How To Make A Game About Depression

As part of your Masters by Practice for Video Game Enterprise and Production (yes, you can do to school for that, awesome, right?), you need to make a video game. But you want to make a video game that's more personal and not about killing people. So you decide to make a game about depression. And this is how you do it.

1. Take a deep breath and accept that depression is something you are struggling with, and it's okay.

2. Start a project on HitRecord and ask other people how they think depression feels like.

3. Identify the common struggles that people with depression face.

Like waking up in the morning.

4. Hitting snooze on your alarm clock too much until it breaks.

5. Fighting off the shadow version of yourself that whispers: "You're not good enough. No one likes you."

6. Drawing a fake smile on your face.

7. Like wanting to drown yourself in the bathtub.

But you don't.

8. Like opening the lock on the fridge.

It's shaped like a snowflake, because we are all snowflakes- special and fragile in our own way.

9. Making breakfast.

10. Forcing yourself to eat even if you aren't hungry.

11. Finish your morning routine and it's time to face the day.

Even if you really don't want to. Because today may be a bad day.

12. But tomorrow might be better.

13. Know that you are not alone, and it's okay not to be okay.

14. And then you finish your game.

youtube.com

It's called "Depression Simulator" and it is a point-and-click puzzle game, where players step into the shoes of someone living with depression, wherein even the most mundane task becomes a challenge.

15. And you graduate.