Exploring Grief Through Realms: The Storyline of Lament

In Lament, players are invited into a world shaped by the emotional turbulence of grief – a journey that unfolds in a roguelite game. Far beyond the familiar confines of dark caves and abandoned ruins, this game delves into the heart of human experience, transforming the five stages of grief into tangible, living worlds that must be traversed to find peace.
I’ve written a draft walk through the game’s non-linear narrative and the symbolic storyline that sets each section apart.

One of the biggest things I have had to consider is why are they in this place? What is the player’s loss? I settled on two potential options – either the protagonist has died and is stuck in a purgatory-like state because they have not accepted their own death, or the protagonist has experienced a detrimental loss causing them to lose themselves and enter this new world.

created a Twine prototype of the game, which loses its more hack-and-slash elements but certainly forces the player to think and reflect on the respective emotions. This prototype is purely text-based. I experimented with allowing the player decide their story during the initial dialogue sequences when the tree describes the current situation. This choice doesn’t impact the gameplay as such and is simply done to better explain the game world or help with player immersion. I wanted to use dialogue as a drive for the narrative to represent the importance of talking through grief and confronting those emotions head on, which was why Twine was such a good choice.

Below is the prologue sequence/narrative introduction in the Twine version of Lament:

As much as it was a good idea to explore the player choosing their own story, I wanted there to be a concrete narrative for the game and to solidify the meaning behind – therefore the reason that the player character has entered this is world is because of their inability to confront the trauma of loss, and so trapping them in a world/cycle of grief.

In the end I decided on the protagonist not being able to face their grief over the loss of a loved, this choice was made as it’s a personal experience I struggled with for a long time and something I could really relate to, loss is such a profound and universal experience that I felt the majority of people could also relate to in some way. I experimented with different storylines in my twine prototype too but I believe it made sense to stick with one thing in order to have a stable story progression.

A Story of Healing and Reflection

Lament is designed to take players through a profound, introspective experience. As the protagonist moves through each realm, they not only battle external manifestations of their grief but also encounter moments of insight, allowing them to reflect on the memories and love that connect them to what they’ve lost. The journey is a slow, emotional process, encouraging players to think deeply about their own experiences with loss and healing.

A Game World Built on Empathy and Resilience

Ultimately, Lament is more than a game; it’s a story about resilience and the process of letting go. Through visually rich environments, challenging gameplay, and a storyline that explores one of humanity’s most inescapable experiences, I hope to design a game that offers players a meaningful journey that echoes beyond the screen. It’s an invitation to explore, to reflect, and perhaps, to heal.