"I'm left alone with all the monsters in my head

They say to me, "you won't choose life, over death..."

-Peratus, "Wrought"

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::Warning: sensitive content follows. Please read at your discretion.::

Psychological "survival" atmosphere game where you're walking down a dark, endless road in a surreal and shifting dream-like world, alone. In this world, colour is greyscale, loneliness is safety, and hurt is comfort. Depending on your level of injury, you will be incapacitated and movement hindered, from limping to stumbling to crawling to dead. Unlike normal life, it works in reverse here. The more wounded you are, the more "comfortable" you become, and the more relaxed and free your movements; the more unwounded you are, the harder movement is as you are wracked with psychic pains, with unmarred being agony to the point of being unable to move. The other side of this world is that your injuries regenerate quickly; even deep wounds fade in a matter of minutes, leaving clean skin behind. The only way to progress is to continually find ways to wound yourself, being careful not to go too far and end up deceased by your own hand.

Along the sides of the road are bodies - the remains of wanderers who came before you and were eventually taken by this world. There are also objects and landmarks, all in a constant state of slow decay. They are typically hazardous in nature, and can be used to inflict damage on yourself and give you the energy to keep going. A metal gatepost sticking out of the ground. Razorwire. Paper bags and other litter, as well as discarded possessions - stuffed toys and handwritten letters. Blank signposts. Strewn clothes with nobody in them. Some of these will be pointless and some not so, depending on what uses you might think of when looking at them, but they all break down by themselves and deteriorate to uselessness within a minute or two. This does not mean much, since there would be little point in staying in one place for very long anyway.

Walking away from the road will slowly shorten your vision, until eventually you cannot see it anymore and become lost in a thick black fog that will only go away if you can find it again. On rare occasions, you may see another wanderer walking down the path towards you, and they might try to make contact. Their presence causes your wounds to heal faster than normal depending on how close they are. You must avoid them at all costs, for if they touch you, you fall apart and die. They will never leave the road, and might call out to you or maybe even try to follow you, but you must not listen. Keep going, and never waver. Soon their voice will be echoed away by the familiar sounds of your own footsteps, and your regeneration will slow again, letting you move easier once more.

You can not continue forever. Eventually you will run out of ways to inflict yourself and your path will leave you joining the fallen, as clean as the day you were born, on the side of the road. There is no top score, but your last and most distances traveled will be recorded as memoirs, as well as an epitaph of your own writing once your journey ends. From there it is up to you if you want to start again, and see how far you can go.

There are no enemies in this game. It does not matter which way you walk, only that you walk. You are the only target, but also the only hostage. The road's endlessness is your antagonist. There is no motivation for going forward other than the player's own choice for what they hope to see.

Where is it you wish to go?

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Photograph "the endless road" by Joesph West https://www.flickr.com/photos/77249984@N00/4597808082

Personal note: I do not endorse or condone fictional or especially real-world instances of self harm, and understand it is a very serious subject. If you know anyone who may self-harm or are doing so yourself, please seek help from any available source in your area.