Game Concept:
- Premise: In a future where physical objects can store memories, a grieving protagonist reconstructs their loved one’s fragmented memories through broken keepsakes.
- Mechanics:
- Puzzle-solving to repair memory fragments.
- Emotional storytelling as the protagonist pieces together truths they didn’t know.
- Speculative Hook: What if you could relive memories through objects, but at the risk of losing yourself in the past?
1. Fading Light
Theme: Anticipatory Grief (Terminal Illness)
Premise:
The player experiences the journey of a terminally ill character, Ava, who is slowly coming to terms with her mortality. Alongside Ava, the player engages with her close family and friends, navigating their unique expressions of anticipatory grief.
Gameplay Features:
- Character Journals: Ava writes letters and keeps a journal for her loved ones. Players help her reflect on memories, impart wisdom, and write messages for when she's gone.
- Interactive Dialogues: Players choose dialogue options to comfort or confront family members. These choices impact their relationships and shape their grieving process.
- Memory Exploration: As Ava revisits significant places, players unlock memories through interactive mini-games, piecing together her story and life.
- Emotional Check-ins: Ava’s mental state evolves based on how the player manages her interactions, fostering empathy and understanding of anticipatory grief.
Purpose:
To explore the duality of grief and acceptance, emphasizing the importance of preparing loved ones for loss while treasuring the time left.
2. Shattered Bonds
Theme: Complex Grief (Addiction and Abuse)
Premise:
The player navigates the lives of three siblings after the death of their estranged, abusive father, who was a drug addict. The siblings grapple with a mix of relief, guilt, and anger while attempting to heal from their trauma.
Gameplay Features:
- Multiple Perspectives: Players alternate between the siblings, experiencing how each deals with the grief and conflicting emotions.
- Trauma Choices: Each sibling faces choices that reflect their struggle, such as forgiving their father posthumously, protecting each other, or confronting unresolved pain.
- Emotional Puzzle-solving: Players solve puzzles that symbolize the fractured family dynamics, piecing together memories of their father that range from tender moments to instances of harm.
- Therapeutic Growth: The siblings can attend group therapy, write letters they’ll never send, or find ways to break destructive cycles, allowing the player to influence their healing journey.
Purpose:
To explore how grief is complicated by unresolved trauma and abuse, highlighting the difficulty and importance of finding closure and breaking free from cycles of pain.
3. The Empty Chair
Theme: Loss from Natural Causes
Premise:
A close-knit family mourns the sudden passing of their beloved matriarch, Grandma Rose, who died peacefully of natural causes. The player takes on the role of her granddaughter, who organizes a remembrance event and helps the family navigate their collective grief.
Gameplay Features:
- Remembrance Puzzle: Players gather objects from Grandma Rose’s life—photos, recipes, and keepsakes—to create a memory board for the event.
- Family Dynamics: The player mediates conflicts between family members, such as disagreements over how to honor Grandma Rose or navigating generational differences in grieving.
- Interactive Flashbacks: Players relive key moments with Grandma Rose through interactive story sequences, reflecting her impact on the family.
- Grief Support Mechanic: The player provides emotional support to family members, each with unique grieving styles—e.g., denial, anger, or stoicism.
Purpose:
To emphasize the shared nature of grief, showing how love and memory preserve connections even after a loved one is gone.
These games are designed not only to entertain but also to serve as a mirror for players to process and understand grief, fostering empathy and emotional resilience.
1. "Little Steps"
Theme: Anticipatory grief through a toddler's eyes.
Overview:
The game follows a toddler, Noah, navigating life as his terminally ill mother and his father experience anticipatory grief. Through interactive storytelling, players experience how grief manifests in a child’s fragmented understanding and a father’s attempts to balance caregiving and coping.
Key Features:
- Perspective Shifts: Alternate between Noah and his father. Noah’s world is visualized through a whimsical, surreal art style, while the father’s perspective is realistic and heavy.
- Memory Mechanic: As Noah, collect scattered "memory bubbles" that hold cherished moments with his mother. These moments are fragmentary but warm, reflecting a child's view of love and loss.
- Coping Challenges: As the father, make choices that impact Noah’s well-being—spend more time at work for medical bills or be present for Noah’s emotional needs.
- Interactive Spaces: Navigate familiar home settings like a bedroom or park, each changing as the mother's condition deteriorates.
- Ending Variation: The game’s resolution depends on the father’s choices, offering different outcomes on how the family copes with loss.