Indie games that focus on characters dealing with or experiencing mental health stuff.
If you would like to learn more or maybe need help, you can check out Safe in Our World.
“An immersive artistic short game. Embark on a journey through the human psyche and experience six atmospheric and thought-provoking chapters, each symbolising a different aspect or challenge associated with mental health issues; from isolation to anxiety, with everyday situations being distorted beyond recognition.”
“Help Madeline survive her inner demons on her journey to the top of Celeste Mountain, in this super-tight platformer from the creators of TowerFall. Brave hundreds of hand-crafted challenges, uncover devious secrets, and piece together the mystery of the mountain.”
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
Release: January 25, 2018
“An interactive story about anxiety. You play *as* the anxiety”
“A narrative game where you experience life from the eyes of a deliveryman searching for fulfilment through sincerity in one’s day to day interactions.”
“Set in the Viking age, a broken Celtic warrior embarks on a haunting vision quest into Viking Hell to fight for the soul of her dead lover.
“Created in collaboration with neuroscientists and people who experience psychosis, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice will pull you deep into Senua’s mind.”
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
Release: August 8, 2017
developed by Sirhaian | Platform: Windows
“A walking simulator whose glitchy and dark tale tries to illustrate the hardships of depression and anxiety through a variety of imaginary digital landscapes. Discover a world filled with loneliness and fear. A world where despair breathes and hope dies. A world about you, about us. A world about humanity and about life.”
Play for free on itch.io or Steam.
Release: Jan 13, 2019
“Experience true psychological horror as you explore nightmares inspired by the creator’s struggles with depression and OCD. The defenseless protagonist must avoid monstrous manifestations of what haunts his subconscious in his quest to wake up into reality.”
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile, PS4, PS Vita
Release: September 26, 2014
developed by Jo-Mei Games | published by Electronic Arts
“Sea of Solitude takes you on a personal journey of a young woman’s loneliness. Set sail across a beautiful and evolving world, where nothing is quite what it seems. Meet fantastical creatures and monsters, learn their stories, and solve challenges. Explore a flooded city, either by boat, on foot, or by swimming through the water itself. Dare to look what lies beneath the surface, in a haunting struggle of darkness and light, and discover what it truly means to be human.”
Platforms: Windows, Xbox One, PS4
Release: July 5, 2019
developed by Adam Carriere | Platforms: Windows, Mac
Something a little different today. This is a free short text adventure/interactive fiction that’s about 15 minutes long. It’s got great writing and is probably better experienced without me telling you what it is. Unfortunately it’s kind of hard to show what it is as well, since it’s just text. So to spoil it just a teensy bit if you have any interest in games about mental health, definitely give it a try. If you don’t, it’s still a pretty interesting experience. =)
via /r/gamedev
developed by ATRAX
“A puzzle-platformer that explores social anxiety disorder. Play as Josh, a teenage boy trying to reconcile a maze of two contrasting worlds that coexist within the blank spaces of each other – his perception of reality, and the world he created to avoid his fears.”
The Steam reviews are pretty positive, though it seems to depend on whether you have an interest in depression/anxiety, as the gameplay is reportedly simplistic. I really like the concept of dealing with human issues through the medium of games, and I also really like the art style, so thought I would share. :)
[Buy on Steam] | [Visit the Website] | [Watch the Trailer]