This week I played Depression Quest. This game was created by Zoe Quinn, Patrick Lindsey, and Isaac Schankler in 2013 As an interactive nonfiction about living with depression. It is playable on the web and via Steam, making the ideal/most common gameplay on a laptop/pc adjacent device. I find having the gameplay limited to larger, more professional devices is fitting to the nature of this game.
That being said, it is clear that the intention behind Depression Quest is not to create an experience centered around enjoyment or leisure. Instead, the game serves as a vehicle for communicating the realities of living with depression. It effectively simulates the emotional and psychological patterns common among individuals experiencing depression, offering insight into the types of thoughts, behaviors, and decisions that may define their day-to-day lives.
This experience can be valuable both as an educational tool and as a form of awareness-raising. A disclaimer is provided upfront, clarifying that the purpose of the game is not entertainment, but rather emotional engagement and reflection. Becasue of this, I think this activity (idk if Game is the right term) is best approached in a neutral or contemplative state of mind, rather than in moments of heightened emotion (either positive or negative).
With this understanding, the designers did a great job in delivering a compelling and emotionally portrayal of depression. As someone who has not personally experienced depression, I cannot claim to fully understand it, however, this game provided a glimpse into what depression might feel like.
While not enjoyable in the traditional sense, the experience was enlightening. Even while roleplaying as someone who is depressed, the experience felt authentically burdensome and emotionally fatiguing. From a design perspective, several intentional elements stood out:
- The grey color scheme:
- This visual choice contributes significantly to the somber atmosphere of the game. In doing so, it challenges traditional expectations of bright, stimulating game interfaces by instead reinforcing the thematic tone of the narrative.
- Dense blocks of text:
- Players are required to read through long and emotionally draining passages, further immersing them in the psychological weight of the character’s experiences. The writing is consistently bleak, with little to no emotional reprieve
- A seemingly endless cycle of negative choices:
- The gameplay involves repeated decision points that often lead to unfavorable or worsening outcomes. This mechanic simulates the emotional stagnancy and powerlessness often associated with depression. The absence of a truly optimistic option mirrors the constraints felt by those struggling with mental illness.
- Limited and non-ideal choices:
- Many of the available choices feel unsatisfying or incomplete, reinforcing a feeling of helplessness. While this may be frustrating from a gameplay standpoint, it is thematically consistent with the subject matter.
- Lack of sound design:
- The silence throughout the game is striking. There are no audio cues or background music, which enhances the sense of isolation. The only color variation is in the decision buttons—blue indicating selectable options and red indicating unavailable ones—further emphasizing restriction and limitation.
That being said, Depression Quest embodies feminist theory as it involves creatively recognizing and engaging with often marginalized and/or overlooked experiences with mental health through a game. The dissemination of information itself challenges the norms of what games are meant to be.
According to feminist theories, feminist gameplay could work to challenge the normative gaming structures by centering experiences around marginal identities. In this context, Depression Quest pretty much functions as a feminist text, actively pushing back against the traditional male-oriented, violence-centric gaming landscape. Its deliberate rejection of typical game mechanics—such as competition, victory conditions, or escapism—can be seen as aligning with feminist goals to prioritize empathy, emotional depth, and the lived realities of marginalized experiences.
That being said, I am not a fan of the emotional strain this game puts on the player. I don’t think this is a game that can be freely played in leisure, in high spirits, or low spirits. This is a purely educational experience and should be recognised at that. Because of this, I think this game lacks the structure to rebuild a user’s emotional state post-gameplay or during gameplay. For example, could there be in-game breaks with positive relief? Post-game discussions? I think incorporating community building and other care related principles can really help this game become easier to use.
Notice how the only colors are the different choices you can make. One color is dark blue, and the other is a dark red. Neither are warm or inviting, and the red seems a little harsh with the cross out too.
Notice the LARGE BLOBS of text. Maybe my attention span is really bad, but having to read large blobs from page to page to page is not an ideal way to progress through any game.
