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Of Moons and Mania

Of Moons and Mania is an interactive psychotic break, based on lived experience. It uses elements of its design to explain the struggles of psychosis, and tells a personal story about mental illness.

95%
of 39 reviews
Free
Released: Dec 16, 2022  •  Developer: Absurd Walls  •  Publisher: Absurd Walls

The Developer Says...

Of Moons and Mania is my account of experiencing a psychotic break, in game form. Inhabit my mind as I lose my grasp on reason. Attempt to piece together cogent responses to questions from doctors, friends, and family as psychosis takes over, and ultimately try to get back to stability.

Key Features
  • Inhabit the developer's mind and build your own responses to dialogue.
  • Experience an Autobiographical story detailing the experience of a psychotic break.
  • An hour of gameplay.

Developer Statement


I started making this game several years after being hospitalized for a manic episode. I was fixated on the experience for the whole time. Trying to piece together what was real and what was dreamt, trying to even remember the sequence of events in chronological order, and every so often when I thought I had shaken the grip of obsessing about the hospitalization, I would have flashbacks that opened up my freshly healed wounds.

As a game developer, I was fascinated by some of the systems of thought that were going on in my head, and that gave me the idea for this game. I designed game mechanics and systems to tell the story of my psychosis in a different way than I have seen it expressed before.

Making the game really helped me with my flashbacks and organized the way I thought about my illness, and the experience of my hospitalization. I hope that it gives other people some insight into my brain and also into the nature of psychosis and manic depression.

Back of the Box Details

Steam Deck

Unknown

DLC

None

DRM/EULA Notices

None

Achievements

None

Ratings

None

Demo

None

Metacritic

None

Content Notices

None

Controller Support

Xbox

Reviews

95%

Overwhelmingly Positive

Based on 39 reviews


Individual reviews are not available yet.