Here is the link to my final game.

Making this game has been an enlightening and deeply cathartic experience. I initially wanted to create it because the events depicted recently happened to me and since I never felt I received proper closure, developing these scenarios served as a much-needed emotional release. I also wanted to use this project to remind myself to be grateful and appreciative of the experience and the many lessons it taught me.

This game follows the journey of a 17-year-old high school senior who has just been diagnosed with cancer. Most of these experiences are my own; I deliberately selected scenarios that stood out to me over my three years of treatment. For instance, the dilemma of whether to befriend other cancer patients was a very real situation for me and one that many patients face. Another scenario pulled directly from my life was the problem of going out with friends while having low immunity. Because most of my treatment occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, my immunity was at an even greater risk, preventing me from seeing anyone for the first few months of taking medication. I wanted to include this because it humanizes the player, showing that while this time is scary for everyone, a 17-year-old’s biggest problem can sometimes simply be the inability to hang out with friends.

While I did not directly experience every single scenario, I went through something similar in one form or another, allowing me to provide my own insight. I also incorporated real-life experiences from other cancer patients I know. For example, the scenario where a patient attempts an alternative medication after finding chemotherapy too strenuous—and it ultimately fails—was inspired by my own aunt’s diagnosis. Finally, I researched several medical topics to ensure the game’s accuracy, including reading articles on cancer statistics and the dangers of stopping chemotherapy.

After completing my first draft, I received very helpful feedback from my classmates and the professor. I truly enjoyed watching my colleagues play my game, as it led them to reflect on their experiences with cancer or opened their eyes to the confusion and mixed emotions a cancer diagnosis can induce. They mentioned the game was highly informative, which is all I could hope to accomplish.

My professor suggested adding more options to some scenarios, but I only added one more option to a single scenario. I purposefully designed the game with the fewest choices possible because, in my own experience, it often felt like I didn’t have many options. I hoped to provoke that same feeling of constrained agency in the players. Another suggestion was to provide more of a build-up to the scenario where the patient tries alternative medicine and immediately passes away. I struggled with this change, as the scenario reflects a real outcome for someone I know and many other patients. Ultimately, however, I agreed that adding a slight build-up makes more sense for the narrative, even though the most important aspect I wanted to display was how quickly things can deteriorate with this disease. Additionally, I added a brief introduction to the final draft because I felt the beginning was too abrupt for a new player.

During a class discussion, we created a rubric identifying important game elements. One of the most talked-about points was that the game needed to be gender-neutral or offer a choice of gender. For this reason, I made my game gender-neutral, and I hope there are no parts that obviously reveal a female character. Another crucial point was to avoid excessive reading. So, I tried to condense all information onto one slide per scenario while still maintaining the deep meaning I wanted to convey.

If I had more time, I would have put more effort into the visual aspects of the game, as it currently feels a bit bland. I initially justified the simplicity by reasoning that this topic doesn’t inherently require many images or colors, but I’m certain it could have been done in a more tasteful way. I also didn’t want the aesthetic to be a large part of why I’m proud of the game, as I believe it has a much deeper meaning, and I also wanted to consider players who are visually impaired. I debated making the scenarios less heavy to avoid depressing the players but ultimately decided against it. One of the main purposes of the game is to show the truth without sugarcoating it. Additionally, if I had extra time, I would let more people play the game to ensure it feels realistic and isn’t too specific to my personal experience.

Although this game was based on my life, I learned a lot from the process of making it. I think one of the most important lessons was to give myself grace. I realize now that I was often too hard on myself during the three years of my treatment. When writing the feedback for each choice, I found that during these events, I tended to select the hardest option or the one with the most negative implications, perhaps because I felt the need to please everyone or do everything “right.” I also learned that I had many more choices in a lot of the real-life scenarios than I initially perceived, and I sometimes chose to focus on the negatives when there were many positives. Finally, I learned that while games discussing heavy topics are often not the ones people “enjoy” playing, they can be the ones from which players learn the most.