There’s a new card game that makes manic episodes a power play.
Four friends, including UNC graduate Jen Igartua, have created Side Effects: a game in which players are dealt a “psyche” full of mental health issues and charged with medicating themselves and therapy. Players can also go on the offensive and cause an “episode” in another player or summon negative side effects from another player’s medication.
Igartua, who is in charge of the team’s marketing and business strategy, said they thought it was a unique concept to make a game about mental health.
“We took a theme that’s actually a subject that’s difficult to talk about. It’s something that has a stigma to it. It’s something that people don’t really want to open up about, and, so, we thought it was an interesting concept to make a game about a subject that’s difficult to talk about," she said.
Writer Jade Shames, who came up with the idea for the game, has had his own struggles with depression and anxiety. Shames said the game is not making any specific statement.
“I think that what I’d just like to say is, it’s a really fun game," Shames said. "Yeah, it does kind of point out that there’s a problem. But I’m not really making a statement about what that solution is going to look like because these drugs really do save people’s lives, and it’s not that they’re evil inherently. It’s maybe just that we should look at this.”
Despite the heavy subject matter, the group has fun together.
“We were all friends before we talked about or even, probably, played any games together,” said Ben Bronstein, who illustrated the game.
Iguartua said that everyone in the group is living within a half a mile of each other.
