Tag: it’s personal

News

New advances in videogame therapy heal the mind and soothe the soul.

There’s been a proliferation lately of games that address mental illness – particularly anxiety and depression. From the brilliant, difficult Actual Sunlight to today’s release of Depression Quest, the taboo of talking about mental illness in game is starting to peel back. Anecdotally, it also seems more people in the game industry are starting to open up about their own personal brushes with mood disorders. A number of high profile developers and writers– like Russ Pitts and PopCap’s Jeff Green, among many others – have made statements about suffering from similar maladies as of late. Overall, it seems like gaming…
News

What does depression feel like? Will O’Neill explores darkness with hope and honesty.

Actual Sunlight is a bleak, tough experience. It’s not difficult to play – but it can be hard to motivate yourself to keep playing. That’s the point. Designer Will O’Neil crafted an “essentially autobiographical” game about a depressed and alienated young man named Ethan. For many, this will hit very close to home. “I think some players have interpreted it as a cautionary tale, and I appreciate that”, says O’Neil, “But my primary objective was just to give a seething, honest and unromantic account of a kind of life that I don’t think gets much representation.” – – – “This isn’t…