BL Game
| Synonyms: | Yaoi Game, Shounen Ai Game |
| See also: | video game, anime, manga, yaoi, shounen ai, BL |
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BL Game is short for Boys' Love Game (ボーイズラブゲーム) and describes a video game with m/m content. BL games are mainly produced in Japan (and to some degree in other East Asian countries, too) and may be considered as part of the joseimuke genre. Only few games have been licenced and translated for the Western market so far.
While there are original BL games as well, a lot are adaptions from manga or anime series, such as Kyou Kara Maou, Gakuen Heaven or Junjou Romantica.
In 2022, NU: Carnival, the first mobile gacha BL game, is released in English along with four other languages. It has garnered a sizable fanbase ever since.
Fandom
Since BL games rarely leave the Asian market, there has been made some community effort to make them accessible, which includes ripping the game files as well as translating the content. This can be a slow and tedius process (as can be the installation of a BL game on the computer), bringing fans together in their quest for help. Aarinfantasy, an established yaoi fan community and scanlation/subber group, provides one of the main meeting hubs for fans of BL games.
Fanwork commonly revolves around providing translations, but some fans also go through the process of creating their own small BL games, using either their own art or doujinshi scans.
Togainu no Chi BL game.
Oops! My Prince, a Korean amateur BL game. (Screenshot from YouTube vid.)
Mobile BL Games
Since the introduction of mobile gacha BL games, games with an official English release such as NU: Carnival has gained a larger fanbase internationally. Common fanwork includes fanfiction, fanart, and fan comic/doujinshi.
Resources
- Aarinfantasy (information, help, downloads, forum)