Five: The Stages of Grief
Five was developed as a 2-month project in Introduction to Game Design (CSDS 290, Unity platform) with myself and 3 other team members in an all-women game development team. We wanted to create a therapeutic yet engaging game to help players learn skills to cope with grief through a touching story and emotional levels.
This is a first-person narrative game that takes the player through the stages of grief after their mom passes away. In the initial scene, the player returns from their mom’s funeral and enters their bedroom. From there, the game is broken into 3 levels that correspond to the stages of grief: level 1(denial), level 2(anger, bargaining, depression), and level 3(acceptance). The game setting is confined to the character’s bedroom and their mom’s bedroom where there are sets of tasks that the player completes in order to cope with their grief, like self-talk and journaling. This game is focused on narration, education, and the personal growth of the player to allow players to be able to better approach their emotions.
A lot of research went into creating the various "minigames," settings, and interactions of Five. Because we were dealing with a sensitive topic, we wanted to make sure that no misinformation was spread or negative messages were spread in our game. To avoid this, we did extensive research on therapist-approved coping mechanisms and how to recreate them in a virtual environment. Through our research, we found that verbalizing feelings was one of the most impactful forms of positive coping and closure, so we decided to make the main feature of our game a recording device. Along with this, we have many other coping strategy "minigames" including digital journaling, cleaning, eating, exercise, and more.
What Makes Our Game Unique?
Our game actually records player audio and repeats it back to them, acting as an audio journal to teach the player how to voice their emotions. At the end of the game, all stored audio messages are repeated to the player to add a wholesome close to the game and teach the player the value of listening to their emotions. I had the ability to 3D model and create a skin for the audio recording device using Maya, which is pictured below (in modeling studio on the left, in-game on the right).
About My Contributions
In this team, my roles involved creating the theming and storyline, game music (composing, performing, and producing), designing and implementing all menus (main menu, credits, loading scene, instructions), creating weekly progress presentations, and configuring all UI elements. I loved working with this group of powerful women to create a unique game that can help players emotionally process their feelings.
Art Lead
Logo, Menus, Concept Sketches, Palette
For this game, I was in charge of all concept and menu art to build on our central game idea. I created mockups of interactable rooms and a general color theming outline in order to maintain a cohesive look for our game. From there, I consulted with my other team members to design art and buttons for our menus. We decided on a comforting, hand-drawn look that reflected different positive coping mechanisms including in-game activities. I decided to assign a color for each of the five stages of grief in order to help categorize which coping mechanisms are best for certain emotions. In order to integrate this theme further, I made all art and particle systems color-coded with the same palette.
Menu Art
Particle Systems
Concept Sketches
Music Production
I created Five's soundtrack to reflect the emotions of the player in each scene/level using a combination of piano and cello performance for a light orchestral feel.
01
Menu Theme
Using a combination of cello and piano, I wanted to create a melancholy yet endearing composition to open up the game. Starting with a soft build into a haunting melody and harmony, my goal was to acknowledge the central theme of death in the game while highlighting its beauty and importance.
03
Multi-Emotions
This track was a little bit more challenging for me to compose. Because this point in the game was referencing multiple stages of grief and emotions, I wanted to create a mix of everything while still executing a cohesive composition. In the end, I decided to go with just the piano, bouncing between emotions of hurt, anger, and despair. It acts as a 3-way tango, reflecting how someone with grief may become overwhelmed by a series of emotions and not know how to address each one individually.
02
Denial
For the opening level, I decided to go with a stripped-down piano composition with comfort as the main underlying emotion. I wanted the music to reflect that the player has not yet begun to accept their loss and is in a state of emotional unawareness.
04
Acceptance
With a slight tone change, I looped the cello back in to close out the soundtrack in a nice sandwich (beginning and end tracks with cello, the middle ones without). In this composition, the piano acts as the player and the cello acts as an "omnipresent voice," giving comfort and reassurance to the player (whether that be perceived as a spirit, religious figure, loved one, or something else). The cello provides an uplifting and hopeful melody while the piano arpeggiates, steady and calm.