Last year, a new curator popped up on Steam called ‘Woke Content Detector’, which highlights games with progressive themes to warn away would-be buyers—it takes issue with everything fromLGBTQ+ charactersandclimate actionto women protagonists and pro-immigration messaging. Not even Lego Indiana Jones is safe from its ire, listed as ‘Not Recommended’ for its “improbable female combatants”.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandorais apparently “anti-human”.
After going viral in 2024, it has only grown in popularity, so in response, someone set up a new curator called the ‘Woke ContentAppreciator’,which does pretty much the opposite. It highlights games with progressive themes to recommend them, and even snarkily thanks the Woke Content Detector for highlighting all of these titles in the first place.
It was first brought to the Steam community’s attention byu/Salmons35 in r/Gamingcirclejerk, who said that “Maybe the Woke Content Detector led to great things” after all. It recommends everything from Doki Doki Literature Club (since “One of the characters is a vegeterian) toBaldur’s Gate 3andCrusader Kings, giving us a wide breadth of forward-thinking games to celebrate.
“It’s Hard To Deny The Homosexual Chemistry Between Phoenix Wright And Miles Edgeworth”
Right now, Woke Content Appreciator only has 34 followers and 40 games logged, but already, going by their recommendations, there are far more games to tuck into. If you were to use Woke Content Detector’s list, you’d have a much harder time finding something to play, with 940 games being Not Recommended (including popular releases likeKingdom Come: Deliverance 2andMonster Hunter Wilds), versus its measly 398 Recommended. And many of those are debatable, to say the least.
Half-Life, a famously anti-military game, is ‘not woke’ according to Detector.
In stark contrast, Woke Content Appreciator recommends 28 games to its 13 ‘Not Recommended’. Though Appreciator is clearly more tongue-in-cheek with its reviews, even using Detector’s logo, but with an LGBTQ+ flag inserted into the magnifying glass, while also directly, and a bit cheekily, reversing several of its comments.
TakeDead by Daylight, which Detector doesn’t recommend due to its “overtly pro-LGBTQ+ messaging” and Pride flags. Appreciatordoesrecommend it for the fact that it “Contains pride flags and LGBTQ+ characters”.
Even though it might be a joke, it’s a fun way to spin one of the most infamous curators on Steam into something more positive, so hopefully they keep up with the list and garner an audience of their own.
