Hungry Holes and Insatiable Balls: Video Games, Queer Mechanics, and the Limits of Design

This article presents a queer, comparative reading of the video games Katamari Damacy (Namco, 2004) and Donut County (Annapurna Interactive, 2018). These games offer contrasting models of consumption. In Katamari Damacy, players roll around a ball that gobbles up items. Donut County follows a similar premise, with holes that swallow objects. Yet Donut County fails to deliver on its queer potential, leaving its holes hungry, whereas the balls of Katamari Damacy remain insatiable. Building on the work of Kathryn Bond Stockton, Shira Chess, and Edmond Chang, this article argues that these games, considered together, suggest both the power and the limitations of video game design to reflect queer "appetites."