Queering Control(lers) Through Reflective Game Design

In this article, I make the case that control and controllers -- the peripherals which players use as extensions of their bodies and minds to operate videogames -- are a key entry point into the project of altering the hegemonic status quo of mainstream game design. Concepts from queer game studies, intersectional feminist theory, and critical design practices (particularly, the reflective game design framework) are brought together in order to analyze and subsequently queer five core aspects of control and controllers in videogames. I make use of examples from the work of queer creators, including my own, in order to queer each aspect.