Piece Yourself Up

Piece Yourself Up is a game about managing a fragile robot body and a limited supply of energy while completing the day’s tasks. The robot represents dissociation, while its unreliable body and the need to keep it maintained reflect experiences associated with mental and physical health conditions. Everyday activities such as writing essays, checking emails and cooking become obstacles you must overcome to finish the day.

Fight with spoons

You have up to 12 spoons in your reserves. Large spoons act as swords: their attacks cover a wide area, can deflect projectiles and cost a fraction of a spoon. Little spoons are precise projectiles that each cost a full spoon but deal immense damage. Since every attack uses some of your limited supply, you need to plan when to spend it.

Keep your body together

The robot’s parts can fall off from attacks or simply with the passage of time. You use parts from fallen enemies to replace missing limbs and keep going.

Spoon theory

The game uses spoons as a representation of energy, drawing on Christine Miserandino’s Spoon Theory. In the theory, you start the day with 12 spoons, and each task costs one; deciding how to spend them illustrates the limits on energy and the demands of managing it, particularly for people with chronic mental and physical conditions. Piece Yourself Up was made in response to the inKUbator Game Jam 2024 theme “Everything Falls Apart,” and approaches that theme through the experiences of people with mental and physical health conditions.