According to the American Psychological Association, nearly 41 percent of college students deal with anxiety. Although it is a common mental health issue, it can be hard for those with anxiety to convey their experiences in a way that those without it can relate to.
KSU computer gaming design and development majors Melissa Gilmer and Dustin Colvin developed a video game that accurately conveys what it’s like to live with anxiety.
“We were trying to figure out what would be kinda a cool game to work on, and I just kinda blurted out anxiety because I want to be able to give people that perspective who don’t have that perspective,” Gilmer said. “That is the main goal of the game, to create a way for people without anxiety to be able to empathize with friends and loved ones who live with it.”
“Anxiety” is a two-dimensional, choose-your-own-adventure game in the visual style of something like “Pokémon.” The player steps into the role of a nameless woman who moves throughout three different levels, each involving different events or memories that induce anxiety in the player character.
Gilmer describes her project as an emotion-provoking video game.
“A lot of what the game does is try to convey a feeling rather than give actual gameplay,” Gilmer said.
The gameplay is intended to be simplistic so the player doesn’t feel overwhelmed and focuses more on how anxiety actively shapes the world around you rather than you as a person.
The gameplay is fully dependent on the stress levels of the player. If they are good at managing their stress, then the world will appear colorful and bright. However, if they fail to manage stress effectively, some game levels will appear to be in black and white or take on a much darker visual appearance.
The ending of the game also depends on how well you manage your stress and anxiety. The games features multiple endings ranging from a bad ending to a good ending, and each one is dependent on player action.
Roger Ebert, a film critic, once said, “movies are a machine that generates empathy,” and with “Anxiety,” Gilmer and Colvin are directly applying his ideology to the world of video gaming.
“Anxiety” is expected to be available to the public sometime in March. Gilmer and Colvin are also currently working to bring the game to virtual reality under the title “You’re Feeling Anxious,” and it’s set to be released in 2019.
