The title, and a member of in-story lab Abaddon Pharmaceuticals
Gender Bender DNA Twister Extreme is a visual novel game by Transcendent Studios, available on PC via Steam. A lab explosion brought about by a mad scientist's experiment gone awry turns everyone in the lab and the nearby area into women, and after some time working on trying to fix it, they learn that the changes are permanent. Over the course of three in-game years and chapters with perspectives from 13 different characters (not all of whom were present for the initial accident), learn what happens to this Australian town that has been forever changed in more ways than one.
One of the game's developers later founded Latched Up Games, a new studio that has made other games that take place in the same setting of Axon City, Australia: Max's Big Bust: A Captain Nekorai Tale, Alluna and Brie, Max's Big Bust 2: Max's Bigger Bust, and My Mad Scientist Roommate Turned Me Into Her Personal Robotic Battle Maiden?!?.
Gender Bender DNA Twister Extreme has examples of:
- But Thou Must!: In Dan's path, joining the band is given as a choice, but all your options are "yes".
- Doing in the Scientist: It's revealed in the ending that the initial gender swap explosion was caused by an open portal to Hell in the lab's break room (which was what was causing the smell in there), though Dina and Lynn's subsequent discoveries are all scientific.
- Easy Sex Change: As its entire premise.
- Gender Bender: Sort of the central premise of the game.
- First Law of Gender Bending: Out of the 13 playable characters, only two are female-to-male, and the only character to even have the option of choosing to go back (one of those F-t-M characters) canonically switches back and forth between genders at a whim in later chapters.
- Second Law of Gender-Bending: Even the characters who most vehemently want to change back grow to accept their changes within a few days. Yael found out about the changes being permanent when she went in to ask if it would be okay to stay that way a few weeks if it wouldn't affect her chances of changing back. Dan, even after the big reveal of the changes being permanent, wishes for it to be different, though she begins living her life as a pop idol in her favorite girl band. And eventually becomes pregnant during the epilogue. Even once a cure is found in the canon story, nobody takes it.
- Third Law of Gender-Bending: Within the first 48 hours, most characters get new clothes, either of their own choice or having some bought for them. Justifications include a need for clothing that fits, a desire to blend in/hide their change, or even a simple desire to wear women's clothes. Less prevalent for the F-t-M characters.
- LEGO Genetics: Not only is the gender-shift quick and painless, the characters also find ways to easily become human-animal hybrids.
- Mad Scientist: Dina, full stop. She's got absolutely no regard for safety at all, and is in part responsible for the initial explosion (due to cooking up a secret batch of chemicals) and is very prone to using herself and her coworkers as guinea pigs in insane experiments. Uses an untested genetic infusion chamber to turn herself into a Cat Girl and canonically becomes a Slime Girl Voluntary Shapeshifter.
- The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Played with and subverted. With the gender swap, a number of characters begin noticing attractions to the (now) opposite sex, and begin wondering if the gender swap also changed their sexual orientation. However, during one character's chapter, it is revealed that while there are a number of changes to brain chemistry brought on by the gender swap, sexual orientation is not one of those changes. This is somewhat true to life, as many transgender individuals discover new things about themselves, including attractions, that they never noticed before because of trying to live up to the expectations of the gender they were assigned at birth. Further played with in the form of the various furry forms, with the characters suddenly having newfound tastes for different foods than before, and even having some instincts of the animal they were spliced with. This is explained as their DNA being not all human anymore, including changes to their taste buds.
- Running Gag: Derek/Dina's obsession with large breasts, both owning a pair and making her fellow workers' existing busts larger. It starts out funny, since when Derek switches to a female form, she has a flat chest, making her feel unhappy with her new body, and whips up a serum to increase here breast size. Eventually, it becomes her go-to tactic for cheering people up, though not usually well-received.
- Shower Scene: One of the later storylines has your character going all over town trying to unravel a mystery. If she goes back to her house, the only thing she can think to do there is "take a shower for no reason".
