Another Day follows the story of a young person struggling with depression and anxiety over the course of a lockdown not unlike the one that we faced between 2020 and 2021 in the UK. 

The team decided that we wanted to make a serious game after a discussion about mental health during an idea generation session. Realising that we all had experience of depression, anxiety or feeling low in some form, we discussed how difficult it was to explain the experience to family members and friends, who often struggled to relate, and decided that wanted to create a tool to help young people explain their experiences to others and to help decrease some of the stigma surrounding mental illness. Games are a powerful medium for storytelling and sharing experiences, arguably more than films or books, as players do not watch events play out passively, but actively take part - when reading a book or watching a film, we refer to the main character and their actions in the third person, however when playing a game we refer to the player character's actions as if it was ourselves performing them. We hoped that in making the game we could help players to feel empathy for those with depression or anxiety and gain an understanding of what it can feel like, and to show those who may be struggling that they are not alone in their experiences. 

Creating a game with such a current topic that has greatly affected so many people presented the team with a number of challenges, and ensuring that we dealt with these topics realistically and sensitively was highly important. It was paramount that we correctly portrayed the mental illnesses depicted in the game, especially considering our plan to use the game as an educational tool. 

Due to the nature of mental illness everyone's experiences are different and we knew that we would not be able to create a game that exactly reflected each individual's experience of depression, however learning as much as possible helped us to ensure that any information included was factual and that the game would not add to stigma. The team conducted extensive research into mental illness, in addition to drawing from our own experiences. We took great care to gather information from reputable charities and scientific reports and, after completing the first draft of the writing for the game, the team conducted primary research, releasing surveys to the public to learn whether our writing was producing the desired reactions in players and whether we were  dealing with the topics sensitively and accurately.

Protecting the mental health of our players was important to us, and it was crucial that we made sure that the game's trigger warnings were well written and clearly visible on our page, to ensure that players are able to make an informed decision before playing. Protecting the mental health of the team was equally important, especially as for many of us the game reflected personal experiences. Regular judgement free breaks allowed individuals time away from the project if needed, and daily scrum meetings allowed us to take time to to regularly check in with each other and ensure that team members who were facing challenges were supported. 

Deciding how to tell the narrative of the game was a challenge. We used a combination of storytelling methods to represent the player character's experience of depression, including interactive dialogue at the end of each in game day, interactive objects, in game texts and environmental storytelling. 

Interactive dialogue 

The interactive dialogue at the end of each day after the player character goes to bed was used to represent the negative self talk that many people experience when their mental health is low. Where the player was able to make a dialogue choice, we often included a positive and a negative option. Ultimately, either of these will end with the same result, with the self talk spiraling into negativity. We made this decision as we wanted to show that the often well meaning advice of "just be happy" or "think positively" can actually be incredibly damaging to hear, as mental illness is not that simple, and recovery takes time and support. 

Interactive objects and in game texts 

Various objects around the flat can be interacted with, providing text representing the character's thoughts which changes as the week progresses. In addition, a the player character keeps a diary and emails and texts appear on the phone and the computer throughout the week. These help to provide more background to their situation, showing that that they were not always this messy, were doing well at work, used to go out with friends and were in regular contact with their mother, things which changed after a few months of being in lockdown. 

Environmental storytelling 

In addition to the interactive dialogue, interactive objects and in-game texts, environmental storytelling was also used to tell the game's narrative. Throughout the week the player character's flat will become increasingly messy, showing their increasing struggle to stay on top of simple tasks as they become increasingly overwhelmed.  Changes in the lighting, the weather outside the window and the desktop background of the computer also reflect the player character's mood. 

Storytelling through gameplay

 A slow walk speed, combined with challenging yet simple and repetitive minigames which become increasingly challenging as the week progresses help to emphasise the player character's struggle with low mood, frustration at themselves and feeling overwhelmed. These emotions are reflected in the player's frustration at not being able to move faster and complete simple tasks more easily. The frantic scrubbing and tapping motions required for many of the minigames also mimic tactile reactions that resemble negative emotions, further reflecting the player character's feelings.