Of Moons and Mania
Absurd Walls · 2022 · Emotional, Atmospheric, Story Rich, Interactive Fiction, Dark
PC
Positive95% · 39
This game is free to play. Get it on Steam →
About Of Moons and Mania
Of Moons and Mania is my account of experiencing a psychotic break, in game form. Inhabit my mind as I lose my grasp on reason. Attempt to piece together cogent responses to questions from doctors, friends, and family as psychosis takes over, and ultimately try to get back to stability.
Key Features
I started making this game several years after being hospitalized for a manic episode. I was fixated on the experience for the whole time. Trying to piece together what was real and what was dreamt, trying to even remember the sequence of events in chronological order, and every so often when I thought I had shaken the grip of obsessing about the hospitalization, I would have flashbacks that opened up my freshly healed wounds.
As a game developer, I was fascinated by some of the systems of thought that were going on in my head, and that gave me the idea for this game. I designed game mechanics and systems to tell the story of my psychosis in a different way than I have seen it expressed before.
Making the game really helped me with my flashbacks and organized the way I thought about my illness, and the experience of my hospitalization. I hope that it gives other people some insight into my brain and also into the nature of psychosis and manic depression.
Key Features
- Inhabit the developer's mind and build your own responses to dialogue.
- Experience an Autobiographical story detailing the experience of a psychotic break.
- An hour of gameplay.
Developer Statement
I started making this game several years after being hospitalized for a manic episode. I was fixated on the experience for the whole time. Trying to piece together what was real and what was dreamt, trying to even remember the sequence of events in chronological order, and every so often when I thought I had shaken the grip of obsessing about the hospitalization, I would have flashbacks that opened up my freshly healed wounds.
As a game developer, I was fascinated by some of the systems of thought that were going on in my head, and that gave me the idea for this game. I designed game mechanics and systems to tell the story of my psychosis in a different way than I have seen it expressed before.
Making the game really helped me with my flashbacks and organized the way I thought about my illness, and the experience of my hospitalization. I hope that it gives other people some insight into my brain and also into the nature of psychosis and manic depression.
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
"Of Moons and Mania" is not really a game, it's a frankly stupid "art experience" where you follow the bouncing ball through conversation notes to relay a crappy arthouse e-book about depression and mental health problems. I feel depressed when I see just how much non-game garbage like this there is on Steam. What do you do in the game? Not much, it's mostly just watching the crappy dialogue... there's nothing here for actual gamers. But Steam is for actual gamers, so this is a big problem. Trying to address serious issues such as mental and emotional health through the medium of video games is misguided and can be harmful. While it's plausible to suggest the intention was noble, this can do more harm than good. The "developer" here is not a professional in areas of mental health and social problems, and when they use video games to pretend they are, this is not only utterly ineffective, it can be harmful. It's my opinion that it's improper to use video games to address mental health issues. Apart from the harm such hamfisted attempts at addressing social problems can cause, this offers zero benefit to PC gamers. People suffering from health issues or other social problem…1 found this helpful
The gameplay did not really support or add to the story in any way and just kinda hindered it I think.1 found this helpful
very good game/experience. Also a note to the creator: I'm glad you found a way to keep going. Paranoia is really difficult to deal with, even if you're aware it's probably paranoia. Keep going, and I'm glad this game helped you feel better and unpack things. It's rough stuff and I'm glad you made it through it, and if you still struggle with it today then I'm glad you're still making it through it still. It's rough and I hope the best for you1 found this helpful
Very poignant, I need to sit down and play through the rest. Heart wrenching recognizing my own past thought processes, I hope this can help some people shed light on how they think in times of mental dysfunction.
I have bipolar with about 6 month periods of mania with psychosis, followed by 6 months of major depressive disorder, then rinse and repeat. from like 20-25 i was in and out of hospitals trying to find the right medications and get help. My friends simply couldn't understand why I kept saying they weren't real and that nothing was real and it was a simulation. I can happily say I have been stable for almost 7 years after finding the right medications, and though I experience some anxiety and mild paranoia it's nothing I cant breath through and recognize I just need to talk to a friend and do some grounding exercises. I recommend this game often when people are trying to understand more about psychosis. It's so beautifully done and perfectly captures the lack of control. Thank you for this, it was beautiful.
good
Community reviews
—
0 reviews
Sign in to write a review.
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this game.
