This article identifies the queer potentialities of Goat Simulator by exploring how the gameplay mechanics can be understood as “stupid” and “Camp.” Moving away from representational notions of queerness, I argue that queering a game requires an alternative way to create and play. Often, the normative method of designing a videogame prioritizes technological precision and purposeful gameplay experiences. However, Goat Simulator does not fix its errors, nor does it have a cohesive narrative, instead it incorporates brokenness and goallessness as core gameplay mechanics. Goat Simulator embraces messiness as an alternative—and arguably queer—way to design and play a videogame. I conclude by arguing the importance of brokenness and stupidity as a useful pushback against normative game design and gameplay values of precision, perfection, and seriousness.
Activision. (2019). Call of duty: Modern warfare [Xbox series X, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows]. Game directed by Jack O'Hara, published by Activision.
AtkinsB. (2006). What are we really looking at?: The future-orientation of video game play. Games and Culture, 1(2), 127–140. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412006286687
4.
BernevegaA.GekkerA. (2022). The industry of landlords: Exploring the assetization of the triple-A game. Games and Culture, 17(1), 47–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211014151
5.
Bethesda Game Studios. (2011). Elder scrolls V: Skyrim [Microsoft Windows, PS3, Xbox 360]. Digital game directed by Todd Howard, published by Bethesda Softworks.
6.
Blizzard Entertainment. (v. 2.4.1, 2008). (2004). World of warcraft [Microsoft Windows]. Digital game directed by Rob Pardo, Jeff Kaplan, and Tom Chilton, published by Blizzard Entertainment.
7.
Bossa Studios. (2013). Surgeon simulator [Microsoft Windows]. Digital game directed by Tom Jackson, Jack Good, Luke Williams and James Broadley, published by Bossa Studios.
CD Project Red. (2020). Cyberpunk 2077 [Microsoft Windows]. Digital game directed by Adam Badowski, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, and Gabe Amatangelo, published by CD Project Red.
ChangE. Y. (2017). Queergaming. In RubergB.ShawA. (Eds.), Queer game studies (pp. 15–23). University of Minnesota Press.
15.
ChessS. (2016). The queer case of video games: Orgasms, heteronormativity, and video game narrative. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 33(1), 84–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2015.1129066
Coffee Stain Studios. (2014). Goat simulator [Microsoft Windows]. Digital game directed by Armin Ibrisagic, published by Coffee Stain Studios.
18.
Deep Silver. (2023). Dead island 2 [Microsoft Windows, PS5, Xbox Series S/X]. Digital game directed by David Stenton and James Worrall, published by Deep Silver.
19.
EdelmanL. (2004). No future. Queer theory and the death drive. Duke University Press.
Flynn-JonesE. (2015), Bad romance: For the love of ‘bad’ video games . In Game love: Essays on play and affection (pp. 253–264). McFarland and Company, Inc.
23.
The Fullbright Company. (2013). Gone home [Microsoft Windows]. Digital game directed by Steve Gaynor, published by The Fullbright Company.
24.
Galactic Café. (2013). The Stanley Parable [Microsoft Windows]. Digital game directed by Davey Wreden and William Pugh, published by Galactic Café.
25.
GIANTS Software. (2008). Farm simulator [Microsoft Windows]. Digital game directed by GIANTS Software, published by Astragon.
26.
GrabarczykP.GardaM. (2016). Is every indie game independent? Towards the concept of independent game. Game Studies, 16(1). https://gamestudies.org/1601/articles/gardagrabarczyk
27.
GrayK. L.LeonardD. J.(Eds.). (2018). Woke gaming: Digital challenges to oppression and social injustice. University of Washington Press.
HalberstamJ. (2011). The queer art of failure. Duke University Press.
30.
HalberstamJ. (2017). Queer gaming, hacking, and going turbo. In RubergB.ShawA. (Eds.), Queer game studies (222–234). University of Minnesota Press.
31.
HarperT.AdamsM. B.TaylorN. (2018). Queerness in play. Springer International Publishing AG.
32.
HemmingsenM. (2021). Code is law: Subversion and collective knowledge in the ethos of video game speedrunning. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy, 15(3), 435–460. https://doi.org/10.1080/17511321.2020.1796773
Jagex. (2001). RuneScape [Microsoft Windows]. Digital game directed by Andrew Gower and Paul Gower, published by Jagex.
35.
JanikJ. (2017). Glitched perception: Beyond the transparency and visibility of the video game object. TransMissions, 2(2), 65–82. https://www.academia.edu/70433217/Glitched_perception_On_the_transparency_and_visibility_of_the_video_game_medium_1
36.
KaufmanI. (2023). Silence, distance and disclosure. The bleed between the far-right and gaming. Gamevironments, 18, 1–37. https://doi.org/10.48783/gameviron.v18i18.232
37.
KeoghB. (2023). Triple-A games. In WolfM.PerronB. (Eds.), The Routledge companion to video game studies. (pp. 112–119). Routledge.
38.
KernerA.HoxterJ. (2019). Theorizing stupid media: De-naturalizing story structures in the cinematic, televisual, and videogames. Springer International Publishing.
39.
LaBruceB. (2014). Notes on camp and anti-camp. The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, 21(2), 10–14. https://link-gale-com.nottingham.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/RRIMCS832769773/AHSI?u=univnott&sid=bookmark-AHSI&xid=9ceb8ba7
MaloneyM.RobertsS.CarusoA. (2018). Mmm… I love it, bro!’: Performances of masculinity in YouTube gaming. New Media & Society, 20(5), 1697–1714. https://doi.org/10.1177/146144481770336
42.
ManalansanM. F.IV. (2014). The “stuff” of archives: Mess, migration, and queer lives. Radical History Review, 2014(120), 94–107. https://doi.org/10.1215/01636545-2703742
Maxis. (2014). The Sims 4 [Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One]. Digital game directed by Micheal Duke, Berjes Enriquez, Jim Rogers, Robert Vernick, published by Electronic Arts.
45.
Maxis Redwood Shores (2004). The Sims 2 [Microsoft Windows]. Digital game directed by Charles London, published by Electronic Arts.
46.
MeadesA. (2013). Why we glitch: Process, meaning and pleasure in the discovery, documentation, sharing and use of videogame exploits. Well Played Journal, 2(2), 79–98. ISSN 2164-344X.
Mojang Studios (2009). Minecraft [Microsoft Windows]. Digital Game directed by Markus Persson and Jens Bergensten, published by Mojang Studios.
49.
NieborgD. B. (2014). Prolonging the magic: The political economy of the 7th generation console game. Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture, 8(1), 47–63. https://doi.org/10.7557/23.6155
50.
NilesR. (2013). Wigs, laughter, and subversion: Charles Busch and strategies of drag performance. In UnderwoodmL. (Ed.), The drag queen anthology (pp. 35–53). Routledge.
51.
PaulC. A. (2018). The toxic meritocracy of video games: Why gaming culture is the worst. University of Minnesota Press.
Rockstar Games. (2010). Red dead redemption [PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4] Digital game directed by Dan Houser, Michael Unsworth and Christian Cantamessa, published by Rockstar Games.
56.
Rockstar North. (2013). Grand Theft Auto V [Microsoft Windows, PS3, Xbox 360]. Digital Game directed by Dan Houser and Rupert Humphries, published by Rockstar Games.
57.
Rockstar Studios. (2018). Red dead redemption 2 [Sony PlayStation 4]. Digital game directed by Sam Houser, Dan Houser, & Rob Nelson, published by Rockstar Games.
58.
RonellA. (2002). Stupidity. University of Illinois Press.
59.
RubergB. (2019). Video games have always been queer. New York University Press.
60.
RubergB. (2020). Straight paths through queer walking simulators: Wandering on rails and speedrunning in gone home. Games and Culture, 15(6), 632–652. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1555412019826746
61.
RubergB. (2022). After agency: The queer posthumanism of video games that cannot be played. Convergence, 28(2), 413–430. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856522109425
62.
RubergB.ShawA. (2017). Queer game studies. University of Minnesota Press.
SchwartzM. A. (2008). The importance of stupidity in scientific research. Journal of Cell Science, 121(11), 1771–1771. https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.033340
66.
SCS Software. (2008). Euro Truck Simulator [Microsoft Windows]. Digital game directed by SCS Software, published by Microsoft Windows.
ŠvelchJ. (2015). Negotiating a glitch: Identifying and using glitches in video games with microtransactions. In Proceedings of the central and eastern European game studies conference Brno 2014: In new perspectives in game studies (pp. 55–70). Masarykova univerzita.
70.
TrammellA. (2018). Militarism and masculinity in dungeons & dragons. In TaylorN. & VoorheesG. (Eds.), Masculinities in play. Springer International Publishing AG.
71.
TrueloveA.de AlmeidaE.S.AhmedI., (2021, May). We'll fix it in post: What do bug fixes in video game update notes tell us?. In Proceedings of IEEE/ACM 43rd international conference on software engineering (ICSE) (pp. 736–747). IEEE.
72.
Ubisoft Montreal. (2017). Assassin's creed origins [Microsoft Windows, PS 3, PS 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One]. Digital game directed by Jean Guesdon and Ashraf Ismail, published by Ubisoft.
73.
Van De MosselaerN.WildmanN. (2021). Glitches as fictional (mis) communication. In BarkerT.KorolkovaM. (Eds.), Miscommunications: Errors, mistakes, media (pp. 300–315). Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
74.
Vinoo. (2019). Rock simulator [Microsoft Windows]. Digital game directed by Vinoo, published by Vinoo.
Xbox Game Studios. (2020). Microsoft flight simulator [Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S] Digital game directed by Jörg Neumann and David Dedeine, published by Xbox Game Studios.
