PAPER CAGES: Face Your Fears in Search of a Better Life in this Adventure Game

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Mental health, depression, anxiety, self-loathing, dysphoria, eating disorders

Paper Cages is a short point-and-click and adventure game with typing elements produced by Placeholder Gameworks and published on November 2, 2019, and updated on April 28, 2020, on the indie gaming platform "itch.io ". The game was produced for the 2019 Halloween Game Jam with the horror theme, but with the subthemes "Archenemy, Profession and Personnel". You control a person on the verge of mental breakdown, with all the characteristics of a person with depression. Every effort, from waking up to getting dressed, is a burden, and you go on living. Also, you need to face your fears and keep living, looking for happiness.

The game has a pixelated look, similar to many adventures from the 90s, but in its own way. When fears appear in the form of a monster, the gameplay changes to something similar to games like Typing of the Dead, where you must type the words to proceed. The difference here is that you need to type in the right words to overcome your fears.

Perhaps the only negative points to note are the not very exciting soundtrack and the length of the game: it is extremely short and can be completed in a few minutes. But since it was made for a Game Jam, it's understandable, although it has the potential for so much more. Check out the Paper Cages gameplay on this link here and enjoy downloading the game from the page below:

https://placeholdergameworks.itch.io/paper-cages