Thought Spiral

My Bitsy game, “Thought Spiral,” doesn’t have much of a defined story. Instead, it’s supposed to be a symbolic representation of dealing with intrusive, negative thoughts. The playable avatar is essentially travelling through their own mind, and encountering obstacles that cause them to panic and doubt themselves. The eye sprites represent the protagonist’s conscience, frantically trying to get them to stop the thoughts. I used various shaking and wavy text effects for the dialogue of these eye sprites to emphasize their desperation, and how sometimes trying to stop intrusive thoughts can get you to dwell on them even more.

The first and second rooms of the game focus on thoughts created by anxiety and then depression, respectively. The last room of the game features multiple small spiral items that can be picked up, each repeating the same line of dialogue, telling the protagonist to take a deep breath, and that the thoughts will stop. I wanted this to be a more soothing sort of mantra the protagonist uses, rather than the desperate begging that comes from the eyes.