“Adventures With Anxiety!” by Nicky Case, Monplaisir & Spacie.
“Whoever you are, stay strong [and] good luck! 💖”
When we play serious games that tackle mental health issues, we often step into the rule of the suffering person; just remember “Stay Home”, “YOU LEFT ME.” or the work of Joarez C. Santini. But “Adventures With Anxiety!” breaks this scheme, because it lets you to play as the eponymous anxiety, which got manifested in the form of an easily scared, reddish wolf called Beebee. Every situation seems to upset the poor animal, forcing it to communicate its overwhelming fears to its ‘owner’ Hong.
Naturally, Hong is not too fond of Beebee. Even though she knows on a rational level that Beebee’s scary attitude is based on exaggerated assumptions, she slowly gets consumed and hurt by it: The white bread sandwich will surely kill her, all social media are bad for her and she is not really welcome at the upcoming party. Beebee just wants to protect her, but the whole scenario escalates at some point.
In my opinion, “Adventures With Anxiety!” is a very special game as it helps to clear the blurry lines between justified fears and anxiety, while also giving hope in the end. Beebee and thereby anxiety are not portrayed as monsters we have to put down, instead we should cultivate and tame them. That can be a very long process, but it is possible. This somewhat lighthearted game about a serious topic will hopefully make you want to hug the frightened animal inside yourself. [PLAY]
