Develop:Brighton 2024
Brighton, UK
Sensitive Content: Telling a Challenging Personal Story in The Quiet Things
Indie Bootcamp - Free for ticket holders
From childhood cancer to mental health to the life of refugees, the accessible nature of indie games makes them an excellent medium to tell personal stories and create singular experiences. But how do we unflinchingly approach chronicles which are centred around sensitive and heavy content? And how do we endeavour to investigate the corners of emotionally raw stories, as honestly as possible, without causing trauma to a development team?
The Quiet Things is based around one of those stories. Developed by Silver Script Games and based on real diaries written by founder Alyx Jones, this autobiographical narrative game tells the story of Alice from the ages of 8-17 and her experiences with childhood abuse, self-harm, mental health, attempted suicide, grooming and sexual abuse. The game has a deep focus on storytelling through audio and the themes are primarily communicated through diary entries, sound design and dialogue.
This presentation by Silver Script Games founder Alyx Jones, and Voice & Casting Director Kirsty Gillmore, will explore how a micro-indie studio with limited funding has approached the daunting task of creating an autobiographical game where emotional and often upsetting themes are a core part of the narrative. It will explore the ways in which Alice’s story has been told so far, and the emphasis on audio content and dialogue to convey that story. It will also cover how development choices impacted funding, the effect on the team, and the measures taken to enable them to work without compromising their mental and emotional wellbeing.
SESSION TAKEAWAY
Learn ways in which you can approach the inclusion of challenging themes in narrative games
Consider how to approach real life content when applying this to a video game
How to prioritise and protect your team’s emotional and mental health throughout the development process
How to approach funding for non-design aspects of game development e.g. resources to support team mental health and well-being
Location: Room 6
Date: Thursday July 13
Time: 11:45am - 12:15pm
