unchangeable.
Hm, that’s odd - I’ll check that one out. Thanks for the heads up!
This is now fixed on the web version (Windows version soon) - thanks for letting me know about it.
Thank you!
as a trans man, i very much relate to the first part of this game. i was kicked out by my father and step-mother, with 10 minutes notice. i was 12, i'm almost 17 now. the feelings that this game invokes are all too real, and i remember them like it was yesterday. i hope that this can show people a very real part of trans people's lives. thank you for this experience.
Hello!
(Spoiler alert)
So, I really loved the game, but i believe there´s a bug at Fireworks Night, when Jack asks Toby if he wants to see something cooler than the fireworks, the options don´t work, i click and nothing happens.
Just wanted to let you know! Im really excited to see the rest of the story. :)
Hey, thanks for playing!
I've fixed the bug, was the result of a minor typo I missed (oops). Thank you for the heads up!
Hey!
So, I finished playing and BOY. I LOVED THE ENDING.
Beng truthful, i followed Jack and the ending was exactly what i wanted, i thought it wouldn´t happen, but it did, and im so happy
Thank you so much for the game and congratulations, your game made my little trans heart warm. Exactly how you put it, finding something good in the worst.
This is such a powerful game
Well done
This is a really sad game that I'm sure is a reality to some people. Personally, I don't relate to it much. It still breaks my heart though that people go through this. I hope that this can bring awareness to others to be better people. This isn't how it should be. I just hope it gets better. Thank you for making this game! :)
As a trans woman with bigoted family, this game hurt to play. I related with a lot of the experiences here and you captured it beautifully. Looking forward to updates, really good work <3
This made me sooo sad and mad!! The story is amazing and honestly felt so real! I already love Toby with my whole heart and I also love his supportive friend! Thank you creators for giving people like me a glimpse into one of the many struggles trans people have to face to be themselves.
it's short and sweet, and by sweet i mean very sad and it gave me anxiety over a topic that doesn't apply to me so that's a sign of great storytelling right there
But for real it's very enjoyable and has a very poignant use of its time, and from a development standpoint, it is very clean and efficient, allowing no distractions from the main feature story.
A short but really powerful game. I'm really happy that Toby at least has Jack.
i love this game so much it's amazing. ( spoilers and my dumb ranting lmao ) the whole time i played this i was telling the mom and uncle barry to shut up before i slap them. when toby was kicked out i was saying " bro if you don't text jack i sWEAR-" and then he texted jack and i was really happy lmao. they're friendship goals ngl i want a friend like jack.
This is incredible, I had a similar experience just two weeks ago with my father and he kicked me out. I truly wish I to support you but I am currently broke so I can't spare coin but I'm sharing this with everyone that I know will be interested. thank you for sharing such a powerful experience with the world.
Don't worry about donations! I'm really happy you enjoyed the game. I hope all goes well for you in the future, too!
This was really powerful and wonderfully made. As a transmasc teen, it really means a lot to me. I'm lucky enough to have a supportive immediate family, but I'm still terrified of fully coming out. I would love to see more games that take place in this universe. Maybe Toby could get a happy ending.
I can't thank you enough for this game and how much it means to me. Amazing work <3
Thank you! I'm glad the game meant that much to you! And yeah, the epilogue I'm working on will definitely have a lighter tone.
Well written, powerful stuff. I am compelled to ask, is there only one ending? If so, that's a clever way to speak to the lack of control trans people (especially trans youth) have over our own lives, subverting expectations of dialogue games in such a way.
Yeah, there's only one ending. Multiple routes to get there, but it all converges at the end.
Thanks for playing!
This scares me for when I am gonna come out one day ;-;
There is only one ending in the game, but more than one ending in life. When I came out, a number of people surprised me and didn't act the way I expected. Some for the better some for the worse. I don't know your situation, but I hope that you get pleasant surprises when that time somes.
this hit me right in my trans heart. it's such an effective experience and it perfectly encapsulates the anxiety that comes with being closeted and forced out
That was well-written and well-paced. It all (text, images, audio) worked well as a way to paint a picture of a difficult situation.
Thank you so much!
oof, the anxiety is real
What a powerful game with a really well written narrative/script. The sounds, especially the moments with the heartbeat were really effective. I hope that everyone here checks it out.
Thanks for the kind words!!
I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH, it feels like your in the shoes of the young strong man😂
Aw thank you!