Queen Boat: Ahmed Khalifa’s Game shines a light on LGBT life in Egypt

Dr Khalifa was interviewed by True Avatars: A Queer Video Game Podcast during the Queerness in Games conference (QGCon), an annual 3-day conference for queer developers and queer gamers, where he was presenting his game: Queen Boat.

Dr Khalifa’s game explores the infamous LGBT incident in Egypt in 2001 where fifty-two men were arrested aboard a floating gay nightclub, known as ‘Queen Boat’ or ‘Cairo 52’. According to reports by human rights organisations, the men were subjected to beatings and examinations to "prove their homosexuality". While homosexuality is not actually against the law in Egypt, it showed that they could still be targeted, as the men were arrested under debauchery and family values laws. While the event received international media attention, with international celebrities such as Elton John joining in the protest, ultimately, twenty-one of the men were sentenced to three years in prison after suffering unjust abuse.

Raising awareness of LGBTQ issues through video games

As Ahmed highlights in his interview with Zoey Wyeld, the targeting of the Queen Boat was in-part political, and the event is a significant milestone in the Egyptian human rights movement. The leading Egyptian human rights organisation was unable or unwilling to stand up for the rights of those detained. Drawing on his own personal experiences and from the experiences those men shared with him, Ahmed’s Queen Boat game focuses on the personal stories of the people arrested.

In the format of a 2D linear point-and-click, it takes the player on a journey through the stigma, the fear, and the loneliness that people felt simply due to their sexual orientation. The game takes a pivotal moment in Egyptian human rights and makes it a personal and intimate experience, bringing you closer to understanding the stories of the arrested men. It highlights the human side of being different and being targeted by those in power. The game is meant to raise awareness of LGBT life in Egypt, showing that their work as a community is not finished and more must be done to ensure everyone is safe.

Serious games and public debate

Video games are often perceived as simply entertainment media, but over the last few years, they have been increasingly used as an expressive and artistic medium. As Ahmed does in Queen Boat, game designers use games to persuade and participate in public discourse. And where these often use satire, such as Thoughts and Prayers and Gonzalo Frasca’s September 12th, Queen Boat appeals to the players’ pathos, to their emotions as they search for connection and answers in a hostile world. In addition to QGCon, Queen Boat was showcased at Amaze Festival: Open Screens, was part of DIGRA Queer-Trans Game Studies at the Crossroads workshop, and was included in Game Poems Community Showcase.

Listen to the True Avatars Podcast to hear Ahmed’s insights into the design process and his reasons behind making the game below. His interview about Queen Boat starts at 1:07:42, but we recommend you listen to the whole podcast, full of interesting games and interviews.

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