The Design of Mend

Mend was developed during a 48-hour game jam that promoting mental health with the theme of "Healing is not linear".

To fit both the mental health and the "Healing is not linear" themes, we decided that Mend would have to:

• Be a good game to play in short sessions

• Be fit to play in a moment of crisis

• Tell its theme through its mechanics

"Take a break"

Mend had to provide a good play session in the span of a coffee break. This was the easiest goal to achieve considering Mend was a puzzle game from the start. All we had to do was to keep that in mind and shut down the idea of a set progression of hand-crafted levels.

"Relax"

Mend couldn't be a game that made you frustrated or upset if you played poorly. Especially if you played poorly because you were already frustrated or upset. So the game had three requirements in place to ensure the game would be playable by anyone, regardless their skill or their state of mind:

1. Players had to be able to just pick up and play
2. No matter how many mistakes, players would never lose
3. It had to feel good to play, even when making mistakes

"Put yourself together"

We wanted Mend's rules to mirror the process of healing after your world breaks down.

You're trying to fix something, but even when you know where you want all the pieces to be, you can't just drag them there. You don't have absolute control over things. All you can do is decide the direction where things are headed.

And that direction isn't always a straight path into the piece's final position. Sometimes, you have to move away from the other pieces to be able to solve the big picture.

But that's ok, because there is no limit on the number of moves. No way to run out of tries or options. No way to lose. You just have to keep trying and you'll eventually figure it out.

So if you make a wrong move - maybe a piece didn't go where you expected - you can always fix it.

And because there is no score, no is watching or judging how long it takes for you to put the pieces together. All that matters is that you will eventually do it.

And there is literally no right way to do it. No right order or arrangement.

Any way you put the pieces together will work just fine.