With all the recent news over the “Gamergate” controversy, I decided I should probably check out Depression Quest.
Here’s the CliffNotes version of the scandal: Zoe Quinn, an indie game developer, was subjected to a massive amount of harassment after the release of her game, Depression Quest on Steam in August. When the game was released, her ex-boyfriend wrote a pretty nasty blog post claiming that Quinn cheated on him with a journalist from Kotaku, which resulted in more favorable news coverage of her game.
After this was posted, it seemed like the entire online gaming community had something to say about it — many members of the community piled her with threats of rape and death.
I don’t think I even need to say that there is no reason for the amount of harassment Quinn received.
I was really excited to play Depression Quest, an “interactive fiction game” that has you read through the story as you’re making decisions. I hoped that it would properly capture the way that depression feels.
The game is playable on Steam or on the web. The main page says that the primary goal of the game is to spread awareness, and players are able to continue for free or pay what they want. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.
While I’m glad I played it, I was really displeased. There wasn’t anything that was particularly offensive towards those that suffer with depression — that was my main fear.
Moreso, the game felt immature and a little rushed. It was extremely short — I think it took me about 30 or 45 minutes to complete it. It’s a text-based game, so the only action is choosing your decisions.
As someone who has — probably much like many readers — suffered time and time again from depression, it felt like Quinn and her team channeled the thoughts of someone going through depression and wrote a script in one or two nights.
I’m glad that Quinn made this game, as I think it gets people thinking about the topic. However, I just don’t think that depression is something that can be illustrated in a game.
For example: many of the choices you have are already crossed off. The point of that is so players understand that these are choices that a depressed person couldn’t or wouldn’t choose (like ordering food and grabbing a drink when you get home for the evening).
Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand Quinn’s reasoning for this and that it is something many people face. But I think it could have been better executed if there were a variety of choices in the spectrum, like maybe not being able to order food but being able to munch at your apartment.
All in all, I’m glad I played the game, but it left me unsatisfied with a title I was looking forward to checking out.
Sophie Kruse is a junior studying journalism. Have you played Depression Quest? Email her at sk139011@ohio.edu or tweet her @kruseco.
