It has been 10 days since the news of Robin Williams suicide shocked the world.
Once the news broke, television, radio, newspapers and social media exploded with tributes to Williams.
Relatively quickly, the public conversation moved from shock and mourning to education and awareness.
Everyone seemed baffled that someone like Robin Williams could do such a thing.
But a lot of people don”t understand that depression isn”t just feeling bad for yourself, it is a deep and dark hole that can feel impossible to get out of.
On the day of Williams” suicide, an independent game developer named Zoe Quinn published her game Depression Quest on Steam.
The game is “not meant to be a fun or lighthearted experience” and warns that “if you are suicidal, please stop playing and visit” www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
The goal of the game is to “spread awareness and fight against the social stigma and misunderstandings that depression sufferers face.”
This is how the video game industry has evolved. Gone are the days of only killing time with a game that simply requires hand-eye coordination, now games cater to all types of demographics.
Like all other forms of media, video games are evoking emotions, telling meaningful stories and taking a proactive approach to audience engagement.
In a blog post written the day of the game”s release, Quinn discuss the decision to publish the game even after hearing the news of Williams” death.
“The last thing I want for the game is for the launch to seem opportunistic or like it is capitalizing on a massive tragedy like we”ve seen today,” she stated. “I know there may be a worst case of people assuming the launch somehow is trying to capitalize on tragedy. However, I would rather have those people hate me than the people who are currently quietly suffering with this illness sit at their dinner tables tonight and hear the discussion of today”s news, hear people not understand how someone who had so much could kill themselves, and lack a resource they could have needed right then to point to and say ”this is why.””
The game is text-based and draws from the three-person team”s experiences with depression, as well as those close to them.
It has been argued that it is not actually a game, but more of an interactive story. Like a choose-your-own-adventure book.
“Like depression itself, Depression Quest does not have an end, really,” the game”s epilogue states. “There is no neat resolution to depression instead of a tidy ending, we want to just provide a series of outlooks to take moving forward.”
“After all, that”s all we can really do with depression — just keep moving forward,” the epilogue continues.
For those interested, Depression Quest can be downloaded for free on Steam or www.depressionquest.com.
