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Little-known or underestimated computer games with strong psychological overtones

1. The Town of Light (2016)

  • About: a study of an abandoned psychiatric hospital in Italy in the 1930s. The player follows in the footsteps of Renee's patient, collecting fragments of her story.
  • Psychology: trauma, the stigma of mental illness, memory as a maze.
  • Mechanics: slow research, audio diaries, "unreliable narrator".
Little-known or underestimated computer games with strong psychological overtones

2. Eliza (2019)

  • About: you are a "patient" of the virtual psychotherapist Eliza. Dialogues are based on your answers, and the algorithm interweaves them into a "therapy".
  • Psychology: the illusion of empathy, the limits of AI in psychotherapy, introspection through dialogue.
  • Mechanics: text interface, branching dialogues, "mirror" effect.
Little-known or underestimated computer games with strong psychological overtones

3. Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! (2021, extended version)

  • What it's about: A seemingly cute dating simulator abruptly breaks down into a study of depression, suicide, and the destruction of reality.
  • Psychology: manipulation of player expectations, trauma through narrative, meta-game.
  • Mechanics: hacking the game, hidden files, breaking the fourth wall.
Little-known or underestimated computer games with strong psychological overtones

4. Neverending Nightmares (2014)

  • About: the nightmare of a person with OCD and depression. Each level is a visualization of anxiety.
  • Psychology: the image of mental disorder as a maze, the cycle of suffering.
  • Mechanics: black and white palette, sudden spikes of fear, lack of a "correct" ending.
Little-known or underestimated computer games with strong psychological overtones

5. What Remains of Edith Finch (2017, less well‑known in the ru community)

  • About: A journey through the Finch family home, where every resident died a strange death. You're reliving their last moments.
  • Psychology: grief, the inheritance of trauma, acceptance of the inevitable.
  • Mechanics: changing perspectives, mini‑stories with unique mechanics.
Little-known or underestimated computer games with strong psychological overtones

6. Gris (2018)

  • About: a platformer about a girl experiencing loss. The world is a projection of her emotions: from gray despair to colored acceptance.
  • Psychology: stages of grief, sublimation of pain into art.
  • Mechanics: visual metaphor (color = hope), lack of dialogue.
Little-known or underestimated computer games with strong psychological overtones

7. Night in the Woods (2017)

  • What's about: anthropomorphic cat Mae returns to her hometown and faces depression, loneliness, and strange events.
  • Psychology: the crisis of growing up, social isolation, the search for meaning.
  • Mechanics: dialogues, exploring the city, mini‑games as a distraction.
Little-known or underestimated computer games with strong psychological overtones

8. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (2017)

  • About: the Celtic warrior Senua with psychosis is looking for the soul of her lover in the world of the dead.
  • Psychology: auditory hallucinations as gameplay, struggle with internal chaos.
  • Mechanics: binaural sound, voices in the head, "the price of death" (risk of loss of savings).
Little-known or underestimated computer games with strong psychological overtones

9. Lake (2021)

  • What's this about: You're replacing a postman for a week in a quiet 1980s town. No threats, just routine and conversations.
  • Psychology: the value of the mundane, fear of change, quiet reflection.
  • Mechanics: leisurely driving on the roads, dialogues with residents, choosing answers.
Little-known or underestimated computer games with strong psychological overtones

10. Kentucky Route Zero (2020)

  • About: A surreal journey along an underground road in the USA. The heroes are looking for a lost warehouse, but they find themselves.
  • Psychology: lost dreams, capitalism as a maze, nostalgia for the non-existent.
  • Mechanics: theatrical presentation, text choices, music as an emotion.
Little-known or underestimated computer games with strong psychological overtones

Which game are you sure you will play/watch the walkthrough?0

Tags: Video gamesPsychology
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Eterias

[TERR]JokerC

A boundary that is better not to cross

Hello guys, in short, yesterday I was flipping through Instagram and came across a picture from my old birthday, I immediately remembered the whole story. It's been two years, probably, but I still remember and think what an idiot I could have been. I'll tell you how it was.

I turned 18, I decided to throw a party at home, nothing special, just my own ten people, a drunkard. Sanya showed up without a girlfriend, he and his ex broke up about six months ago. We're sitting a week before planning who to call, I say we'll have only men , it's some kind of bullshit. Sanya thinks and says, "Let's call her, she's okay , we broke up properly." Well, I guess it's okay if he doesn't mind.

X-day arrives, the former Sleigh shows up, let's call her Air, she's so beautiful and in a good mood. At first , everything was fine, music, games, booze, we talk normally. But by nightfall, the people were already pretty drunk and the air was full of shit. She started flirting with everyone, and then she stuck to me. She sits next to me all the time, touches my hand, laughs at everything I say, even if it's not funny at all.

Then she started carrying game altogether. Like, do you remember when we all went to the river, I looked at you then and thought you were cool. She said that even Sana said then that she liked me, but like they were together. She started remembering different moments when the three of us were hanging out, the booze completely loosened her tongue.

At one point, she actually put her head on my shoulder and whispered: "I've always wanted you , you know." I shuddered as she was sitting next to me, beautiful and drunk and available. People started to disperse, Sanya went out somewhere, we were sitting on the couch almost alone. She moved closer to me, and I could feel her breathing. I was really starting to get attracted to her, alcohol and passion were doing their thing. I already thought maybe he wouldn't find out, one night like that.

I was already starting to reply to her, like, yes, I always thought you were cool, too, when I heard Sanya's voice from the kitchen, he was asking one of the guests where the rest of the beer was. Then he came into the room to get the phone, saw us on the couch, and asked if everything was okay. I quickly said that it was okay, just sitting and talking. He nodded, picked up his phone, and went back to the kitchen. The air giggled and started to climb up to me again, but somehow my mood had already disappeared. I imagined how Sanya would find out, how he would look at me, how all our common kents would react. Anyway, I sobered up a bit right away.

I got up and said I'd call her a taxi right now, I had to go home. It was getting late. She started whining about why let's sit still, but I was already determined that nothing would happen. He took her outside, put her in a wheelbarrow, and returned. Sanya was sitting with a beer, asking where the Air had gone. I told her she had too much and sent her home. He nodded and said, well done, you did the right thing. She always didn't know how to drink.

That's where the fun started. A couple of days later, she texted me, like, sorry, I was drunk, I don't remember what I was talking about. And then she added that she actually remembers, and if I want, we can meet. I ignored her, but she wrote periodically for another two months. One day, Sanya saw her message on my phone by accident, and asked her what she was writing. I lied that he was just congratulating me on something. He believed me, but I noticed that he was somehow tense.

Then I found out from mutual acquaintances that she had told her friends about that evening, like that there was something between us . The rumors started, but it didn't seem to reach Sledge, but I was constantly on edge. We still talked, but I noticed that he began to treat me differently, like he didn't trust me as much. Maybe paranoia can really hear something xs.

And then, three months later, Sanya finally heard about these rumors from someone they knew. He got really angry, texted me like we need to talk. We met, and he immediately asked if there was something wrong with the Air. I honestly told her how it was, that she was drunk and came at me, that yes, I was tempted, I'm not a saint, but I sent her home and there was nothing. I even showed him her messages where she herself wrote that nothing had happened.

Sanya was silent for a long time, then he said that he believes me, but that I should have told him about that evening right away instead of hiding it. It's like that's what made everything go downhill, from these omissions. He was right, of course. We kind of made up, but the relationship is not what it used to be, it is some kind of crack. Maybe the xs will overgrow over time.

In short, I kind of did the right thing then, but still some kind of murky story came out. Maybe I shouldn't have called her at all, maybe I should have told Sana everything right away the next day, in short. Think for yourself.

What emotions did you experience when reading it?0

Tags: PsychologyPhilosophyWomanfriendship
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Hexcore

[MENT]Meller

Third person syndrome

Greetings to the readers! Based on the ratings of Twitter users, I started reading the manga "Alice in the Borderlands", which turned out to be a very good decision, the storyline is very interesting, almost all the characters are revealed. I haven't finished yet, of course, but I hope finishing doesn't let me down either. There was a moment in one of the fillers (of course, not just because it was necessary, but to explain the situation) in which the so-called third person syndrome was mentioned. 

It refers to cases when a person in a critical situation clearly feels the presence of a certain entity nearby. There are many reports from all over the world that these creatures are helping people by giving them hope. It's like he's a guardian angel or a divine protector. This phenomenon is usually defined as a miracle. Meanwhile, from the point of view of neuroscientists studying the human brain, the monotonous landscape, feelings of loneliness and isolation, lack of oxygen and other factors cause various physical reactions, including hallucinations. 

As they say, I went online with this question to find out something else about this syndrome. For the first time, climbers who found themselves in unbearable conditions started talking about this phenomenon. They had the feeling of a certain companion who accompanied them and with whom they even shared food. The following is a description of this experience by one of the expedition members.

"During my first Himalayan expedition, my partner and I were descending from the peak when we got into a snowstorm. Lightning flashed, snow tried to blind our eyes, and only with superhuman efforts did we manage to break through the blizzard to our camp. But as soon as we entered the camp, we said the same phrase at the same time.: "I felt like there were three of us there."

Third person syndrome

A team of specialists from the European research center Eurac Research, studying this phenomenon, will later make a statement that in addition to the usual symptoms of altitude sickness, mental disorders are also manifested. They called it isolated altitude psychosis. 

Third person syndrome

However, cases of a third person appearing online began to appear when a person is not on an expedition to the mountains. These are often stories of people caught between life and death.

The author of the article, which I relied on when writing this post, talks about his experience in this matter. Being in a serious condition in the hospital, she was very scared and afraid, at some point she began to feel that someone was sitting next to her and trying to calm her down.

Third person syndrome

* * *

Thanks for reading, the format of the post is unusual for me, it was quite interesting to see the possible causes of this phenomenon. But remember that the following statement is true for all cases...

THERE IS 
NO PROOF

Tags: MangaPsychologyPerson
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Eterias

JokerC

Why do we like tsundere?

Good day to all the girls who looked in, and therefore not indifferent to tsundera (well, boys too, why bother with trifles here). Previously, it was extremely unclear to me where so much love for such characters came from, most often they caused me either dislike or indifference. But over the years spent watching anime, you get used to this kind of thing and many moments become more understandable.

Well, let's discuss it.

Why do we like tsundere?

To begin with, let's refresh our memory of who tsundere are in general and what they are eaten with.

Tsundere — from yap. tsun-tsun "angry, sharp" and yap. dere-dere "loving, caring" — characters of this type initially behave narcissistically and selfishly, treat others either coldly and arrogantly, or behave aggressively and bullying, but throughout the plot reveal a bright, good the side of character, in most cases — under the influence of the object of love. They initially shy away from this very object and make it clear in every possible way their aversion to it, but sooner or later the disguise collapses. This is the classic definition of a tsundere.  

Why do we like tsundere?

Well, then, of course, you will ask: So what's attractive about it? It's all about the "gain-loss" effect. Its essence lies in the fact that an increase in the level of positive, rewarding behavior on the part of another person has a greater impact on the individual than an unchanging, invariant "reward" coming from the same person. Therefore, if we consider sympathy as a reward, then the person whose sympathy for us will increase over time will please us more than the one who has always sympathized with us. This is true even if the amount of "rewards" was greater on the part of our "regular fan".

Why do we like tsundere?

Also, do not forget: in order for the effect of gains and losses to work, two important conditions must be in place. The first is that not every sequence of positive or negative statements leads to gain or loss – it must necessarily be logical, indicating a real change in attitude. The second condition is that the change of attitude should be gradual. The reason is clear: a sudden change in the views of another person will cause confusion and suspicion, especially if such a change does not have serious factual grounds.

Why do we like tsundere?

Therefore, how slowly and gradually the character's attitude changes so fascinates the viewer. We understand that kindness and care can hide behind rudeness and coldness. It's like they're trapping us in their trap, and we don't mind getting caught in it. By the way, some people also like the fact that the characters show their "dere" side only to the object of adoration, for the rest they remain more restrained and detached.

Tags: AnimePsychologyTsundereTyan
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