Jane Austen video games have been making progressive strides

“Is Catherine Morland… East Asian?”

After saying this, Emily Kugler, my collaborator in all things Jane Austen and games, reread the dialogue text in Spiral Atlas’ Northanger Abbey. As we walked through our protagonist’s character customization, Kit, Catherine Morland (male, female or nonbinary) were all possible. Our now-nonbinary protagonist “Kit” sported a jaunty top hat bedecked with flowers and a flowing, dress-like topcoat, somewhere between the femme dress or masculine suit also on offer. We were now being directed to decide whether we saw ourselves as “thin and awkward” or “lithe and delicate”; our skin “sallow and without colour” or “ethereal and golden,” hair “dark and lank” or “like a river of ebony.” The answers to these questions didn’t change the avatar, merely our perception of them. And it was at this point that Emily, who is East Asian/Japanese and uses she/they pronouns, wondered if game designer Spiral Atlas had chosen to alter the language in Austen’s novel.

Turns out, not exactly; the first option in each of the pairs is a direct quote from Austen’s first description of Catherine Morland as a child: “thin awkward figure, a sallow skin without colour, dark lank hair, and strong features.” What the game did was draw our attention to the ways in which, as Emily noted, “if you don’t presume whiteness,” the source text could be read to allow for a new vision of our young protagonist — one that allowed Emily to see herself in the Regency.

It was an unexpected and delightful moment during our exploratory of many games from the 18th and 19th centuries. This was an early-pandemic passion that turned into a fully-fledged academic research project. We have given scholarly talks and articles as well as classes. When we took screenshots of our games for curious viewers, we realized that very few had visuals. Most games have limited art assets and are therefore text-based. This is because of budgetary concerns. Others games include Austen TranslationThe characters, which are cartoonishly drawn, mirror the humorous tone of the game.

When games attempt to more directly engage with Austen, things get less bright — and far more white. For a long time, Austen-inspired games, like film and TV adaptations of Austen and the Regency, generally tried to be “faithful” — which is to say, straight and white. Although scholars had known this for years, it is now becoming more mainstream. Even so, many games will either point to “authenticity” or budget constraints as justification for games with alabaster heroines and exclusively straight romance plots. The now-defunct MMORP was the Austen’s biggest-budget video game. Jane EverBetween 2016 and 2020, customization of hair color, skin tone, non-binary avatars or queer love was not allowed. Lead developer Judy Tyrer expressed a desire to make the game more diverse and with options for “discreet” gender and sexuality expansiveness, but the game shut down in December 2020 due to an ongoing lack of funding. Others games like the mobile game Regency Love (Tea for Three Studios) have deferred either broadening their romantic plot lines or the diversity of their characters until “later” — a moment that, for many games, never comes.

And so it’s been micro-budget indie games like Spiral Atlas’ that have led the way, anticipating by years the attempts at wider representation post-Bridgerton. While Northanger AbbeyThe first Austen adaptation of ‘Catherine/Catherine, the Tilney brothers, doesn’t allow for much customization in character beyond gender and sexuality. All main characters are represented, though sometimes subtly, as non-white. Und Northanger AbbeyIt has also been connected to 19th-century-themed games such as queer breakup simulator Inverness Nights, alt-universe interactive drama HeraldRomantic visual novels and poetry The Lady’s ChoiceIt reimagined history by including multiracial casts, and clothing designs that took inspiration from outside of Britain and Western Europe.

Image by Seraphinite

All these games are available on the Internet. BeforeThe Austen RPG is visually stunning Good SocietyThe recent TV adaptations to Regency series of romance shows Bridgerton and Austen’s unfinished novel Sanditon. Indie games have a way of being proactive and not reacting to mainstream culture.

To make matters worse, Regency games that allow for more customization are starting to emerge. Sye-Salong (“Sewing Salon”) is a BridgertonA browser game that is inspired by the 1820s. Players can design their own empire-waisted, period-appropriate gown with trimmings and patterns. Then, they place it on a doll with Regency hairstyles.

In response to audience desire for still more customization — and more agency — Spiral Atlas’ latest Austen game, Pride or Prejudice, gives players additional options for their “lead” and “co-lead” characters including coloring, height, hairstyle, body type, clothing, accessories, and whether they are a wheelchair user.

Emily could see Kit Morland in Kit Morland. Now, many players have the ability to craft leads. Pride or Prejudice to more closely see themselves in the Regency — a move that hopefully inspires many more such designs in the future.