Rise of the Diary Game
summary
Shows that diary games make concrete claims and use real tools: Depression Quest (released Feb 14, 2013 via Steam Greenlight) and Dys4ia use mechanics to induce helplessness or frustration, Twine/Inform7/RenPy/GameMaker lower barriers, Patreon funds labor, and a Ruin Jam yields 81 submissions. A personal Twine like Cis Gaze can hit ~3,000 plays. These projects both create community visibility and attract coordinated harassment, so outcomes — audience size, platform, mechanics, and the harassment or catharsis that follows — decide whether to watch.
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chapters (16)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:05Depression Quest backlash
- 3:59Defining diary games
- 5:04Why diary games matter
- 6:56Lowered barriers
- 7:40Ruin Jam impact
- 9:08Diary games by design
- 11:57Personal narrative games
- 13:07Content warnings matter
- 14:11Backlash against games
- 16:45Forced discomfort mechanics
- 18:51Gamers vs harassment
- 19:54Empowering marginalized voices
- 20:36Harassment risks
- 21:43Visibility and allyship
- 22:46Future of diary games
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