A Bit of Light is a game developed for the 2020 Games Aid Mental Health Jam in partnership with Safe In Our World.

Follow the life of the little protagonist as the weekend unfolds. Spend your time wisely and make every activity count.

As you make choices, you’ll see how your head fills with positive or negative thoughts, so make sure you also try to rest a bit so your head doesn’t clutter. There are four different endings in this short game, so you can replay to find them all!

A Bit of Light explores the idea of self-care within a short game format, through a visual novel. It can often be difficult to manage your own mental health and energy. Having a visual representation of how activities can drain energy from us (even if they’re things we enjoy), can be helpful. It can also provide insight for folks who do not experience mental ill health on just how easy it can be to become emotionally drained.

We also thought that the game was a great representation of spoon theory; which is often within chronic illness. To many people, the idea of brushing your teeth or nipping to the shop is not daunting. However, for many people (e.g. those with fatigue, chronic illness etc) every task can ‘cost’ energy. Spoon theory is quantifying that energy into spoons – we get a certain amount each day (it’s not always the same!) and activities takes the spoons away.

The game is available for free on Itch.io.