Dear Trauma

Project Management | Game Design | Programming

Plataform game

roles
Project Manager, Game Designer and Assistant Programmer

Dear Trauma was developed as my final project for the Bachelor's Degree in Design - Digital Media at PUC-Rio University. In it, I sought to represent the problems suffered by a woman in an abusive relationship, exploring an alternative and conceptual world through a digital game.

For the project, a demonstration was developed for the first act of the story, featuring:
• A non-invasive and abstract approach to abusive relationships
• A narrative focusing on the woman’s path to recovery
• A creation of a muted narrative through setting, mechanics, and level design

The main challenge of this project was creating a mute and abstract narrative that was still understandable. To achieve this, I created a story that is portrayed through memory fragments that the player finds as they progress through the game.

• The universe is inserted in the mind of a woman who is suffering from marital violence
• Three acts story: the beginning of the relationship, ending of the relationship, and post-breakup restart
• The main character is a representation of the emotional state of the woman, and is transformed according to the evolution of her feelings

Dating proposal

A date

First fight

3 memory fragments

Organization of acts and memory fragments

The level design was built to tell the story through its surroundings. Every time a player finds a memory, the scenery, the stage, and the character transform according to the mental stage in that moment.

• Aggressive memories generate bosses to be dealt with
• Enemies as a sign of emotional disturbance

First version of a part of the level design

Final version after testing with players

"Post-its" were added to the base-level design to indicate to the development team's artist what the environment should be like and what the player would experience

During the first playtest with the target audience, two questions appeared frequently:

• What is the game universe?
• Who are the people in the memories fragments?

As I wanted to make it clearer that the game was set inside a woman's mind, I worked together with the artist to develop a small introduction that would leave a more explicit hint.

The result was players describing the story as a metaphor for a psychological condition and an abusive relationship, demonstrating that the game managed to convey the desired concept.