This game was part of a university project that aimed to use different facets of games design to accurately portray experiences of grief in an understandable and edifying way.

It takes place in the area between the initial shock of loss and the beginning of the grief process, covering topics such as stagnation, fear of the unknown, and how suffocating and terrifying the process of grief can seem. 

The aim was to use research to identify helpful ways of portraying grief, and putting them to the test by creating a game that implemented them.

Each facet of the design was tied to the narrative; the art style was mainly scribbles set on a 3 frame loop, set to a still image to signify stagnation. The minigames represented how different demographics tend to struggle with grief. The music changed from sombre piano to a frantic orchestra score, and dialogue choices gave players the opportunity to confront NPC's, or to "take the high road".

All but 2 assets were self made, which was crucial for the unique experience I was trying to craft, but this made for some long nights of design, especially regarding the 3 similar frames for most objects, which I felt was crucial for the aesthetic, even though it was a gruelling process.

Most of the work, obviously, went into crafting the narrative. I consulted my lecturer constantly, read several academic references on grief, and went through a lot of playtesting to make the characters sound natural, and like they were real people with real experiences.