Fractured Minds
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the Game
Fractured Minds is an immersive artistic short game, exploring anxiety and mental health issues.
Winner of the BAFTA Young Game Designers Award, Fractured Minds is a game created by Emily Mitchell, then 17-years-old, with the hope of aiding understanding and awareness of mental illness.
Embark on a journey through the human psyche and experience six atmospheric and thought-provoking chapters, each symbolising a different aspect or challenge associated with mental health issues; from isolation to anxiety, with everyday situations being distorted beyond recognition.
Raw, emotive and earnest, Fractured Minds demonstrates that video games are capable of communicating vital messages in imaginative ways. It is a game that seeks to encourage empathy and champion support for the millions living with mental health issues.
Wired Productions is proud to support Safe In Our World, a gaming industry charity striving for mental health awareness. 80% of the proceeds will help fund Emily’s career as well as future initiatives from Safe In Our World.
- Take a personal and honest journey through the human psyche.
- Interact with your environment to overcome challenges and puzzles across 6 levels, each inspired by real life obstacles.
- Explore the emotions surround emptiness, anxiety, depression and paranoia.
- Enjoy a rich and immersive soundtrack including “Silence” provided kindly by Kai Engel.
- A thought-provoking experience about what it means to live with mental health.
“Fractured Minds is an immersive puzzle game that uncovers the daily struggles of people living with anxiety and mental health issues. It is designed to give the player a genuine insight into the experiences of those quietly living with mental illness – the feelings of isolation, of being trapped, of everyday situations being distorted beyond recognition.
My own anxiety has been very debilitating and I wanted to create a game that shares my experiences and provokes real discussion about this topic that is often misunderstood and rarely spoken about. It recently won the Young Game Designers BAFTA award (15 – 18 category) and now I’d love for you to play.
I realise the game is provocative and at times uncomfortable – but I felt that it was so important to be honest and true-to-life – confronting mental illness is extremely challenging and uncomfortable.
Thank you to everyone who has supported Fractured Minds. Your energy has helped to elevate support and awareness for mental health.”
— Emily Mitchell
Game Discussion
Steam User 7
I like the game, but the achievements are broken. I missed one, went back to play chapter 4 to finish it and then it reset all achievements, didn't think that was possible.
Steam User 4
I really appreciate the amount of context on the store page for this game. Explaining the background of the developer, the award she won, and the message she is trying to convey helps frame this experience.
The game itself is exactly what it says it is. A short, interactive artistic experience. There isn't much here as far as actual gameplay goes.
I wish the developer great success moving forward.
6/10.
Steam User 3
An intriguing and heartfelt look into mental illness and relationship breakdown through the eyes of a child. Although the game is short, its emotional impact and thoughtful design make the small price of admission well worth it. A powerful experience from an award-winning title.
Steam User 3
A very interesting little first person narrative game about mental health struggles. Not overly long either, and priced accordingly.
Small technical jank: controls felt just a tiny little bit off (and in Xbox version you couldn't invert Y axis in-game). Also in Steam version achivements can get revoked apparently. (I don't know why that is even a thing.)
But it's a small, solo dev game, so I won't expect the game to be perfect. It's great for what it is!
Steam User 2
I remember playing this game for the first time on my xbox, had no idea it was on steam so i decided to playthru it again. Its a really short game that does a great job in visualizing different mental health issues. I'd recommend it to anyone whos struggling with mental health or just anyone whos curious about mental health. But for the price, theres not alot of games out there that can send the same message that Fractured Minds can. Ill eventually playthru it again, only complaint I have that it wasnt longer.
Steam User 2
I'm only going to give this game a positive because A.) I only got the game in order to get the achievements and B.) because 80% of the proceeds are going directly to Emily and charity otherwise I would give it a negative.
'Fractured Minds' to say the least isn't "thought provoking," it isn't "immersive," and it most certainly isn't "uncomfortable." It is a less than 15 minute walking simulator that doesn't really do anything to shine a light on anxiety or mental illness, there are a couple of parts like Chapter 4 being surrounded by people all around you not paying attention that can point this out, but the moments are very far and few.
You will click on things around your environments to find keys and open up doors, you don't do too much other than looking for keys or at the very least unlocking padlocks or doors. There is a small platforming segment, but it's like 30 seconds to say the least.
I don't really recommend the game, like it's not bad, it's not good, it's just a thing that's here if I'm honest. If it was a free thing I probably would recommend it for that as that's what 'Fractured Minds' ultimately feels like, but it's not. Like I said previously I'm only recommending it based on the charity aspect and maybe even the potential of Emily starting game developing back up. But at the end of the day I bought the game years ago on my Xbox One for the achievements and the thought has been the same here years after just only on a different platform, you might like the game that is presented here, but you might be in the small minority like me that just feels like it's another thing.
Steam User 2
Very short but really good game / experience. Level 4 part 2 (Or was it 5?), with the water and the platforms and jumping to the door was a bit difficult.. The way the running jump keeps your momentum and doesn't slow you down as you move forward through the air, a dampening effect, would have been helpful. The movement on the ground was a bit weirder than I am use to as well, it had a sort of ice skating effect where your character continues to slide a little after you let go of the keys. Everything in the game worked though! I was able to complete the game and that makes me happy.