Solace

Overview  

Solace is developed by One Man Down from the DigiPen Institute of Technology. Currently it is free to download and play off of the Solace official website. A second version is being created however to make a fuller gaming experience that may cost money. There goal in creating the game was to convey all the emotions one experiences during the five stages of grief in a bullet hell style shooter. The five stages of grief include denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, and they use different types of sound, music and visual styles to bring out these emotions. Solace has been picked as one of the games to be featured in the PAX 10 at the 2010 PAX convention.  

Gameplay  

The game plays very similarly to your typical bullet hell shooter, because enemies and their weapons fire are flying over the screen. The enemy and their  weapons will react in different ways depending on the stage of grief each, and this is to match the pace trying to be conveyed during each stage of grief. The music and visual styles will all change during each stage also. For example, in the anger stage the music and sound will be far more intense, and the visual style will be red. To progress through the levels you are required to pick up orbs that the enemy will drop. The game announces each stage of grief to the player as you progress.