discomfort zone
PLEASE NOTE: THIS GAME IS DESIGNED TO BE PLAYED IN FULLSCREEN. CLICK THE BUTTON IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER TO TOGGLE FULLSCREEN MODE.
WARNING: THIS GAME AIMS TO AT TIMES CREATE A PURPOSEFULLY UPSETTING ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PLAYER, AND CONTAINS CONTENT SUCH AS MENTION OF SELF-HARM, SUICIDAL, AND SELF-DEPRECATING THOUGHTS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED. PLEASE STAY SAFE. IF THE PLAYER WISHES TO AVOID SUCH CONTENT, THEY CAN DO SO BY SIMPLY AVOIDING MOVING TOWARDS ANY OF THE RED COLORED OBJECTS IN THE GAME, AND SKIPPING THROUGH THE ONE NON-OPTIONAL DIALOGUE TOWARDS THE END OF THE RED SECTION.
THE GAME DOES HAVE A HAPPY ENDING once the player has made it back to a white-colored area after the red section. This ending section is completely cozy, life-affirming, and safe to navigate for anyone.
DESCRIPTION: discomfort zone is a 2D pixel-art narrative game about depression, anxiety disorder, despair, and recovery. The game takes a realistic, un-filtered, and at times uncomfortably personal look at depression and anxiety disorder through the eyes of someone dealing with these conditions, promoting understanding and sharing the experience with a wider audience. The game deals with many themes related to depression and anxiety: worry, loneliness, and self-deprecating thoughts, but also hope and finding the strength, when all seems lost, to keep going. Made in a heavily-hacked version of the Bitsy engine, the game uses a simple art style, limited color palette, and basic controls to ensure accessibility.
CREDITS:
Made in Bitsy: https://ledoux.itch.io/bitsy
Utilizes some Bitsy hacks by Sean LeBlanc (https://github.com/seleb)
The game's design, additional code & hacks, writing, & art are all by me.
MUSIC:
"Ever Mindful", "Reawakening", "Super Friendly"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
SOUND EFFECTS:
"Shepard Tone", "Dramatic Sting"
Alexander (www.orangefreesounds.com)
Slight modifications were made to the originals.
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 & CC BY-NC 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Development log
- Fixed Firefox Browser IssueJul 04, 2018
Comments
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This is just...MAGNIFICENT
Thank you so much for making this. It made me feel the way poetry does. There was not a single imperfect moment in it--my favorite being the one instance of seeing a more realistic visual when we get to see ourselves holding hands--a brilliant, beautiful artistic decision.
My second favorite moment is at the end, when I'm back in my room and I'm revisiting the things that make me happy only now after going on that little journey I really FEEL that enjoyment, even though I'm saying the exact same things.
The only small thing I wish were slightly different is that instead of the music track being exactly the same at the beginning and at the end of the game, it would be only the simpler parts of the score that plays when you start in the room, so that when you're there the second time the music actually starts where the backup up choral track first starts and you experience the room again in that elevated way. It was the combo of revisiting the things in the room with that uplifting music behind it that just left me walking away super happy.
I also was curious to know if you end the game in a replay state intentionally? I myself was kind of crushed to bump back into that object that shifts the mood again right in the middle of feeling so good about having recovered. Have you considered ending the game with just the door open and letting you freely travel back and forth to your friend in the field until you decide to purposefully restart the game? It might serve the experience better if your purpose is for players to walk away feeling a little stronger about themselves. Of course if one of the points your making is that it's not a one way trip but a cycle you should be prepared to go through again, there's a lot of truth to that as well.
Regardless, I was deeply effected and am about to send this to everyone I know with late diagnosed ADHD who will all FEEL this! 😅
This is a wonderful little work of art you've made. I feel legitimately grateful to have experienced it.
This was real beautiful thank you x
I wish I did not type "nothing" three times for that part...
Remmember: 1-800-273-8255, food, sun
this was so beautiful i started sobbing
That ending caught me off guard!! You did amazing Dev!! Hope you're doing well
i cried
Oh wow.
this game is kind of mid assdafgdhfjgkhlj
The writing was very visceral--liked the format and (not gonna spoil) some of the rooms you had! Thanks for making this!
Thanks for this!
Oh hell yeah. Great job.
speechless. 10/10 game. good job :)
laggy
20/20
hated and loved this
this game isnt scary but its honestly the scariest game ive ever played
i know that prolly made no sense
thank you.
this game is like an anxiety attack but let me explain its like a simulation a first all the dialogue is your stomach hurts your heart is pounding your head is about to explode and this is exactly how an anxiety or panic attack feels you feel trapped and in pain and everything feels like your fault and you need that little voice to tell you no your ok it will get better. it perfectly shows feeling so low and then getting up wiping away your tears and dusting yourself off. when I have a panic or anxiety attack and feel this way I can so relate to all of the dialouge in the red area and then I can relate to getting out and wiping my eyes drinking lots of water and getting back up
No. Fuck you. I am stronger than this.
10/10
that's a wonderful game.
Wonderful.
شكرا على اللعبة الجميلة
فعلا لعبة تحفة انصح بيها اي شخص
بس الاهم كملها ما بتاخد كثير بس لا تخرج في منتصفها بتضيع كثير
love this
Juegazo
this game is really good wow
thank you a lot for this game.
I enjoyed this, well done!
thank you for this. it really helped me and it helped me let out the tears i was holding <3
Thank you very much for this beautiful experience. I wasn´t prepared for such gameplay. It´s very simple to play, but a very intense topic.
This game said exactly what I wanted to hear
Fantastic use of simple visuals and music to craft a specific atmosphere. Well-crafted dialogue and a very satisfying conclusion. One of the better indie games on depression out there.
this game gave me goosebumps all throughout... the choice of music, visuals, and dialogue enveloped me in all sorts of emotions through each moment. and the wholehearted message at the end made me smile; its a message that i needed now. thank you :)
This game is such an emotional rollercoaster, and I love it. Every turn the game took, it took me right with it. The way the mood was conveyed sucked me right in. The ending sequence with the shift to more uplifting messages actually almost made me cry. Well done!
This is very well made, I enjoyed it
i love you for making this game
goodness i feel bad for him.
thank you for this