Gaming | Game Design
How ‘Gris’ Paints a Profound Psychological Experience Through Colours
Colour associations are deeply ingrained in the human experience. It has a profound impact on our emotions. There’s a lot to unpack with colour psychology, but today I wish to establish why colours serve as an effective storytelling device in various forms of media, particularly in video games.
I have previously explored the significance of colour in two video games: Florence, and Persona 5. I was recommended another video game, Gris, and had finally gotten around to playing it in one sitting.
Gris is a captivating narrative that follows the journey of a heartbroken young woman as she navigates various landscapes in search of her voice. It is a watercolour masterpiece that delves into the depths of the human psyche at its most vulnerable moments, skillfully using colour to express the cyclical nature of healing.
Kübler Ross’ Five Stages of Grief
Gris’s level design is structured around Kübler’s Five Stages of Grief. These stages are all represented by their individual colour palette and unique gameplay mechanics.
The original theory, proposed by Swiss psychiatrist Kübler-Ross in 1969, described five common emotions we experience during grief…
