I played Depression Quest, which was created by Zoë Quinn, Patrick Lindsey, and Isaac Schankler. The platform of the game is available on any web browser, so it can be played on any device (pc, tablet, mobile) that can access the web. The target audience of the game is other people with depression and those seeking to understand depression. I think this makes the game at least 16+ but probably suitable for younger teens with adult oversight.
To play Depression Quest as a feminist means to appeal to a subversive sense of fun through an unconventional interface that pushes against the male-dominated sense of fun typical in the game industry. A critique I have of the game is the flatness of the narrative in order to appeal to a larger audience. It intertwines with feminist theories through showing how designing games for a non-typical gamer audience can benefit everyone who plays the game through introducing new perspectives that players may not have encountered before.
[Color palette and interface of Depression Quest contrasting with typical games in the market]
There are various mechanics of Depression Quest that construct a narrative to appeal to an alternate sense of fun. The most salient is the interface of the game. The primary method of communication in the game is paragraphs of words, mostly small black type on a gray background. The designer intentionally subverts the features that optimize for attention that typical games employ – such as bright colors, flashing lights, and perhaps loud gunshots. Furthermore, I think an interesting rule that George Fan discussed led to Plants vs. Zombies’s success in his onboarding tutorial is that there should not be more than 8 words on the screen. Similar to usability heuristics in web/mobile design, the purpose of this rule is to optimize for human attention. Designers are tasked with the challenge to maintain human attention and prevent players from getting bored and leaving the game. These goals are what Shira Chess describes as appealing to the male audience. However, the Depression Quest designer is not bothered by industry demands, and instead chooses a color palette and typeface that best matches their definition of depression. The game’s focus is more on creating a world that best conveys what depression feels like through the mood and the “boring” typeface. It is unconcerned with what typical audiences might not find engaging because it is not optimizing for engagement or attention. Instead, the goal of Depression Quest is to educate, a key point that Shira Chess emphasizes is core to creating a game by feminists for feminists. Depression Quest recognizes that it is necessary for players to feel engaged with the game so they don’t immediately exit, but the method of achieving engagement is through the text content of the story rather than flashy graphics. This illustrates how applying the feminist theory concept of designing to “resonate with diverse and underrepresented audiences” (Shira Chess) can create a game narrative that prompts audiences to think more deeply about mental health rather than immediate feedback satisfaction. This brings a different perspective into the game industry which Shira Chess describes as playing like a feminist.
[Description of the main character’s nuclear family]
[Stereotypical American holiday with nuclear family]
A critique I have of the game is that in order to create a character that many people can step into, the nuances of having a mental condition is diminished. It is difficult to strike a balance between including enough detail and leaving enough room for the player to fill in. I would argue that in order for the game to appeal to a broad audience, a pretty stereotypical American nuclear family is described. It lacks detail around how systemic factors embedded in racial or socioeconomic roots may lead to higher rates of depression around such individuals. It makes sense since the creator is not a person of color, but I would be interested to see how the game could be tailored towards a different identity rather than forcing the player to take on a nuclear family, day job, and outgoing partner. These are all expectations of the typical American adult, and I think align with the normative time we discussed in class. While I see how this game can appeal to a player whose upbringing aligns with that of the main character, I would be interested to see if this game can foster understanding around the systemic factors that play into mental health diagnoses and conditions, perhaps through leveraging the power of GPT/LLMs today.
