Download Caper in the Castro (Mac)

Niko O. 2021-11-15 1 point

In Caper in the Castro, players control Tracker McDyke on her mission to find her missing drag queen friend Tessy LaFemme. It’s an important piece of LGBT history, being the first game to revolve around LGBT characters and raising money for AIDS charities in the 1980s. The creator, C.M. Ralph (they/them or he/him), wanted to give back to their community after discovering the thriving LGBT support in San Francisco, city of the titular Castro. The game was thought to be lost until 2017 when Ralph found a floppy disk with the game hidden amongst their belongings and contacted archives to help upload and preserve the game, leading to its inclusion here!

C.M. Ralph also released a “straightwashed” version called Murder on Main Street for commercial release, removing all mentions of LGBT content. Luckily, we have the original version accessible in the archives, preserving its LGBT content and place in history. Old games are often lost to time, especially those regarding marginalized groups who may not be historically catered to in gaming. Nowadays, with more LGBT content appearing in contemporary games, it’s important to remember and preserve the foundations.