Trigger Warning
Alcohol, mental problems, drug use. (Almost like living near a train station).
How did I get here?
During my studies at the Bauhaus University I had to choose a project. I wanted to choose a project that didn’t involve programming. I ended up doing game design, testing and programming. I also managed the project and created requirements, mood boards and deadlines for the illustrator and musician.
Fun facts
The illustrator hated K-pop and the musician was a K-pop producer. I only knew this when we met for the one time during Corona.
I was advised to listen to Nirvana’s Lithium. It was quite interesting to know that my medication has a song and Nirvana wrote something other then Smells Like Teen Spirit.
The game starts and ends with the phrase “My bed is a mess”.
Idea
Bipolar person takes medication and experiences the full spectrum of senses and emotions when the inner voice keeps encouraging the player to make wrong decisions. Click and collect mechanics. Story is more then a game.
Target Audience
People who are interested in mental health. They will like the general attitude and the stupefied things that follow.
Game Design
The only way to win is to take a long, boring walk and buy a drug. But you could steal a bike, get a duck, drive a bus, get MDMA. All these actions lead you to lose again and again. Just like a life.
I developed different places: Bedroom, kitchen, bike station, park, bus stop, pharmacy. Each location was first described in Miro with all possible actions, states and needed sounds and visuals.
Game development
I wrote the game in C# using Unity. Did I know C# and Unity before? No.
