Us

Indie Haven article, Us Explains Chronic Fatigue in a Way Spoons Never Could

Us is a ludic illustration of a couple living with the effects of illnesses. You control it with WASD, the arrow keys and the space bar (or the mouse, if you like). You need to balance their mood and energy so that they can continue to go to work and study.

Design-wise, it's an exercise in using some economic principles during development (there's an interest system in place on resource gains).

Illustration-wise, it's a sort of self portrait of my girlfriend and I. I want to communicate some of what it's like to live in a relationship where she lives with Multiple Sclerosis and I live with depression. The goal is to get across how we rely on each other for support. That even though I'm her carer, she cares for me just as much.

I'd love to come back to working on this game and release a full version as it's obviously a very personal project, but I don't currently have enough time to give it the effort it deserves.

I won't take donations on this version of the game because some of the background images aren't my own work. I am using them without permission as placeholders in this prototype. I will replace them in time.