Highlights
- Vampire Therapist combines the old and new by exploring mental health through the lens of centuries-old vampires.
- The game incorporates various cognitive distortions, such as phobias and narcissism, in its vampire characters.
- The developer, Cyrus Nemati, collaborated with licensed therapists to ensure accurate therapy techniques were presented in the game, and the psychologist community eagerly embraced the project.
Mental health is a relatively new field of study, explains Cyrus Nemati, founder of Little Bat Games and developer of upcoming title Vampire Therapist. "We've only been talking about mental health for the past around 170 years." Vampires, on the other hand, are eternal. There are stories of vampires originating from many different cultures, stretching back centuries and centuries. It is for this reason, the juxtaposition of old and new, that Nemati decided to combine the two to create Vampire Therapist, a game he recently discussed in an interview with Game ZXC.
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Vampires & Their Cognitive Distortions
During the conversation with Game ZXC, Nemati, who voiced a number of roles in Hades before branching out into game development, discussed many of the cognitive distortions he'd studied while working on Vampire Therapist. There are phobias, altered world views such as narcissism, logical fallacies, unhealthy obsessions, and many, many more. These distortions are reflected in the game's vampires, who have had several hundred years - or even more - for their negative thoughts and behaviors to become entrenched. Nemati listed off therapist Sam's clients thusly:
I have an agoraphobic vampire who has learned that staying home is the safest thing to do. I have a narcissistic vampire who changed the field of acting in the late 18th century. I have somebody that was learning to be a doctor in the early 17th century. And he thinks that he should be able to come up with a synthetic blood, right?
And these are just a few of the vampires players will encounter. One has an unhealthy obsession with social media - not helped by the rise of "selfies", letting them see their reflection once more. Others, drawing inspiration from the hit show What We Do In The Shadows, struggle with romantic entanglements with their fellow undead. Sam, the protagonist, may be stepping into the therapist's role, but he has plenty of issues of his own, struggling with grief, guilt, and the loss of his beloved horse. Even Andromachos, Sam's Ancient Greek mentor, has his past life full of hedonism to contend with. Not a single one of Vampire Therapist's vampires is without a problem to solve.
Therapists Flocked To The Project
To ensure that the therapy techniques presented in the game are as accurate as possible, Nemati worked with several licensed therapists and psychologists. He described it as "an iterative process," in which feedback he received from them would frequently lead to major changes and rewrites in the game's script. Nemati also credited the influence of his therapist contacts with encouraging him to include more types and variations beyond the "standard" cognitive behavioral therapy.
The developer was surprised how quickly and eagerly the psychologist community embraced Vampire Therapist, especially on sites like Reddit. One of the next steps for Nemati is "a therapist focus group," in which a group of therapists will "take a look and offer feedback." He is excited to implement their suggestions, although he hopes he won't need to make any majorly drastic changes. "I've got to wrap up on this script!" he exclaimed with a laugh.
Ultimately, Nemati feels that Vampire Therapist has been a successful exploration of how vampires can be used to take a look at mental health. He has taken the unique struggles vampires face - the endless pressure to succeed given the length of their lives, their thirst for blood, the constant dangers they face from the sun, garlic, holy water, and more - and examined them through the lens of solid, well-researched real therapy techniques. "The general theme of the game is compassion," said Nemati when asked to summarize therapist Sam's goal for his clients. "Self compassion, compassion for others, and how to get there." Everybody needs a little bit of compassion in their lives - and vampires are no exception.
Vampire Therapist is currently planned to release in June 2024 for PC.
