Theoria Concept Package

Theoria is a video game pitch package based on my personal experience with mental illness. Set within the bounds of a video game-where the success of the player is inevitable- this game aims to inspire those on their own mental health journey and reframe the overwhelming process of recovery as one where success is guaranteed. The name Theoria refers to both an Ancient Greek practice of pilgrimage, and the mystic practice in early Christianity of deep contemplation. Thus, the player guides the protagonist on a contemplative journey to overcome monstrous enemies that personify mental health diagnoses I have personally received.

Ari’s design is based on the first character I made as a child and came to represent how I viewed myself when interacting with other artists online. She has come to represent my childhood, and the innocent naïveté of the battle that was to come. Small, unassuming, and underprepared, Ari is the unlikely hero who, regardless of the odds, still is able to conquer the monsters that plague her world.

Yarn makes up the central motif of Theoria, and is inspired by an editorial image I saw years ago of a woman talking with her therapist. In her speech bubble was a knotted array of jumbled yarn that crossed to the speech bubble of her therapist, who was neatly winding them into their respective colors. That image mirrored my experience with therapy, where processing mental illness and unknotting experience and memory can be difficult and painful, yet nevertheless yields a mind that is orderly and strengthened. 

Ari sees yarn encroaching on her safe haven, and seeks out the monsters they emanate from. Upon defeat, the monsters burst into yarn, which is wound up and given to Ari, enabling her to gain a new ability or power up.

The ancient city is where gender dysphoria resides, and represents my struggle as a non-binary individual belonging to a religion so focused on binary gender. Inspired by gothic cathedrals, round domes, and other ancient structures, the abandoned city represents a hollow part of heaven.

The old woods are a deep part of the woods Ari calls home. Unknowing of their existence, Ari must return to a part of her world she didn’t know about, where everything seems frozen in time. Surrounded by eerie silence, Ari must track down a beast that has existed with her for a long time, that even she didn’t know about.

This piece represents uncovering and processing childhood trauma you didn’t know you had, and how it changes the way you view memories.

All music composed by Jeff Meacham, images and concept created by Alyssa “Merketto” Johnson