Surrey Alumna raises awareness about abuse and mental health through new video game
After studying Creative Music Technology as an undergraduate at Surrey, Alyx Jones started developing the video game The Quiet Things in 2017 as part of the final portfolio for her subsequent MMus in Music Composition. The original prototype was created as a way to showcase songs Alyx had written about her experiences as a teenager.
In November 2022 Alyx was selected as a BAFTA Breakthrough artist for her work on the 2022 Game of the Year Elden Ring, and was featured in NME magazine. She founded her own indie games start up Silver Script Games in the same year and by January 2023, the company was awarded a grant from the UK Games Fund to start development on The Quiet Things.
The project is an auto-biographical, narrative video game, that features Alyx’s real diary entries from when she was growing up. It tackles the subjects of childhood abuse, self- harm and suicide head on, in a bid to encourage conversation and awareness.
Alyx has talked in more depth about the game with NME magazine. She comments: “It’s important to remove the stigma around subjects like self-harm and suicide. In the UK there is an average of 14 suicides every single day and it’s estimated that one in ten young people self-harm; yet as a nation we really shy away from having non-judgemental conversations about it. I hope through the medium of video games, we can encourage openness and help young people reach out for help when they most need it”.
Learn more about studying Creative Music Technology at Surrey.
Learn more about studying a Music MMus at Surrey.
