In India, the video games that command attention are usually the blockbuster action and combat ones. First-person shooter (FPS) games make up more than half of the market. And the gaming stereotype: A dude locked in with the bros, playing Call of Duty or Fortnite, rings true.
Paul’s Abashed, which will be released later this year, explores what it means to live with psychosis and the toll it takes on the carer. The online event is organised by Nodwin Gaming in partnership with Los Angeles’s Summer Game Fest. It featured Fishbowl, a story about a young adult dealing with her grandmother’s death. There was Appa, a card-battle game about two siblings grappling with the death of their father. And Paul’s own game, Abashed, which follows Issac, a man suffering from psychosis and searching for his missing partner. More players want a game that feels like a hug, a kick to the gut and a therapy session all in one, developers say. “What’s changing is that story-driven games now have a real place alongside them, and audiences are making room for both. The warzone now looks different — it’s about confronting yourself, and enemies from your past. See why so many creators are making games about loss and death, and why it’s oddly healing. It’s very meta — two siblings, Varun and Arundhati, are building a card game from the memory flashes they see in their nightmares. Their aim: To find out how their dad died. The card game they’re building is the one the IRL gamer plays. It has Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind vibes; the siblings have few memories of what happened. “Indian family dynamics are so complex — they’re messy, they’re traumatic, but also wonderful in many ways. The aim is for the player to relate to all of that. “I wanted to create a game that explores self-discovery. Issac, the main character, has to deal with his mental health while also working out what happened to his missing partner. “There’s hope, and positive progress. Talking about death gets heavy. Gupte and Saxena started developing it during the pandemic lockdowns, when they were isolated and seeking some sense of normalcy. “You really get into Alo’s head, explore her thoughts and her dream worlds, and help her cope with negative self-talk and creative spirals. The game has a mental-health mood meter, which tracks Alo’s interactions with other characters, and how she completes tasks such as taking care of her home and doing her video-editing job. There’s a message here for players: “Even if you’re going through a difficult time, you can enjoy your cup of coffee, take a warm shower or videocall your friends. The games are meant to be fun. Fishbowl lets you sort through Alo’s memories in the form of nostalgic objects — a toy fish that brings up a happy memory, a book on teas that she remembered loving as a child. The soundtrack is soothing lo-fi; the pixelated art echoes video games from long ago. Appa, on the other hand, has a surreal, manga-like style, and as the game progresses, the siblings bond more with each other. Final boss The new titles echo how game developers think of game formats now. Fishbowl is meant to be played over a month. Players check in to complete tasks every day and get their dopamine hits. Abashed can be completed in two or three hours.
So, Supantha Paul, 25, founder of LavaPoint Studios, was surprised to see games about grief, loss and mental health presented at the India Game Showcase in June. Dead serious When Mridul Pancholi, 25, set up Heat Death Studio last year, he was already two years into working on Appa. The artist, animator and game developer hit upon the idea at a game jam in 2023. So, Rhea Gupte’s and Prateek Saxena’s 2026 game, Fishbowl, comes with a trigger warning. Players guide Alo, a 21-year-old girl in a new city, in a new WFH job, as she works through her grandmother’s death.
“It’s exciting that we now get to tell these personal and niche stories that make you feel something,” Paul says. “Action and combat remain the core of Indian gaming, and titles like BGMI and Free Fire continue to anchor it,” says Parth Chadha, co-founder and CEO of gaming community platform, Stan. “It’s about the grief you inherit when a parent dies, and the trauma that’s passed down through generations,” Pancholi says. “It’s got a cute and inviting vibe, but we wanted players to know that the character is processing grief and self-doubt while living in isolation,” says Gupte, 36. “There are gut punches, but lighter moments too, such as when they remember something random and laugh about it,” says Pancholi. “You don’t have to be a hardcore gamer or a gamer at all, or commit to a game for over 200-300 levels,” says Paul. “You might have a Friday evening free when you pick up a game and finish it in a few hours.”
“Indian gamers might reconsider before spending even ₹ 1,000 on a premium game. Appa, which hit 10,000 wishlists on Steam this month, is expected to be priced roughly between ₹ 1,400 to ₹ 2,000 when it drops next year. Game over: Videogame deaths that broke us The horse from Red Dead Redemption 2. From HT Brunch, October 3, 2026 Follow us on www.instagram.com/htbrunch
The challenge is, surprisingly, getting Indian gamers to figure the genre out. Gamers in the US, China and Europe pick up on these games fast. It’s also hard to get game publishers to put money into a story that is about death, but not a kill-score. It’s baby steps. Developers like him are now coming up with their own concepts instead of rehashing popular tropes and stories. “It’s scary, but it’s also a good time to be an indie gamer. Gamers are still not over this. Arthur Morgan, the gruff killer and thief, pauses to say goodbye to his loyal horse when it is shot by his enemies during the final pursuit. He bends down, thanks the dying steed, then leaves him in the forest reluctantly. Even Morgan’s death didn’t hurt so bad. Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII. This unexpected demise sent gamers spiralling for months. Who would’ve thought that the bubbly healer and spellcaster would meet such a grisly end? Gainsborough is kneeling in prayer, asking for help from the gods to defeat the villain, when he swoops in from above and impales her with a sword. Ouch. Joel Miller from The Last of Us II. He was broody, moody and a ruthless smuggler. But underneath that rugged exterior was a man who didn’t want to lose the people he loved. It was physically hard to watch him getting beaten to death in the end. And we had to watch Pedro Pascal die all over again in the series adaptation. Will the pain ever stop?
“If you’re making an indie game of this kind in India, you’re basically making it for an international audience,” says Pancholi. Early on in development, Pancholi got feedback on reducing the “monotonous anger and sadness” in Appa.
