Highly Strung

Highly Strung by Libby Harris

Controls 

WASD to walk

Space to move through text at bottom of screen

Left Mouse Click to click OK on pink instruction text boxes

Inspiration & Goals

I was drawn to make this game because, as a highly sensitive person, I often feel overwhelmed by very ordinary tasks throughout the day and becoming stressed by minor things going slightly wrong can lead me to overthink and worry about everything in my life, even though it is not relevant to that moment. Due to this tendency, I’ve been referred to as ‘highly strung’ or ‘uptight’, which are terms that have previously, without the person saying it intending to, hurt my feelings. Now though, I’m glad that this is something that’s been pointed out to me because I didn’t know I behaved in this way and became so easily wound up by menial things, so now I can reflect on my sensitivity and try to take more control over my emotions. By creating a series of playable daily tasks which go just a little bit wrong and lead to the protagonist of the game becoming quickly frustrated, reeling off all their general worries and concerns, my goal has been to evoke this feeling of stress building up out of very minor things and causing eventual exhaustion where one just needs to be alone and reset. The scenes where the player needs to lead the circle around the inside of the arrow and not go over the edge are intended to represent the inner mind of the protagonist. When the tasks go wrong by the circle going over the edge, the mind begins to glitch and worries start to take over. I’ve used this kind of steady hand game mechanism to represent the completion of tasks because I wanted it to feel like the player has to walk on egg shells, so as to not cause upset and disruption to the protagonist whose daily life we follow. However, it is difficult to successfully guide the circle around the arrows and these steady hand tasks are extremely sensitive because I wanted to represent the sensitivity of the protagonist, prompting the player to be as gentle as possible with them. The only eventuality of the game is that the day the protagonist has becomes increasingly stressful and chaotic, however they are able to see it through and are able to make it back home where it is safe and they can begin to calm down.

I was also inspired to make a game like this because I get a lot of personal enjoyment out of playing games which represent daily life and find a lot of comfort in what would generally be considered mundanities. For example, I love the way Unpacking uses the metaphor of moving house and completing the ordinary chore of unpacking boxes to tell a story about the life of the protagonist. I think this use of the every day to represent bigger things is a really interesting way to work and also shows a very real and beautiful part of being human where the mundane necessities that we do build up to create significant moments and feelings in life. This is an area I’d like to explore further moving forward!

 

Development and playtest feedback

I decided to layer sound to evoke the feeling of being overwhelmed following playtesting where I was given the helpful comment that I should create an audio atmosphere as well as visual so that the progressive sense of chaos is a greater sensory experience for the player. I liked this idea a lot and so as the game becomes gradually more glitchy and the protagonist becomes more tired and stressed out by the day, each sound that the player has heard through their game progress up to that point is repeated. I also feel that building up audio layers acts to remind the player of previous scenes where they were overwhelmed and so each little thing that piles up amounts to something much bigger and more exhausting – almost as if they are being haunted by the entire day. The purpose of the progressively increasing volume is also to represent this stress which piles to a point that is uncomfortable for both the protagonist and the player.

I had another playtest note which was to create an alternative path for the player to follow if they successfully guide the circle around the arrows and do not create disruption in the day of the protagonist, meaning this path would present a day where they do not struggle and feel happy. I also like this idea but for now, the purpose of this game was to show that even if the protagonist has a bad and overwhelming day in which they feel particularly sensitive to the world, they are still able to make it through with the promise of a safe warm home waiting for them at the end. This home is something that the protagonist is very grateful for and that helps them to regain clarity, as well as providing an opportunity for them to reflect on how lucky they really are.

 Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy my game!