Grief Trigger Windows game

Grief Trigger

Indignation Studios | Released Apr 20, 2023

Take a stroll down memory lane as Azrael to remember the good times he and his father had by culling the nightmares imprisoning them. Guided by an old journal, search 6 levels to uncover grief triggers and eliminate Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) within them.

Asymmetric Turn-Based Combat:

The player and ANT share a health bar and fight for total supremacy over it.
Player Phase: Intercept the ANT by selecting the correct locations on the field to regain health.
Enemy Phase: Survive bullet hells by dodging incoming projectiles and solving puzzles to prevent the ANT from taking back health.
Achieve victory by claiming the entire health bar or outlasting all enemy phases.

Other Features:

Nonlinear Progression: Complete the grief triggers in any order you'd like.
Concise Experience: Playtime to completion ranges from 2.5 - 5 hours.
Comfy-Style Illustrations.
Fully Voiced Cutscenes.
Day/Night Cycles.

Post article RSS Articles

From Grieving to Gaming: Grief Trigger's Origins

Mar 2 2023 News

Grief Trigger is about overcoming the loss of a loved one. Not a theoretical loved one mind you, a real one. I was a few months away from graduating college for game design when my father died in a car crash. That unforeseen moment left me in limbo for 2 years.

“Time heals all wounds” or so I’ve been told. Yet after two years I couldn’t look at photos or participate in hobbies we had shared. Conventional wisdom wasn’t working for me, so I declared I would “put my grief in a grave with my own hands” which would become the basis of Grief Trigger’s tagline.

I spent a year traveling everywhere my father and I went in the past. I made myself remember and re-enact everything we did… to the extent the law would allow. I skipped the part where we trespassed in the name of Pokémon GO.

Each memory took several tries to fully confront, but I eventually re-enacted all of them. I undid all the distortion grief had caused. The past I feared to recall became a wellspring of strength to press on. I was happy for the first time in 3 years.

After I took a moment to reflect on it all, I thought that journey could make for an interesting game. I spent the next three years creating Grief Trigger and it’s launching on Steam April 21^st. There’s a free demo you can play in the meantime that contains an exclusive level. I’ll also be sharing more of how I incorporated my grief journey into the game’s aesthetics and mechanics here on Indie DB up until launch. Hope to see you again!