The Other Door - An Interactive Story

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  Screenshot of a piece of the code used

Name: Soffie Paul Email: [email protected]

Inspiration

For a very long time, I got comfortable with the idea of putting myself down while lifting others up. I always had a reason - for humility, guilt and shame, or simply to challenge myself to be more. Through counselling, however, I have learned that one of the greatest ways you can build your self-esteem up is by finding something about yourself that you love. I found this very hard, but I believe this game will make it easier for me and others. As college students, mental health issues are to be addressed for our best performance, but sometimes, we can't always do that with people. With your younger self, however, who has seen and heard what you have, it becomes much more tolerable and understandable.

What it does

The Other Door uses user input to navigate through a story - four different stories and choices for four different major mental health issues. It allows you to find a healthy space to talk about your day, and towards to end, talk nicely about yourself in an indirect manner. Not only does this help you understand others better, but it helps you find your own motives for your actions as well. Victory is secured only when the younger you chooses "The Other Door" - a place where positivity rings and mistakes are okay.

How we built it

I used Python to code the stories from scratch and wrote loops for different kinds of choices. I also used functions and my imports include dataclasses. Furthermore, I used Wix to show what the game could look like as a website and a product.

Challenges we ran into

I had trouble implementing the pronouns through such an intricate story. There may be areas where the pronouns are switched up because of this. The story-writing was also a great challenge, and I truly hope I delivered a good story throughout the four categories.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

When I was younger, my first big project was a 'Choose your own adventure' game. This is a tribute to the girl who had a roaring passion for coding - so the code itself is an accomplishment to me. I'm also proud that I was able to implement what I learned about mental health through my life and my stories into a project that I care for so deeply.

What we learned

I learned that sometimes, it's okay to step back and let go of ideas to invite new ones in. Though the greatest lesson I learned was that I need to be able to tell myself that my ideas are real, good and interesting. It's okay to make mistakes, as long as I'm growing.

What's next for The Other Door - An Interactive Story

I hope to, one day, refine the program and make it a full fledged game to help people from all over the world. I truly treasure 'Choose your own adventure' games and games that challenge your psychology, so I believe this program is worth investing time in.

Built With

• python
• wix