itch.io

• interactive story with features to adjust reading speed & progress on click or automatically (good accessibility features)

• you choose what makes you most anxious— for the mentally aware, this is a good test in what small life aspects you actually value/have anxiety about the most (being harmed, being unloved, being a bad person)
• positions anxiety as the protector/hero, but all choices you make deplete your human’s energy 
• unloved, unloved, bad person, unloved, unloved, unloved
• even the choices you may think are better than another are still negative for you bc your anxiety makes you overthink the way yourself & others could perceive every action you take
• all the choices & negative feelings are rooted in social media use
• human defeats us by shutting us down with a good amount of ease, which feels pretty realistic for people not dealing with an anxiety disorder, but not realistic for those that do
• then we defeat the human with a final deadly blow that depletes humans energy fully & allows us to be in total control, not just an added voice
• you can choose fight or flight, both irrational choices (fight)
• then you win, it gives fear score for the round

Round 2:

• at the party, human ignores us for a moment until we persist
• human is trying not to give us attention until we go away, but when that doesn’t work, they try positive affirmations
• human tries to invalidate us, but we note the contradictory self-help tips that are spread (emotions are valid, emotions are useless or not to be depended on)
• anxiety wolf as a being with our own feelings, sad to be ignored or invalidated
• human’s first interaction with another human who is encouraging against the belief of all of our warnings, but then other human offers our human a drink
• our human starts to ignore us in favor of the drink until we unleash a special attack of our choosing
• human feels horrible & we get another fight or flight decision (flight)
• human vows to destroy us next time

Round 3:

• at the next party, our human is drinking & the other human tries to get them to do dangerous things to kill us
• shows how we need our anxiety/fear sometimes
• this round has two possible endings (i ended in a tie)
• we’re forced to realize that sometimes our anxiety hurts us but it’s ultimately for our good, it’s okay to be scared of some things, anxiety isn’t working against us, it’s meant to help us
• gives you a final score of fears (harmed 3, unloved 7, bad person 2)

Round 4(ish):

• human talks us through our fears, we get to play both human & anxiety this time, allowing us to empathize with anxiety (we’ve been playing them the whole time) & also respond to anxiety as our human self
• problem with saying “accept” your negative emotions when we really mean to be patient with them
• at the end we see someone else reacting anxiously to our genuine & actually well-meaning conversation, we can’t know what’s going on in other peoples’ heads
• patience needed to get along well with our emotions, accepting when necessary & ignoring when necessary, even though sometimes they’ll be hard to manage
• includes encouragement & resources for mental health

• soundtrack is great at setting tone
• pixels work to keep you from getting distracted
• it’s hard to really sink into this character bc in the midst of the character feeling like they’re supposed to be spiraling, you, the player, have a task/next step to complete/reach
• even though you feel absolutely drowned the game doesn’t go on if you don’t make the conscious effort to continue it
• the third section with the maze is a little better about pulling you into the anxious mindset— there’s not a clear or logical pattern you’re supposed to follow or a clear exit, and at every corner there are more false reminders of your inabilities/shortcomings/failures
• “no one’s even going to play this…” “why are you making this? who is this for?”
• fourth level where moving forward only means more collapse around you, everything closes you in even more, inability to escape the little box of emotions/thoughts that tell you you’re not good enough regardless of what’s happening outside of your mind (that box)
• fifth level makes you be thoughtful about 3 things that make you feel better, so if you’re going through the anxiety that is presented, you feel someone in your corner as you intentionally be thankful, the game doesn’t leave you to your minds devices, but makes an active effort to help (who is this for? why are you making this?)
• the last section lets you wander around in a broken box filled with affirmations, but once you escape the box, you get the opportunity to meet another character who reminds you of all of the things that make you feel better, which helps you to connect with them more, it’s not just you alone that thinks these things, someone else is reminding you, it’s a surprising & extremely personal reminder affirmation