Portrait of a Texas Family
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
(*VERSION 1.1 with minor sprite and credit fixes is now live*)
(*This is an entry for NaNoReNo 2022. Please leave a rating and any feedback at this page. Thank you!)
(CW: Transphobia, State violence)
Inspired by a tweet by Denton, Texas mother and activist Amber Briggle as well as recent current events in Texas, Portrait of a Texas Family is a slice-of-life story taking place in present-day Houston, Texas about a family caring for their transgender daughter in turbulent times handled with sensitivity and care.
Hours after a controversial, non-binding, and unconstitutional order by Texas Governor Greg Abbott declares trans-affirming healthcare for children as grounds for parental abuse investigations, you gather the final three items for your "safe folder."
As you gather these pieces of your life meant to show how loving and caring you and your partner Martín are for your transgender daughter Sofía, you recount key, gender-affirming moments from the past while preparing for an unknown but hopeful future.
- ~30 mins of playtime
- A story centered around LGBTQIA+ people that is focused on love and care
- Fully customizable main character including a custom name, four different skin tones, three different body types, choice of he/him, she/her and they/them pronouns and more.
- Full voice acting for every character besides the MC.
- An original music score.
- Flavor choices and optional conversations.
- Choose a name for and (maybe) pet your own cute family cat!
Portrait of a Texas Family is the first official game developed and released by Lookout Drive Games, an indie game studio based in New York City hiring folks from all walks of life to work on inclusive, narrative-driven games.
Portrait of a Texas Family's dev team was comprised of almost entirely gender non-conforming/transgender folks of various backgrounds and cities around the world including Houston, Texas.
Our goal was to make a game that tells a story that is life affirming, emotionally honest but handles its subject matter with the utmost love, respect, and sensitivity that affirms the humanity of transgender people and families raising transgender children in both Texas and all across the world at a time where they need all the support they can get.
Follow Lookout Drive Games on Itch, Twitch, Twitter, Tiktok, Instagram, and YouTube for future updates on games in development and use the hashtag #portraitofatexasfamily on social media after playing to share the game with friends and family!
DIRECTOR/ NARRATIVE DESIGNER/ LEAD WRITER/ PROGRAMMER
SPRITE ARTIST
BACKGROUND ARTIST/ ADDITIONAL SPRITE ARTIST/ COVER ARTIST
STORY BY/ SCRIPT EDITING
STORY CONSULTANT
CO-PROGRAMMER
MUSIC COMPOSER
AUDIO MIXER
Sourlyx
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND ART
SENSITIVITY READER
VOICE DIRECTOR/ CASTING DIRECTOR/ SCRIPT EDITOR
VOICE CAST
Miguel Lackups-Fuentes as Martín
Noelle Palmer as Sofía
Blair Greene-Osako as Michelle
Duffy Weber as Senator
Cody Harding as Stranger
Jeffrey Stanley as Hot Dog Vendor
Kat Peterson as Front Cashier
Meredith Nudo as Food Cashier
Softie GUI Framework created by Katy133
Free Character Creation Template for Ren'Py created by Lunalucid
Pronoun Tool for Ren'Py created by npckc
SPECIAL THANKS
Amber Briggle and The Briggle Family
The Campaign for Southern Equality
The Narrative Department Discord Server
The DevTalk Discord Server
My Mom, Susan
My Sister, Liz
My Brother, Mike
My Uncle, Jimm
And You, The Player
Portrait of a Texas Family’s concept was inspired by a tweet by Denton, TX mother Amber Briggle: https://twitter.com/mrsbriggle/status/1496584638051016712
We highly recommend giving her a follow to keep up with the most recent news impacting transgender children in Texas.
If you would like to read the entire text of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s official order declaring trans-affirming healthcare for children as grounds for abuse investigations, it may be found here. Content warnings are in effect for transphobia and state violence.
A stay against the order has been enacted as of the time of this game’s release. However, the damage has been done, stoking the fires of transphobic discrimination and violence in Texas and beyond.
As of the time of this publication, there are 24 state bills and counting advocating for discrimination against transgender people, many of them speficially targeting children. Freedom for All Americans keeps an updated tracker of the legislation. We urge you to speak out and/or show support in whichever way you feel most comfortable.
For more information about what healthcare protocols for transgender children actually entail, we recommend this guide by the Human Rights Campaign.
If you wish to donate in support of transgender children and their families in Texas, please consider the following organizations:
- Equality Texas
- Organización Latina de Trans en Texas
- Transgender Education Network of Texas
- Trans Pride Initiative
- ACLU of Texas
- Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
- Lambda Legal
Many Texans who support trans rights and other humane causes are unable to do so because of gerrymandering and voting rights suppression. If you wish to donate and help efforts to build fair, accessible Texas elections, please consider the following organizations:
- Brennan Center
- Texas Freedom Network
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund
- Voto Latino
- Texas Alliance for Retired Americans
- League of Women Voters of Texas
- Coalition of Texans with Disabilities
Stop the hate. Trans rights are human rights.
Download
Install instructions
For PC: Download the .zip, right click, extract all, open the folder, and click the PortraitofaTexasFamily.exe file to start. You may have to choose "More info" and "Run anyway" after clicking the .exe to allow Windows to run it.
For Mac: Download the .zip, open the file, and click the PortraitofaTexasFamily app to start the game. (You may have to right click and choose "Open" to allow your Mac OS to run it.
Development log
- V1.1 of Portrait of a Texas Family is live!Apr 04, 2022
- Portrait of A Texas Family is out!Apr 02, 2022
Comments
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Floor is the best cat name
Hey, I just wanted to say that I love this. I am 18 right now, I lived in Texas up until last year, nearly 17 years of my life was spent there. I lived in Denton, actually I think my parents talked to Amber Briggle a few times, I definitely heard her name a lot, anyway, thank you for making this. It actually reminded me of Texas, I really appreciate that this game exists. Its always scary having to constantly be on guard, I am gay so I understand. I live in Massachusetts currently because it felt safer to move out of Texas than it did to stay there and hope things got better. I sound like a broken record here, but once again, thank you for making this.
Thank you so much for writing this lovely comment. I am so glad you are safe and okay and that it reminded you of your former home. We made this game for people like you and your families. It means a lot to receive comments like this.
this is very sweet. thank you for making this!
Thank you for playing!
what a time for my computer to stop working. android port ever..?
Oh no! Hope you got to play a lot of it! And an Android port is not something we are working on at the moment but it's something we can look into going forward!
haven't even tried it. but it sure looks like I need to.
Beautiful, thank you for making this gem!
Thank you for playing! Much appreciated
Thank you so much for creating this!
Thank you for playing!
That was so lovely! I didn't realize it had VO at first--it's a really lovely touch. Also seconding Nia the anxiety is so real for this kind of thing you captured it well + it's nice to see it handled naturalistically. Great job to the team! 🙏
Thank you so much!
TRANS RIGHTS!!! 🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️
<3
Awww maaan, I felt every moment of tension and fear this loving family had to go through. Really great job on conveying that.
Thank you very much for the kind words Nia!