Do I Pass?
"Do I Pass" is a visual novel where you play as a transgender woman who is worried about if she passes or not. With the help of a magical webpage she becomes a ghost and peeks into the minds of others to determine how they feel about her. There are three endings depending on the types of interactions she encounters from other people.
The game was originally made for Confession Jam 3 and then expanded after the jam. It is playable in web browsers, gameboy emulators, and with a flash cartridge will run on gameboy hardware as well. Approximate 10 minute playtime for each ending.
Content Warnings: Misgendering, Transphobia
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realest game on this site
very relatable!!!
Thank you for playing my game.
I’m glad that you could find something that resonated with you own life in it.
It's peak
Thank you so much!
Coming from a trans masc person who is intrested in game dev:
I absolutely love the thought of the game. Yes, some people will misgender you, some people will recognise that you are trans but out of all the people that you pass on daily basis, only a few of them will actually care. Some of them will think about tacos and won't even notice you. Some might recognise that you are trans but they will think that you are cool. Some will judge you. But the world will keep going. And yes after all, you are doing this for yourself, not for others. I think this carries a very nice message to cis and trans people. And I think this has a very cool potential for being a longer more interactive game! If you added a few more elements, made the story longer, maybe something about trying to understand the message, that you tried to give and the character that you play as has to understand that as well, like a transition journey, it would be so cool! And adding more items like the paper in front of the bus. The mind reading idea for a trans person is such a cool idea! I absolutely support this idea for being even a longer game, it has so much potential! (also sorry if there are mistakes, english is not my first language )
Hi Ezra!
Thank you for your kind words. I think you got exactly what I was going for with this game.
The original game had some parts cut from it that would’ve expanded it a bit more around the concept of passing and mind reading.
I hope some day to return to the ideas in this game and make an expanded sequel that addresses gender through gameplay mechanics again. Doing that is easier said than done though.
As a fellow dev I wish you good luck making games in the future. :)
from a nonbinary person:
i was expecting a game that felt like an actual game, kind of disappointed. there's not really a reason we're on the bus, if not just to have people in one space not moving. the endings are hard to get because, at least from my experience, they are based on luck/choosing who you talk to. lastly, you only replay the game if you want to see more dialogue or get another ending. the graphics were cool at least and a little nostalgic.
sorry for complaining about this, you probably worked very hard on the game and don't want to hear it.
Hi! No worries, hopefully I’ll make a better game someday.
I appreciate you being honest. Anyways if it’s okay with you I would appreciate some advice.
What do you think makes a game feel like an actual game?
I really love and appreciate the game you made, thanks a lot from this closeted demigirl.
OK, as for advice I think adding more mechanical elements is an easy way of making a game feel more game-like but idk if that is really suited to the types of games you make(atleast from the 2 I've played).Instead, I think adding items to the games might be really fun. Maybe the items give you extra scenes and dialogue, maybe their important for progression, maybe use them for environmental storytelling the possibilities are effectively endless. Anyway I hope you found reading this somewhat useful heehee, hope you have a great day,
Thank you for this advice. I think it’s really solid.
I’ll just keep making games. Hopefully that will be enough.
I hope you do, thanks a lot for making games!
Loved this. Aesthetically pleasing, tonally evocative.
Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
As a trans person this is very cool
Yes, I tried to write a form of a trans power fantasy.
I know it’s depressing but sometimes it would be nice to just know.
was not expecting a GameBoy game. mGBA isn't working, so suppose I'll get out my 3DS
edit: couldn't get that to work, using an emulator called Visual Boy Advance instead.
Wonderful little game! I learned a few new things about being a better ally as a cis person. :)
Is there supposed to be music though? If there is, I'm not getting any in the browser edition.
Thank you for your kind words.
Unfortunately due to my nature as an ultra low budget mostly soloish dev I do not have the ability to provide music at this time. That being said you can always enjoy your own music while playing my games since they are mostly silent.
Totally understandable! There are folks around itch who offer royalty free retro music for games if that's something you're interested in, but that said I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything lol
No worries, thank you for checking and playing my game.
so real
Thank you for taking the time to play my game. :)
Got the "misgendered" ending even though every person used she/her or didn't assume pronouns.
The other ending I could get, passing, still ends by saying you probably just got lucky, and to be fair the only thing deciding which ending you get is pure luck in who you talk to.
Kinda hopeless tone and tbh I'd kill for people to see me as a trans woman and not a man :/
Ow. This cuts deep to the point I'd almost call it a personal attack ahahaha. But that means you did a good job, I think... I think it's a very good exploration of the topic as well, how the endings vary just based on who you interact with not on what they're actually thinking.
...also very impressive that this can just run on a gameboy!? Seriously wow
Thank you so much for your kind words and for playing my game.
Social anxiety gender are really rough so I wanted to make a game about it that was less upsetting.
I’m sorry about the delay in replying. I’ve been taking a hiatus from social media for a bit.
Got all 3 endings. Wonderful little exploration of the topic. Could have benefited from some music/sounds!
My two cents on passing: To me it meant the world when I just couldn't do it at all yet. When I managed to finally pass on some occasions, after being relieved initially, it started to become less important. Now it's fine when I don't pass, because I knew I could if I wanted to. When I got to know about cis women being misgendered based on their looks or voice too, the whole thing started becoming kinda absurd to me.
How society forces gendered expectations is a kinda awkward, sometimes painful, absurd thing and I wanted to make a game about that interaction between the internal and external worlds.
I think it would’ve been wonderful to add sounds but it used a very early beta of GB studio that didn’t really have easily accessible sound functions… Plus I feel terrible for saying this but I’m a mostly solo dev so I haven’t really gotten sound down yet.
little caesars smosh
how do i get ending two? i dont get it..
There are tree endings, here is how to get them:
Tip for the “no gender” ending, the people who gender you tend to be the people closer to you. The exception to this is the person who is your crush. The passengers on the bus aren’t randomized to if you learn what they think on a playthrough you can avoid being gendered next time.
I’m having trouble playing the game, evertime I try to run it, it tells me to rotate my screen but I can’t get passed that screen.
What platform or web browser are you trying to play on?
There are multiple formats the game works in so I need to know where you’re encountering the error to help you.
I was playing on safari on my iPad. So it maybe wouldn’t have worked regardless. But it was on iPad.
Safari unfortunately doesn’t do a lot of web based things in the standard way so support is broken in it.
Firefox or chrome should work fine if you have access to them.
You can also download the .gb file and run it in a gameboy emulator to play the game.
I’m sorry that I can’t be more helpful.
thanks for telling me. I’ll save the game so I can play it when I have better software. The game does look great.
Thank you for this. I love my fellow trans itchers.
Her cheer at the 2nd ending was cute, I loved it
Thank you, I tried to make a game the game cute because otherwise it would be too depressing.
I’m glad you had fun with it.
I loved it!! did the two endings, her little cheer at the 2nd ending is so cute haha very well done game :)
Thank you so much for your kind words and playing my game.
There is actually a hidden third ending but it’s a lot of work to find so I wouldn’t worry about finding it unless you are super curious.
I played the game around a week ago now. Thank you for making this. It was sad yet weirdly made me feel hopeful. Sending love your way
Thank you so much for your kind words.
I really appreciate you playing my game.
you dont
I probably shouldn’t of gone into this thinking it would be cute and fun, I mean it was. But I am also sad now :( But I guess that means it did its job well.
This game is about as cute and fun as possible given the topic.
My games lean depressing. x_x
That being said I did try as hard as possible to not make it too depressing given that the topic was passing which is a super vulnerable thing for a lot of people.
I saw the ghost in my first olaythrough!!didnt know it was something so rare hehe
I don’t know how you managed to do that. o_o
It was 100% meant to be an ultra secret that no one knew about except through rumors.
huh? do u mean the ghost in the bus, i got it in my second playthrough
yep, that one
I was playing this again and saw another ghost that mentioned the sequel. “My friend needs help. Her spirit is trapped! But you’re not strong enough yet…”
That ghost is a leftover from a early alpha that I tried to remove unsuccessfully.
Completely removing broke the game or something. It's been a long time so I don't remember.
My solution to the problem was to make it so rare to appear that the odds are about one in ten thousand players will ever see it.
Somehow every year someone manages to locate the ghost and it always amazes me.
The plot to the sequel has changed a lot since then but you'll eventually be able to meet other trans magic users and ghosts.
The primary reason that the hidden ghost was cut was that encountering her dramatically changed the emotional tone of the game.
The prototype which changed a lot was that detaching too much from your body could make you literally just lose your body.
You would help another trans magical girl who lost her body.
There was meant to be another set of endings relating to the ghost who would only appear via RNG and still be pretty rare. The goal of this was to create a sort of cursed gameboy cartridge thing where there was a whole secondary scenario that most players would never be aware of.
Sort of like an urban legend? Unfortunately it would’ve scoped everything up significantly so I attempted to cut it.
As I stated before it was tied to the code too much to be removed fully so in a way it did become an urban legend alongside the hidden fairy in the game.
that sounds amazing, and thank you for telling me/everyone. I haven’t gotten the “am I boring?” ending… I wonder if it’s actually rarer than the ghost at this point. (no offense! that’s just kind of funny.)
it might be worth having someone double-check your math next time. (not me, I’d screw that up)
An absolutely masterpiece!!!
Thank you so much for your kind words. :)
Taylor McCue's astral projection is making sure you have the right opinions.
I regret that I don't have anything really clever to say in response to this but you made me laugh really hard.
Thank you.
astral rejection like ismfof
I really enjoyed this game! Thanks for making it! Extremely relatable.
Thank you so much for playing it. I'm glad that you enjoyed it.
That makes me super happy.
Lil ghost is so cute
Thank you
Thank you for commenting!
This ghost shows up briefly as a cameo in HFTGOOM during a certain part for one second.
I just really like ghosts.
That's because ghosts are really likable (so are you!)
Thank you, I struggle with compliments and do not find myself likable but I appreciate your kind words a lot.
How did you make a game about my life wtf
Kinda odd for a gb game but entertainment is subjective
I’m glad that both endings exist. Really important game.
Neat game. I hadn't even considered that some people who have transitioned may feel guilty if people believe them to be straight. Changing your appearance to match your personal gender is one thing, having people think of you as the binary form of that gender is another. Thank you for making me realize this concept.
NO :(
I got Ending #1. Sad. :(
HOW DO I GET A GOOD ENDING?!?!
you gotta only talk to people who think you pass, each person is the same across runs
okey :')
no
i am a transmasc and i relate alot, just kinda the oposite :)
nice
Gonna echo user fallen-enough, the misgendered ending seemed way more depressing than what actually happened on the bus. Hurt my soul :> "Turns out my worst fears were true" is peak horror though!
I liked how the Passed ending still notes that passing is "Always conditional on the next person", and then the credits rolled. In summary very cool game, and also the font on this page pleases my brain, so thank you for both.
I played through the game and got Ending 1, and was very confused afterwards.
It was only after I read some of the comments that I realized the intent behind the game. Passing is obviously one step of the journey, but to pass to the extent where people don't even recognize you're transgender is another one.
Thinking about the game from that perspective, it is definitely a lot to think about, and to understand what other trans people go through internally on a daily basis. It definitely isn't easy, and is just... heavy.
Being trans means you have to put up with a lot of shit (see Exhibit: LaCreatura), and its just more to deal with and process through the mind. Hell, the more I think about it, the more upset and sad I get. Why isn't the world more kind and less judging.
Sorry, I didn't wanna rant too much. The game gave me a lot to think about, it was super enlightening. I guess to the creator, and everyone else out there. Don't give up, keep moving forward, chin held high :). Fighto~ Fighto~
i spent like 30 minutes straight trying to get the not gendered ending every time i close my eyes i see this game. good lord
ALL I NEED IS TGIUS ENDING PLEASE
FINALLY. I FINALLY DID IT.
Oh my god, I'm so sorry.
I didn't think it would be that bad. x_x
I'll have to think about this for future designs as I'm planning a psuedo-sequel to this game.
Thank you for playing this game.
I think regardless of passing or not or even being ignored there is a ton of value in existing within your gender stuff.