He Fucked The Girl Out Of Me Review

Before I get into the review, a few things. Please note that this game is not for everyone and has the following content warnings: sex work, nonconsensual sex/dubious consent/rape, date rape, sex/nudity, Sissification kink, transphobia, deadnaming, gender dysphoria, age gap, abuse, suicidal ideation, blood. Also, beyond this point, I won’t be censoring the text, so DEFINITELY for mature audiences.

He Fucked The Girl Out of Me is a game from Taylor McCue. In terms of presentation, I'd compare it to games like Undertale: it features a simplistic 2D pixelated style in addition to some hand-drawn art, though the similarities mostly end there. The game is a collection of memories and experiences by the main character, known as Ann, as she recalls her youth. With this narrative device, she contemplates how the events affected her, how she felt, and how they affect her still.

Ann is a youth in the process of transitioning. Needing a large sum of money, she turns to her crush, Sally, for advice, who tells her to get into sugaring. Sugaring is exactly what it sounds like. Young people go on dates with an older clientele, getting lavished with gifts, drinks, and clothing as long as they are willing to spend time with their clients, sometimes including sexual acts. Sally offers to take Ann with her to a date so she can see what it's like, though she is very uncomfortable with the experience, Ann accepts, continuing in their company until the night is over, and the client asks her specifically for a date later. I’ll leave the plot synopsis there since I cannot do the tale justice, as you need to hear it from Ann herself.

The gameplay in itself is, again, simplistic. You move with the arrow keys or D-pad and interact with either the Space Bar or B button. You will be presented with screens where you can walk around and interact with people and objects, often interlaced with dialogue and the protagonist's thoughts. It played well enough, though I did manage to walk on top of the text box by accident. The choices you made do affect the game in some regard, but there’s not much you can change.

He Fucked The Girl Out of Me is an emotionally raw experience and it does not pull its punches. It is not pleasant, but it is important. The story is told as truthfully as possible, going through many painful and horrible topics, such as rape, sexual abuse, trauma, and the lasting scars they leave in us, and the way Ann describes her feelings and memories… It's rough. But it’s supposed to be.

I have not struggled with the topics of the game, but I still found myself empathising with the main character. I could see the bad decisions coming but couldn't really fault her reasoning. Listening to her own thoughts on the memories is also heart-wrenching at times. Additionally, it speaks to the message of the game that even I found some of Ann's thoughts and experiences to resonate with my own, adding both an unexpected layer of emotional depth and a feeling of investment in the narrative.

The game is not long, lasting about 40 minutes, though it doesn’t really any more. Based on the previous chapters, you may be wary of playing it, and I'm not judging you. However, within this proverbial Pandora’s Box of horrible experiences and hard choices, there is a glimmer of hope to be had. Without going into spoiler territory, there is a sense of release and acceptance within the game, in addition to the processing of trauma, that I think is well worth reading, giving us insight into lives and struggles we may not otherwise consider.

Despite my negative tone, I recommend playing He Fucked The Girl Out of Me, though only if you are comfortable: I played the game with my close friends to ease the experience and have someone to talk it out with. It is very much on the same wavelength as games likeThat Dragon, Cancer and Depression Quest in that they do not aim to entertain but to show. If you want to gain some perspective, hear the stories of another person, or find the topics relevant to you or someone you know, give it a go.