Anna Anthropy
Anna Anthropy | |
|---|---|
 Anna Anthropy speaking at the 2013 Game Developers Conference | |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Auntie Pixelante, Dessgeega, Ancil Anthropy |
| Education | SUNY Purchase (attended circa 2002) The Guildhall, Southern Methodist University (attended in 2008)[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Game developer, writer |
| Known for | Developer of the freeware games Mighty Jill Off (2008) and Dys4ia (2012) Editor for The Gamer's Quarter |
Anna Anthropy is an American video game designer[2] whose works include Mighty Jill Off and Dys4ia.
Career
Game design
In 2010, working with Koduco, a game development company based in San Francisco, Anthropy helped develop the iPad game "Pong Vaders".[3][4] In 2011, she released Lesbian Spider Queens of Mars, an homage to Midway's 1981 arcade game Wizard of Wor with a queer theme and "some fun commentary on master-slave dynamics."[5] In 2012, she released Dys4ia, an autobiographical game about her experiences with hormone replacement therapy that "[allows] the player to experience a simulation or approximation of what she went through."[6] Anthropy says her games explore the relationship between sadism and game design, and bills them as challenging players' expectations about what the developer should create and how the player should be reprimanded for errors.[7]
Rise of the Videogame Zinesters
Anthropy's first book, Rise of the Videogame Zinesters, was published in 2012. In an interview at the time of its release, Anthropy said it promotes the idea of "small, interesting, personal experiences by hobbyist authors ... Zinesters exists to be a kind of ambassador for that idea of what video games can be."[8] The book also deals with a detailed analysis of the mechanics and potentialities of digital games, including the idea that games can be more usefully compared to theater than film (Anthropy: "There is always a scene called World 1-2, although each performance of World 1-2 will be different") and the role of chance in games.[9]
Games
- Afternoon in the House of Secrets[10]
- And the Robot Horse You Rode In On[11]
- Calamity Annie[2]
- Dys4ia[12]
- Encyclopedia Fuckme and the Case of the Vanishing Entree
- Gay Cats Go to the Weird Weird Woods[13]
- The Hunt for the Gay Planet[14]
- Keep Me Occupied[15]
- Mighty Jill Off[16]
- Ohmygod Are You Alright[17]
- Police Bear[18]
- Pong Vaders (on iTunes)[3][4]
- Redder[19]
- When Pigs Fly[20]
Bibliography
- Rise of the Videogame Zinesters Seven Stories Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1609803728
- ZZT Boss Fight Books, 2014. ISBN 978-1-940535-02-9
- The State of Play: Creators and Critics on Video Game Culture. Seven Stories Press, 2015. ISBN 9781609806392
References
- ^ Jed Lipinski (April 10, 2012). "Video-game designer Anna Anthropy describes the life of a radical, queer, transgender gamer". Capital New York. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
- ^ a b . (2009-11-28). "The Weblog Interview: Anna Anthropy Talks Indie Game Goodness". IndieGames.com. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
{{cite web}}:|author=has numeric name (help) - ^ a b "Koduco Games". Koduco.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2010. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ a b "PongVaders: Episode One Version: 1.0 Review". Macworld. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
- ^ "Review: Lesbian Spider-Queens of Mars". GayGamer.net. Retrieved 2015-06-11.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Dys4ia: Autobiographical Trans Video Game About Changing Gender". Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "auntie pixelante › craft and punishment". Auntiepixelante.com. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ Schultz, Marc (2012-03-16). "What Videogames Can Be: A Q&A with Anna Anthropy". Publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ Anthropy, Anna (2012-03-16). "Excerpt: Rise of the Videogame Zinesters". Joystiq.com. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ "Afternoon In The House Of Secrets". Auntiepixelante.com. 2007-07-30. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ "And the Robot Horse You Rode in On". Auntiepixelante.com. 2007-07-30. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ "dys4ia". Newgrounds.com. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
- ^ "Gay Cats Go To The Weird Weird Woods". Auntiepixelante.com. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ "Sugarcane". Auntiepixelante.com. 2007-07-30. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ "Keep Me Occupied!". Auntiepixelante.com. 2012-01-28. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ Gillen, Kieron (2008-09-17). "Whip It: Mighty Jill Off". Rockpapershotgun.com. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ Alexander, Leigh (September 16, 2015). "This 'empathy game' reveals a real challenge for indie games". BoingBoing. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
- ^ "Sugarcane". Auntiepixelante.com. 2007-07-30. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ Gillen, Kieron (2010-03-29). "A Scarlet Letter: Redder". Rockpapershotgun.com. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
- ^ Meer, Alec (2009-08-03). "Don't Squeal, Piggy: When Pigs Fly". Rockpapershotgun.com. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
External links
- Living people
- American video game designers
- American critics
- LGBT writers from the United States
- Transgender and transsexual artists
- Transgender and transsexual women
- Transgender and transsexual writers
- Women video game developers
- Southern Methodist University alumni
- State University of New York at Purchase alumni