The game I played for this critical play was Depression Quest a 2013 interactive fiction game dealing with the subject of depression developed by Zoë Quinn that targets young adults in their mid-20s. Playing this game as a feminist means being able to recognize that the role of a woman is not secondary and not that of a support character. Although the game does support the theory that games are not necessarily violent and that tell narrative are plausible, it could still make use of further feminist perspectives in giving women a different role in the game. In the game, the main character (unknown name) has a girlfriend called Alex and she is supposed to be this bubbly girl with a good social life that is always there for the main character. The game uses its storytelling nature to lead the player through a series of daily events, most of which involve Alex in one way or another (as seen in the screenshots below). Alex is always telling the main character that she will be supportive and that she loves him very much. This narrative seems to follow an “inherent maleness” as queer narrative theorist Judith Roof would say in the reading. The focus on male mental health and the overshadowing of Alex’s own mental health holds to established traditional “male-female” relationship dynamics where the woman is supposed to give up her own pursuits in order to help her partner.
The game even uses Alex as a sexually appealing figure to make the point that the main character should feel motivated to have a “fun night” with her because she is using revealing clothes. This places Alex as a sexual object that is there to please the main character along with dealing with all of their mental baggage. Alex should not be used as a motivator to get the main character to want to do something that is not sleep or be tired. This game could make more of a statement on the male loneliness epidemic and depression among men if they instead relied on more male figures to help support the main character through their journey in depression. The main character’s brother would not take the main character’s depression seriously but instead would tell them to get over it and laugh it off. This perpetuates existing values of men not talking to each other and suffering with their feelings on their own. The game could have taken a different direction and had the brother be more supportive of the main character’s feelings and offer to help him get help instead of having that be Alex’s role. Alex is used as the “always supportive” partner that will deal with any mistreatment. As an additional note, the game could benefit from more inclusivity by making the main character be any gender.
