Russell Quinn, a British designer, decided to make a video game titled Linda & Joan and dedicate it to his late mother and grandmother. Quinn lost both of his loved ones, who were the only remaining members of his immediate family, in the winter of 2017.
The programmer and designer is a British native who now resides in Los Angeles, California. The game takes you on a scenic, virtual journey of his family, letting you switch between the characters within a series of traumatic events leading to the ultimate ending.
"In a similar way to film and literature, it's primarily a story rather than a targeted therapeutic tool," he told BBC.
The response from the community to the indie game has been ecstatic. Quinn told the publishing media that one player, whose mother had just been diagnosed with similar cancer, found the dialogue relatable. Other high-profile publications, like the New York Times, hails the game for its bravely candid angle.
Personal Story That Inspired Linda & Joan
With Linda & Joan, Quinn seeks to bring a narrative-driven video game in a slow, thoughtful, and meaningful way.
After all, people cope with grief after losing their loved ones differently. Quinn's mother had a long-time battle against stage-four breast cancer for years, and things went south after chemotherapy wasn't exactly working. In December, she passed away, aged 63, and he soon moved back to the US.
"It's a personal story, yes, but it's also a universal story of themes all of us have or will experience in some way," he writes.
His grandma, aged 89, passed away during surgery a few days later after falling in her own house. Quinn spent the next few months after their deaths seeking therapy and rebuilding his life. He almost spent a year not working.
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Release Date and Supported Systems
Linda & Joan is coming in 2022, as the blog reveals. A prototype of four months before the event, Linda & Joan: Four Months Earlier, has been released sometime this year, and it's available to play. The indie developer, False Vacuum, claims to have amassed over 18,000 users to play the game.
As someone who has been working in digital narrative experience for years, the idea of turning Quinn's own story into an interactive and narrative-driven game is not a strange thing for him.
Linda & Joan: Four Months Earlier is available on Apple App Store, Steam, itch.io, and Mac App Store. The full game is coming to PC through trusted online retailers and Quinn's official website for free.
