fbpx
Wikipedia

Depression Quest

January 01, 1970

Depression Quest is a 2013 interactive fiction game dealing with the subject of depression. It was developed by Zoë Quinn using the Twine engine, with writing by Quinn and Patrick Lindsey, and music by Isaac Schankler. It was first released for the web on February 14, 2013, and for Steam on August 11, 2014. The game tells the story of a person suffering from depression and their attempts to deal with their condition. It was created to foster a greater understanding of depression.[2] Depression Quest can be played for free, and has a pay-what-you-want pricing model. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline receives part of the proceeds.

Depression Quest
Developer(s)The Quinnspiracy, Patrick Lindsey
Publisher(s)The Quinnspiracy
Writer(s)Zoë Quinn, Patrick Lindsey
Composer(s)Isaac Schankler
EngineTwine[1]
Platform(s)Browser, Windows, OS X, Linux
ReleaseFebruary 14, 2013
Genre(s)Interactive fiction,
Electronic literature
Mode(s)Single-player

Depression Quest was praised by critics for its portrayal of depression and its educational value. The game was noted for diverging from mainstream uses of video games as a medium. Depression Quest received backlash from some gamers who disliked its departure from typical game formats and from other gamers who opposed "political" intrusions into gamer culture. Quinn received threats and harassment from people who disapproved of the game. False allegations that the game had received a positive review from a journalist in a relationship with Quinn around the time of the game's Steam release triggered the start of the Gamergate harassment campaign.

Gameplay

 
Screenshot from Depression Quest showing a choice that the player must make, as well as their current status

Depression Quest is an interactive fiction game, which presents descriptions of various situations and prompts the player to choose their response.[3] In addition, most pages feature a set of still images and atmospheric music.[4][5] The game has over 40,000 words of text, and multiple possible endings.[6]

Players assume the role of a person suffering from depression, and the story centers on their daily life, including encounters at work and their relationship with their girlfriend. The story also features various treatments for depression.[4] Players are periodically faced with choices that alter the course of the story. To make a choice, the player must click on the corresponding hyperlink.[3] However, choices are often crossed out and cannot be clicked on, a mechanism that Depression Quest uses to portray the character's mental state and the fact that logical decisions may not be available to them.[5] Beneath the choices presented to the player are a set of statements about the character, indicating their level of depression, whether or not they are in therapy, and whether or not they are currently on medication.[7]

Development and release

 
Zoë Quinn, the game's designer, pictured in 2016

The game was designed by Zoë Quinn and written by Quinn and Patrick Lindsey, both of whom have had depression. The soundtrack was composed by Isaac Schankler. Quinn and Lindsey started the project, with the aim of communicating how the mind of a depression sufferer functions. Quinn purposely designed the game's protagonist as someone with an outwardly happy and easy life, so as to "preëmpt the argument that someone is only depressed because they have a difficult life."[8]

Depression Quest was first released online as a web browser game on February 14, 2013.[4][9] Quinn also submitted the game through Steam's Greenlight program and consequently received disparaging comments and hate mail, causing them[a] to withdraw the game from the service.[11] After receiving positive feedback from players who had played the game and receiving an invitation to Indiecade, Quinn tried Greenlight again. They received further harassment, but felt that they could deal with the stress. "I thought, honestly, I could take the hate if it meant the game could reach somebody who would get something out of it, feel less alone," Quinn stated.[11]

The game was accepted by Greenlight in January 2014, and was released on Steam in August that year.[4] The day it was due to go live, news broke that actor Robin Williams had died from a suspected suicide. Quinn considered delaying the Steam release, as they did not want to be seen as taking advantage of Williams' death. They eventually decided to keep to the original release schedule, as Quinn thought that making the game available to those struggling with their own problems was more important than any negative publicity they might receive, writing, "I can't in good conscience hold back offering someone something that could help them start making real changes in their life for the sake of reducing the risk of offending people or hurting my own reputation."[4][12][13]

The game uses a pay-what-you-want pricing model: it is free to play, but players can pay any amount they think is appropriate. Part of the proceeds from the game are sent to a charity[14] – initially iFred, but this was later changed to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline after the game was released on Steam.[6][15][16]

Reception

Critical response

Depression Quest received mostly positive reviews from critics, who generally viewed it as not being intended for entertainment but for education. Jessica Vasquez, writing for Game Revolution, praised the game's portrayal of how sufferers are affected by depression, and expressed optimism in its potential to educate people about depression.[5] Writing for Gizmag, Adam Williams called the experience of Depression Quest "dark and compelling". He added that he did not find the game fun to play, and that "it's certainly no Super Mario Brothers, but that's probably the point".[6] Tim Biggs, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, also stressed a lack of fun in the game, and went on to say that the game was "a testing and, at times, a boring experience to go through". However, he praised the game's execution, and acknowledged its importance as a tool for raising awareness of depression and for helping its sufferers.[17] The game also received praise from mental health professionals.[18]

Writing in Ars Technica, Kyle Orland called Depression Quest "one of the most gripping and educational views on the subject [of depression]".[3] Adam Smith, in Rock, Paper, Shotgun, wrote that Depression Quest was "'game' as communication, comfort and tool of understanding".[19] In Giant Bomb, Patrick Klepek praised Depression Quest's writing, and said that "by the end, [he] was able to say [he] understood depression a bit better". He also warns players not to expect the game to be enjoyable, saying: "Playing Depression Quest isn't 'fun', like watching Schindler's List isn't 'enjoyable'. They're important for different reasons, and it's okay if they exist for the small audiences who will appreciate them as they are."[20] Depression Quest designer Quinn also headed a Playboy article which featured several video games dealing directly with the subjective experience of depression, in which they noted "I'm very interested in games that aren't there to make the player feel exceptional."[21]

Audience response

Depression Quest faced backlash online from some gamers who disliked its departure from typical game formats emphasizing violence and skill,[22][23][24] and who opposed "political" intrusions into gamer culture.[23] The text-driven interior monologue style of the game was criticized as boring.[18] Quinn has faced harassment in response to Depression Quest since the game's initial release. This intensified with the additional publicity the game received on Steam.[8] Quinn initially withdrew the game from Steam's Greenlight service, after having a detailed rape threat mailed to their home address. When they brought Depression Quest back to Greenlight, Quinn began receiving threatening phone calls.[11] In mid-August 2014, soon after the game's official Steam release, a former boyfriend of Quinn wrote a lengthy and negative blog post about their relationship. The post alleged that Quinn had been in a relationship with Nathan Grayson, who was then a video game journalist for Kotaku. Opponents of Quinn claimed that Grayson had given Depression Quest a positive review as a result of this relationship. Investigations proved this to be false: Grayson had at no point reviewed Depression Quest. These false accusations against Quinn sparked what would later be known as the Gamergate harassment campaign.[25][26] Quinn was subjected to wide-scale harassment, the game's profile page was flooded with what The New Yorker described as "angry user reviews",[8] and reviews for the game were temporarily disabled. The Daily Dot reported that 4chan's video game board had bombarded the game's Metacritic page with negative reviews.[27]

Notes

  1. ^ Quinn uses they/them pronouns.[10]

References

  1. ^ Robertson, Adi (August 15, 2014). "Play this: 'Bad Paper,' a journalistic choose your own adventure story about debt collection". Yahoo! News. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  2. ^ Williams, Katie (August 14, 2014). "Depression Quest Now Available for Free on Steam". IGN. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Orland, Kyle (August 21, 2014). "What Depression Quest taught me about dealing with mental illness". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e Fudge, James (August 13, 2014). "'Depression Quest' Now Available on Steam". Game Politics. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c Vazquez, Jessica (August 14, 2014). . Game Revolution. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Williams, adam (August 25, 2014). "Text adventure game Depression Quest explores mental health issues". Gizmag. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  7. ^ Velocci, Carli (February 21, 2013). "Depression Quest Review". Paste. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  8. ^ a b c Parkin, Simon (September 9, 2014). "Zoe Quinn's Depression Quest". The New Yorker. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  9. ^ Savage, Phil (January 7, 2014). "New batch of Steam Greenlight approvals contains Depression Quest, Tangiers and X-Plane 10". PC Gamer. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  10. ^ Prokos, Hayley (August 27, 2019). "Zoë Quinn accuses 'Night in the Woods' game developer and ex-partner Alec Holowka of harassment and abuse". Newsweek. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Kotzer, Zach (January 23, 2014). "Female Game Designers Are Being Threatened With Rape". Vice. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  12. ^ Hall, Charlie (August 13, 2014). "Depression Quest launches in spite of high-profile suicide and online threats". Polygon. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  13. ^ Parkin, Simon (September 9, 2014). "Zoe Quinn's Depression Quest". The New York Times. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  14. ^ Crawley, Dan (August 12, 2014). "Depression Quest gets a quiet, but timely, release on Steam". VentureBeat. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  15. ^ Priestman, Chris. (August 12, 2014). "Depression Quest Released on Steam to Help Those Who Need It", Kill Screen. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  16. ^ Quinn. Zoë. (September 11, 2014) "Depression Quest Donations! May 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine", Dispatches from the Quinspiracy. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  17. ^ Biggs, Tim (August 15, 2014). "Latest game releases: Road Not Taken, Hohokum, Metrico". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  18. ^ a b Greengard, Samuel (May 18, 2023). "Gamergate". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  19. ^ Smith, Adam (February 14, 2013). "Mostly Indescribable: Depression Quest". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  20. ^ Klepek, Patrick (April 10, 2013). "They Made a Game That Understands Me". Giant Bomb. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  21. ^ Rougeau, Mike (November 25, 2014). . Playboy. Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  22. ^ Jane, Emma A. (2017). Misogyny online : a short (and brutish) history. London. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-4739-1600-5. OCLC 964292051.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  23. ^ a b Salter, Michael (2017). Crime, justice and social media. London. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-138-91966-2. OCLC 913768078.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  24. ^ Mantilla, Karla (2015). Gendertrolling : how misogyny went viral. Santa Barbara, California. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-4408-3317-5. OCLC 895731351.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  25. ^ Stuart, Bob (October 24, 2014). "#GamerGate: the misogynist movement blighting the video games industry". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  26. ^ Steele, Chandra (October 21, 2014). "Everything You Never Wanted to Know About GamerGate". PC Magazine. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  27. ^ Romano, Aja (August 20, 2014). "The sexist crusade to destroy game developer Zoe Quinn". The Daily Dot. Retrieved September 2, 2014.

External links

  • Official website  

January 01, 1970
depression, quest, 2013, interactive, fiction, game, dealing, with, subject, depression, developed, zoë, quinn, using, twine, engine, with, writing, quinn, patrick, lindsey, music, isaac, schankler, first, released, february, 2013, steam, august, 2014, game, t. Depression Quest is a 2013 interactive fiction game dealing with the subject of depression It was developed by Zoe Quinn using the Twine engine with writing by Quinn and Patrick Lindsey and music by Isaac Schankler It was first released for the web on February 14 2013 and for Steam on August 11 2014 The game tells the story of a person suffering from depression and their attempts to deal with their condition It was created to foster a greater understanding of depression 2 Depression Quest can be played for free and has a pay what you want pricing model The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline receives part of the proceeds Depression QuestDeveloper s The Quinnspiracy Patrick LindseyPublisher s The QuinnspiracyWriter s Zoe Quinn Patrick LindseyComposer s Isaac SchanklerEngineTwine 1 Platform s Browser Windows OS X LinuxReleaseFebruary 14 2013Genre s Interactive fiction Electronic literatureMode s Single player Depression Quest was praised by critics for its portrayal of depression and its educational value The game was noted for diverging from mainstream uses of video games as a medium Depression Quest received backlash from some gamers who disliked its departure from typical game formats and from other gamers who opposed political intrusions into gamer culture Quinn received threats and harassment from people who disapproved of the game False allegations that the game had received a positive review from a journalist in a relationship with Quinn around the time of the game s Steam release triggered the start of the Gamergate harassment campaign Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Development and release 3 Reception 3 1 Critical response 3 2 Audience response 4 Notes 5 References 6 External linksGameplay nbsp Screenshot from Depression Quest showing a choice that the player must make as well as their current status Depression Quest is an interactive fiction game which presents descriptions of various situations and prompts the player to choose their response 3 In addition most pages feature a set of still images and atmospheric music 4 5 The game has over 40 000 words of text and multiple possible endings 6 Players assume the role of a person suffering from depression and the story centers on their daily life including encounters at work and their relationship with their girlfriend The story also features various treatments for depression 4 Players are periodically faced with choices that alter the course of the story To make a choice the player must click on the corresponding hyperlink 3 However choices are often crossed out and cannot be clicked on a mechanism that Depression Quest uses to portray the character s mental state and the fact that logical decisions may not be available to them 5 Beneath the choices presented to the player are a set of statements about the character indicating their level of depression whether or not they are in therapy and whether or not they are currently on medication 7 Development and release nbsp Zoe Quinn the game s designer pictured in 2016 The game was designed by Zoe Quinn and written by Quinn and Patrick Lindsey both of whom have had depression The soundtrack was composed by Isaac Schankler Quinn and Lindsey started the project with the aim of communicating how the mind of a depression sufferer functions Quinn purposely designed the game s protagonist as someone with an outwardly happy and easy life so as to preempt the argument that someone is only depressed because they have a difficult life 8 Depression Quest was first released online as a web browser game on February 14 2013 4 9 Quinn also submitted the game through Steam s Greenlight program and consequently received disparaging comments and hate mail causing them a to withdraw the game from the service 11 After receiving positive feedback from players who had played the game and receiving an invitation to Indiecade Quinn tried Greenlight again They received further harassment but felt that they could deal with the stress I thought honestly I could take the hate if it meant the game could reach somebody who would get something out of it feel less alone Quinn stated 11 The game was accepted by Greenlight in January 2014 and was released on Steam in August that year 4 The day it was due to go live news broke that actor Robin Williams had died from a suspected suicide Quinn considered delaying the Steam release as they did not want to be seen as taking advantage of Williams death They eventually decided to keep to the original release schedule as Quinn thought that making the game available to those struggling with their own problems was more important than any negative publicity they might receive writing I can t in good conscience hold back offering someone something that could help them start making real changes in their life for the sake of reducing the risk of offending people or hurting my own reputation 4 12 13 The game uses a pay what you want pricing model it is free to play but players can pay any amount they think is appropriate Part of the proceeds from the game are sent to a charity 14 initially iFred but this was later changed to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline after the game was released on Steam 6 15 16 ReceptionCritical response Depression Quest received mostly positive reviews from critics who generally viewed it as not being intended for entertainment but for education Jessica Vasquez writing for Game Revolution praised the game s portrayal of how sufferers are affected by depression and expressed optimism in its potential to educate people about depression 5 Writing for Gizmag Adam Williams called the experience of Depression Quest dark and compelling He added that he did not find the game fun to play and that it s certainly no Super Mario Brothers but that s probably the point 6 Tim Biggs writing for the Sydney Morning Herald also stressed a lack of fun in the game and went on to say that the game was a testing and at times a boring experience to go through However he praised the game s execution and acknowledged its importance as a tool for raising awareness of depression and for helping its sufferers 17 The game also received praise from mental health professionals 18 Writing in Ars Technica Kyle Orland called Depression Quest one of the most gripping and educational views on the subject of depression 3 Adam Smith in Rock Paper Shotgun wrote that Depression Quest was game as communication comfort and tool of understanding 19 In Giant Bomb Patrick Klepek praised Depression Quest s writing and said that by the end he was able to say he understood depression a bit better He also warns players not to expect the game to be enjoyable saying Playing Depression Quest isn t fun like watching Schindler s List isn t enjoyable They re important for different reasons and it s okay if they exist for the small audiences who will appreciate them as they are 20 Depression Quest designer Quinn also headed a Playboy article which featured several video games dealing directly with the subjective experience of depression in which they noted I m very interested in games that aren t there to make the player feel exceptional 21 Audience response Depression Quest faced backlash online from some gamers who disliked its departure from typical game formats emphasizing violence and skill 22 23 24 and who opposed political intrusions into gamer culture 23 The text driven interior monologue style of the game was criticized as boring 18 Quinn has faced harassment in response to Depression Quest since the game s initial release This intensified with the additional publicity the game received on Steam 8 Quinn initially withdrew the game from Steam s Greenlight service after having a detailed rape threat mailed to their home address When they brought Depression Quest back to Greenlight Quinn began receiving threatening phone calls 11 In mid August 2014 soon after the game s official Steam release a former boyfriend of Quinn wrote a lengthy and negative blog post about their relationship The post alleged that Quinn had been in a relationship with Nathan Grayson who was then a video game journalist for Kotaku Opponents of Quinn claimed that Grayson had given Depression Quest a positive review as a result of this relationship Investigations proved this to be false Grayson had at no point reviewed Depression Quest These false accusations against Quinn sparked what would later be known as the Gamergate harassment campaign 25 26 Quinn was subjected to wide scale harassment the game s profile page was flooded with what The New Yorker described as angry user reviews 8 and reviews for the game were temporarily disabled The Daily Dot reported that 4chan s video game board had bombarded the game s Metacritic page with negative reviews 27 Notes Quinn uses they them pronouns 10 References Robertson Adi August 15 2014 Play this Bad Paper a journalistic choose your own adventure story about debt collection Yahoo News Retrieved August 23 2014 Williams Katie August 14 2014 Depression Quest Now Available for Free on Steam IGN Retrieved August 19 2014 a b c Orland Kyle August 21 2014 What Depression Quest taught me about dealing with mental illness Ars Technica Retrieved August 23 2014 a b c d e Fudge James August 13 2014 Depression Quest Now Available on Steam Game Politics Retrieved August 23 2014 a b c Vazquez Jessica August 14 2014 Why Depression Quest Matters Game Revolution Archived from the original on August 19 2014 Retrieved August 23 2014 a b c Williams adam August 25 2014 Text adventure game Depression Quest explores mental health issues Gizmag Retrieved August 25 2014 Velocci Carli February 21 2013 Depression Quest Review Paste Retrieved August 31 2014 a b c Parkin Simon September 9 2014 Zoe Quinn s Depression Quest The New Yorker Retrieved September 15 2014 Savage Phil January 7 2014 New batch of Steam Greenlight approvals contains Depression Quest Tangiers and X Plane 10 PC Gamer Retrieved December 19 2014 Prokos Hayley August 27 2019 Zoe Quinn accuses Night in the Woods game developer and ex partner Alec Holowka of harassment and abuse Newsweek Retrieved August 17 2021 a b c Kotzer Zach January 23 2014 Female Game Designers Are Being Threatened With Rape Vice Retrieved August 27 2014 Hall Charlie August 13 2014 Depression Quest launches in spite of high profile suicide and online threats Polygon Retrieved November 5 2015 Parkin Simon September 9 2014 Zoe Quinn s Depression Quest The New York Times Retrieved November 5 2015 Crawley Dan August 12 2014 Depression Quest gets a quiet but timely release on Steam VentureBeat Retrieved August 25 2014 Priestman Chris August 12 2014 Depression Quest Released on Steam to Help Those Who Need It Kill Screen Retrieved August 23 2015 Quinn Zoe September 11 2014 Depression Quest Donations Archived May 6 2015 at the Wayback Machine Dispatches from the Quinspiracy Retrieved August 23 2015 Biggs Tim August 15 2014 Latest game releases Road Not Taken Hohokum Metrico Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved August 27 2014 a b Greengard Samuel May 18 2023 Gamergate Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved June 15 2023 Smith Adam February 14 2013 Mostly Indescribable Depression Quest Rock Paper Shotgun Retrieved August 23 2014 Klepek Patrick April 10 2013 They Made a Game That Understands Me Giant Bomb Retrieved August 23 2014 Rougeau Mike November 25 2014 Resistance Is Futile The New Wave of Video Games About Depression Playboy Archived from the original on December 28 2014 Retrieved December 19 2014 Jane Emma A 2017 Misogyny online a short and brutish history London p 30 ISBN 978 1 4739 1600 5 OCLC 964292051 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link a b Salter Michael 2017 Crime justice and social media London p 43 ISBN 978 1 138 91966 2 OCLC 913768078 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Mantilla Karla 2015 Gendertrolling how misogyny went viral Santa Barbara California p 83 ISBN 978 1 4408 3317 5 OCLC 895731351 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Stuart Bob October 24 2014 GamerGate the misogynist movement blighting the video games industry The Daily Telegraph Retrieved October 9 2015 Steele Chandra October 21 2014 Everything You Never Wanted to Know About GamerGate PC Magazine Retrieved August 10 2015 Romano Aja August 20 2014 The sexist crusade to destroy game developer Zoe Quinn The Daily Dot Retrieved September 2 2014 External linksOfficial website nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Depression Quest amp oldid 1199904242, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.