Biphase

Biphase is a 2D platform game built around exploration and puzzles. You guide a character with bipolar disorder through an abstract world of red and black mental images, searching for an exit. Its narrative draws on real cases around the player and presents the character’s experience of bipolar disorder.

Red and black worlds

The red and black worlds represent the manic and depressive poles of bipolar disorder. The level design uses these two emotional states as a metaphor: scene elements can fade into a background of the same color, reflecting how extreme emotions can make it difficult to see the whole picture. The character moves through a world divided between these two emotional poles.

Switch between phases

You move left and right, jump, press switches and change the background color by jumping. Switching between the red and black phases changes which scene elements you can interact with: elements matching the background are inactive, while those of the opposite color are interactive. You use these changes to explore a path through each level and reach its end.