Hi everyone! I just released The Therapist, a small narrative/mental-health simulation game I've been working on.
You play as a therapist working with Elias, a client you meet across five sessions as his story gradually unfolds. During sessions, you're asked to listen closely and choose between different responses under time pressure. Your choices affect his Stability in the moment and your longer-term Rapport with him.
The part I was most interested in experimenting with, though, comes at the end of each session: instead of choosing from another set of predetermined answers, you have to write the therapeutic reframe yourself. There's no timer. The game evaluates what you've written for empathy and understanding, and that response helps determine how the session -- and ultimately Elias's story -- progresses.
I wanted the game to feel less like finding the obviously “correct” dialogue option and more like actually sitting with another person, paying attention to what they're telling you, and figuring out what you want to say back.
It's deliberately small and intimate: one client, five sessions, a stripped-down visual style, and a story centered on connection, uncertainty, and what it means to genuinely listen to someone.
The Therapist is available now on itch.io for $1.99. If the premise sounds interesting, I'd genuinely love for you to give it a try. And if you do play it, I'd be especially curious to hear how you experienced Elias and the written-reframe mechanic.
Thanks for taking a look. ❤️ https://restlessly.itch.io/the-therapist