Gender Representation and Identity in The Red Strings Club

Abstract

This chapter discusses the ways in which The Red Strings Club explores the notions of identity and gender representation to argue that the videogame offers a multi-layered concern on these topics in which players are central for its developing. Structurally, the chapter is divided in three different sections. The first one presents a medial analysis on the video game, focusing on the mechanics that The Red Strings Club uses to bring identity to the players’ attention. The second section deals with the way in which the narrative conveys identity, especially when dealing with gender representation. The idea of gender is central for some of the characters of the narrative that The Red Strings Club conveys, presenting a plethora of characters that challenge cisgender conceptualizations. The third act reflects upon said diversity, tackling the notion of moral and exploring its boundaries within the narrative storyworld, a capitalist, corporativist dystopia in which identity and gender representation are currency. The chapter concludes arguing that this videogame merely attempts to reflect upon these topics, not prescribing nor offering an ethical positioning, staying in a moral ambiguity on whether the main characters are doing the correct thing or not in a plot that revolves around the notion of identity.