It’s not uncommon for video games to gamify menial tasks – cooking dinner, putting clothes away, watering plants. What is less common, and something that I experienced during my Fractured Blooms preview at PAX East, is a game that encapsulates the stress, anxiety, and everyday difficulties that accompany those struggling with mental health.
That’s what makes Fractured Blooms such an interesting experience, one that I came away from with a litany of emotions that I wasn’t prepared to feel under the harsh lights of the convention center in Boston.
During my time at the Serenity Forge booth, I was able to play about 30 minutes of Fractured Blooms and speak with studio Founder and Executive Director Zhenghua Yang (who goes by Z) and Fractured Blooms Art Director Handley Shelton.
From the themes of this game to its gorgeous scenery and impressive sound design, Fractured Blooms has absolutely left an impression on me. Let’s get into it.
Fractured Blooms Preview: Personifying Stress & Anxiety
Fractured Blooms starts off simple enough, mirroring the farming life sims that are all too familiar: till some soil, find the seeds and watering can, plant your vegetables and then head inside for dinner.
A large, lonely house awaits you, making you starkly aware of your isolation as you explore the kitchen and pantry for ingredients to cook that evening’s meal for one. You only have an AI assistant on a tablet to talk to, though the sounds from the TV in the living room offer some company. It’s when you head upstairs, however, that Fractured Blooms really starts to pull out its surprises.
In my every day life, I know that something like getting my laundry started is a low-stakes experience that can take as much time as I need. In Fractured Blooms, though, an actual timer appears on screen as you’re scrambling to collect dirty clothes. I failed to get everything into the washer in under two minutes, and I had to keep walking around the second story of this house searching for dirty shirts and pants until the washer was full. Then, and only then, was I able to get to sleep.
I was surprised at how the presence of a timer for a basic task like this ramped up the anxiety level, and it didn’t help that audio queues intensified the closer the timer got to zero.
Executive Director Z talked to me about some of the inspiration when approaching this title.
“The game is inspired by a true story – a story of my family,” Z said. “When we started working on Fractured Blooms, we wanted to make sure that it is done well, that it’s able to speak to everyone in very specific ways, that we’re able to create better representation that the game industry isn’t really doing. We’re putting a lot of ourselves into it.”
Art Director Handley Shelton spoke about the efforts to showcase themes like anxiety and depression in a way that was respectful and accessible.
“This is a pretty narratively dense game, and it’s dealing with a lot of topics that are really close to people’s chests,” Shelton said. “This is a horror game, and we want to treat those topics with care. We want to create a well-balanced psychological horror experience with a lot of different elements that really feed into the narrative.”
That first in-game day was a nice taste of what the developers are going for, but Day 2 threw me for an even bigger loop.
Fractured Blooms Preview: A Cozy Farming Sim With Stressful Twists
My second day in-game played out similarly to the first, at least to start. There were a few key differences, like roots and wilting flowers taking over the home as your character’s stress level increases. These plants grow to block off familiar pathways, forcing you to rethink how tasks were accomplished from the night before.
I also nearly jumped out of my seat while trying to find ingredients for dinner when the television in the next room started blasting at full volume. I went to find the remote on the coffee table, where it had been the night before, but it was missing, forcing me to search the living room while listening to a show at ultra-volume. I nearly removed my headphones for a break, but thankfully, I found the remote on the floor and was able to mute the distraction.
Once dinner is complete and we’re back upstairs to repeat the task of putting clothes away. The timer returns, but now tendrils of seemingly supernatural plants are blocking hallways, once again making me miss that 2-minute goal.
“Taking care of your garden, taking care of your house,” Z said, “These are everyday stories of everyday people. This is really a game made for everyone. It’s made for people who perhaps struggle – perhaps without even knowing about it – going through day-to-day life in a way that might not be healthy for them.”
The Fractured Blooms preview set up several questions that I’m looking forward to having answered in the main game: where is our protagonist’s family? Why are her mental health struggles manifesting in this physical way? Where exactly is this story ultimately going to take us?
Fractured Blooms Preview: Final Thoughts
With how ubiquitous farming sims have become, it’s refreshing to see a take on this genre that aims to tell a more emotionally complex story than just tending to the family farm.
“We are really excited that this demo barely even scratches the surface of what the story is going to be,” Z said. “This is purely a quick taste of what’s to come that has a lot more nuance, goes a lot more in-depth, and maybe is a lot more relatable to a lot of people.”
When I finished my Fractured Blooms preview I felt stressed, nervous, a little sad, but eager to learn more about this world that captivated me for that past half hour. The team at Serenity Forge is working to tell a bold story through the personification of stress and anxiety, and with brilliant art design and a strong narrative, this experience is well worth checking out.
The Fractured Blooms release date isn’t set in stone yet, but there is a free Fractured Blooms demo available on Steam for players curious to check this game out for themselves.
Fractured Blooms was previewed on a PC at PAX East.
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