Writing for *Within The Dream* has been a journey into empathy. We're spending a lot of time ensuring that the depiction of abuse and depression is handled with the gravity it deserves.

It’s not an easy game to play, but we believe it’s a story worth telling.

The Challenge of Silence

One of the hardest parts of writing this game is knowing when not to write. Since we are developing in Twine, we are using its branching structure to let the player's own hesitation dictate the flow of the story. In a text-only game, silence is conveyed through white space, pacing, and the things characters refuse to say.

Confronting the Pain

We are making a conscious choice to focus on the pain and drama of these experiences. We aren't shying away from how intense and overwhelming trauma feels. It is dramatic, it is loud, and it hurts. We want players to face that reality head-on, to feel the raw, unfiltered weight of the sun feeling cold and the world feeling wrong.