Of Moons and Mania

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.

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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.