When I started with Gay Sauna the Board Game – it was 2017 and I was a different person. I had only considered that gay men would want to go to a gay sauna, and so all my initial prototypes included just cis-gendered males.

Then came playtesting. I started hosting regular playtesting dinners with friends and contacts to try out the game with a wider audience and it opened my eyes and the game to a much more diverse setup.

We started to include female presenting characters in the concepts we were working on, and simultaneously I noticed that more and more gay saunas in the world were hosting gender fluid events.

As the game grew, I started to notice that this stance was more important than just a token effort, but that actually the sauna we were creating was not limited by the issues that many gay saunas face when allowing a more gender diverse audience – we actually get to choose the visitors we bring through the doors! This turned into a responsibility to do better.

I am so proud of the diversity we have in the game so far and for sure as we continue to develop and add to the visitor collection we’ll be pushing further with this. The message we want to send is clear – this gay sauna is for everyone!

It’s not the case (yet) everywhere, but the world is opening up and I was delighted to stumble across this article describing a visitors personal experience as they stepped into a gender inclusive sauna for the first time:

https://www.starobserver.com.au/opinion/gender-diversity-at-the-gay-sauna/226933

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