The Roses

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 is a prototype game created in Mia Consalvo's Games as Research Creation class at Concordia University.  It is an attempt to explore feelings of invisibility and isolation experienced by people living with a chronic illness. My goal was to represent a loss of energy without quantifying it in a health bar. 

Shrinking space is used as a metaphor for loss of opportunities to explore and interact. The game illustrates how our relationships to others and to our environment is impacted by limited mobility, as well as how the manifestation of symptoms can change how people with chronic illness are perceived, sometimes being misrecognized as lazy, disengaged, or reclusive.  

I hope you enjoy my tiny, autobiographical journey through the tensions and emotions that emerge when we are not always able to stop and smell the roses.  

Controls
Move: WASD or arrow keys
Interact: Alt/Z/J

This prototype was made in GB Studio with a combination of original and free-to-use backgrounds, sprites, and music.