Grippy Socks is a mental health simulation. In it you're a patient in a
psychiatric hospital or "psych ward". Grippy Socks should not be considered a game,
and is not
intended to be
entertainment, because mental health is something many
people struggle with in real life. Unlike classic mental hospital games
in which you try to escape, and which have sadistic doctors or crazy patients, here you experience a
more realistic hospital environment. Your objective is
to find the right medication and
other treatments, and then use them so that you can get released.
Grippy Socks was developed in consultation with mental health
professionals, as well as patients of mental health services. However, this is
only a simplified simulation, in which an actual hospital experience is likely to be different,
especially since different public or private hospitals can vary greatly from each other. Trigger warning: Grippy Socks contains depictions of mental health, mental
health facilities, and people experiencing mental
health conditions. In other words, the whole program should be considered one big trigger warning!
Many people are working to raise awareness about mental health issues, such
as by sharing their own experiences. This simulation
is another attempt to destigmatize and demystify mental health. The psychiatric hospital experience shouldn't be considered scary
(although it's definitely not something you ever want to have) and
it's something many go through each year. We can get help and treatment
for ourselves or those close to us, should the situation need it.
The name "grippy socks" comes from the slang term used for socks that are
often given out in hospitals, which have gripping parts attached to them so you
don't slip on smooth floors. Similarly, a psychiatric hospital is sometimes
called "grippy sock jail", because the restrictive environment is similar to jail in
many respects. It's also sometimes called going on a "grippy sock
vacation", although some dislike that term since hospitals can be traumatizing
and not an enjoyable place. However, note that some people's home lives are so
abusive or stressful that even a hospital environment is a place where they feel
like they're away from their problems and are taken care of. In the simulation,
you can tell the patients apart from the hospital staff, because the patients
are wearing grippy socks and the staff are wearing shoes (staff also has the
medical cross on their chests).
Grippy Socks has the following executable program for Windows. (Just download and run it, in which no setup is needed, although security
prompts may need to be accepted.) Grippy Socks is also a script that comes with the program
Daedalus. Daedalus along with its applets such as
Grippy Socks is a 100% free program for MS Windows, which can be installed
from the Daedalus setup program. Once installed, click the
"Grippy Socks" icon in the "Start / All Programs / Daedalus / Scripts" program
group to run, or select the "File / Run Script / Grippy Socks" menu command in
Daedalus itself. The latest version is 3.4.
Grippy Socks is a turn-based simulation, which means that only when you move
or take action, will other things happen. It takes place in first person, in
which you see through the eyes of your character. The interface to Grippy Socks consists
of the following keys:
F1: Display help text (shortcut: '?'). You can select this whenever
you want to see what the other commands do.
F2: Restart simulation from beginning (shortcut: '~'). This will erase any
game in progress.
F3: Restart after setting your name and gender (shortcut: '`'). You can
enter your name here, and also select whether the hospital is all women, all
men, or women and men randomly mixed.
F4: Interact with whatever's in front of you (shortcut: 'e' or 'space
bar'). For example,
this option chats with other people.
F5: Rest for a minute (shortcut: 'z'). If you rest on a bed, you'll gain 1
energy. Otherwise your energy will at least stay the same and not drop.
F6: Rest for 15 minutes (shortcut: 'Shift+Z'). For example, if you have an
event coming up in half an hour, press shift plus "Z" twice.
F7: Rest for an hour (shortcut: 'Ctrl+z'). This is likely to be used at the
end of a day, to quickly advance through the night to the start of the next day.
Arrow keys: Move and rotate (shortcut: 'w/a/s/d'). Unlike moving, rotating
in place doesn't take up any time or cost energy.
Shift+left/right arrow: Sidestep (shortcut: 'x/c'). This allows you to sidestep
or strafe to the left or right, while staying facing in the same forward direction.
At the bottom of the screen is the
status line, which contains the following:
Energy: Resting in a bed or eating increases energy, while moving or
chatting decreases it. If energy falls to 0, then you're considered to be too depressed to
be able to interact or chat.
Wellness: You "win" the simulation and can leave the hospital once wellness reaches 10. The key to getting
released is to raise your wellness level. The hospital staff evaluates your
actions and updates your wellness level at the start of each new day, and
indicates what exactly raised or lowered your level. To raise
your wellness, engage in self-care and follow your schedule to the best of your
ability.
Friends: Do favors for people and they'll like you more. Patients can
give you small quests, and on completion of them your friend counter will
increase.
Time: Advances one minute whenever you move or interact.
Wellness is adjusted by the following things:
Eating: If you don't eat anything during the day (i.e. skip
breakfast, lunch, and dinner) then it's -1 wellness. If you eat all three of
breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it's +1 wellness.
Bathing: If you don't shower anytime during the day, it's -1
wellness. If you do shower, it's +1 wellness.
Visiting your psychiatrist: If you skip visiting them during the day,
it's -1 wellness. If you do visit them, it's +1 wellness.
Taking your meds: If you refuse to take your medication (i.e. skip
taking them) it's -1 wellness. If you do take your meds, it's +1 wellness. Note
that taking meds don't affect wellness on the day you're first prescribed them.
For example, if your psych appointment is in the morning, and you pick up your
meds in the evening, then taking or not that first day doesn't affect wellness.
Studying Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Having the opportunity
to study it, and doing so, is +1 wellness. This is the only way to get from
wellness level 9 to 10, in that the other activities won't raise your wellness
beyond 9. Note that you won't be able to study CBT until your psychiatrist gives
you CBT materials, which won't happen until you're wellness level 5 or above.
If a patient's condition deteriorates enough, they're assigned a "one-on-one".
That means someone stays with
them continuously, keeping an eye on them and following them around everywhere
to ensure they stay safe.
In Grippy Socks, if your wellness level falls to 1, you get assigned a nurse as
your 1:1. Your 1:1 will stay with you for at least a day, until your wellness
level rises above 1.
Quests are activated by chatting with patients (or the hallway nurse). You'll
know when you've received a quest because they're asking for something, and
their chat message will end with "...". Quests require you to take some action,
such as go retrieve something. Afterward, chat with them again to receive a
special completion message, and see your friend counter increase by one. There
are 10 different quests, which are listed below. Included is who gives you the
quest, a summary of what it involves, followed by what is necessary
to complete it:
Antisocial patient in room: Do their laundry. Interact with their dresser, then
interact with a washing machine, then interact with their dresser again.
(Requires wellness level 5 to access laundry room.)
Helpful patient in hall: Retrieve care package. Interact with the front desk
in the lobby. (Requires wellness level 8 to access lobby.)
Game player patient in day room: Retrieve games. Interact with shelf
in game closet. (Requires wellness level 4 to access game room.)
Overly friendly patient in day room: Night visit. Chat with them in
their room at night.
Depressed patient in cafeteria: Count posters. Interact with each of
the 19 different motivational posters around the ward. Four posters are in the
day room, five are in the halls, and each of the ten patient rooms has one.
Eating disorder patient in cafeteria: Retrieve tofu. Interact with
shelf in pantry closet off kitchen. (Requires wellness level 7 to access kitchen
pantry.)
Harming patient in group therapy room: Check trees. Interact with
each of the 4 trees in the middle of the courtyard. (Requires wellness level 3
to access courtyard.)
Anxious patient in group therapy room: Pick flowers. Interact with
each of the 12 bushes around the outside of the courtyard. (Requires wellness
level 3 to access courtyard.)
Impaired patient in courtyard: Find lost ring. To start and finish
this quest
you must chat with them in their room at night. Rest once on different spaces along the walkway, until the ring is found.
The ring is randomly placed on one of the walkway squares on the left or right
side of the trees. (Requires wellness level 3
to access courtyard.)
Hallway nurse: Clean restroom. Interact with both sinks and with both
toilets in the restroom.
What is it like being in a psychiatric hospital? Seriously, you don't want to know! In
reality, it's a lot like jail or at least school, in which your actions are controlled, the schedule is highly regimented, and much time is
spent waiting around. There's also attention given to self-care and taking care of
bodily functions. This simulation attempts to capture these feelings and
atmosphere. One thing not depicted is the reason why you're in the psychiatric
hospital. That's left to your imagination, along with whatever symptoms you're
experiencing and recovering from. People can be admitted to hospitals for
reasons such as severe depression, self-destructive behavior, psychotic
episodes, eating disorders, or monitoring medication adjustments.
Grippy Socks takes place inside the fictitious "Daedalus Psychiatric Hospital". This hospital consists of the following rooms or areas:
Bedroom: The simulation starts with you in your assigned bedroom.
Assume you've just been admitted and shown to your room. You have your own
room, and unlike some hospitals you don't have to share a room with others. Your personal
schedule is listed in your bedroom, however there are also schedules posted in
common
areas.
En-suite bathroom: Your bedroom has a very small bathroom attached to it. It
contains a shower, toilet, and sink. They allow you to bathe yourself, use the
facilities, and wash your hands afterward.
Day room: The day room is where many patients spend the most time during the
day, except when they have appointments elsewhere. It's designed to be
entertaining, with games and other activities, including a television.
Group activity room: This is a conference room for group activities such as
group therapy. In some hospitals group activities will be conducted in the day
room, although in this simulation they're separate rooms. In Grippy Socks, there
are two group therapy sessions per day, lasting for an hour each.
Psychiatrist's office: Every hospital has doctors who manage and
prescribe medication. In Grippy Socks, you get to briefly meet with a
psychiatrist once per day at a specific time. The psychiatrist will prescribe
you medication, which you then take at a specific time each day.
Nurse's office: There's an area that only the nurses can access, which
has a window through which you pick up your meds. They're open for an hour in
morning, afternoon, and evening, and depending on your med you'll take it at one
of those three times.
Cafeteria: The hospital serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner for an
hour at specific
times. You pick up your food at a window in the cafeteria.
Courtyard: When locked within a hospital it can be difficult to get fresh
air. There's a fenced-in courtyard area accessible from the day room, allowing one to stretch their legs
beyond just pacing the halls.
Safety Room: This is the classic padded
room, which unruly patients are kept in for their own safety. Quality hospitals try to limit restraints of any
type to the most severe
circumstances, because they can be severely traumatizing to the patient. In Grippy Socks, you'll be sent to the safety room for one of four reasons: (1)
Trying to escape the hospital, (2) Pulling the fire alarm, (3) Running around
outside your room naked, or (4) Running around outside the patient rooms area at night.
You'll be locked within for one hour, unless it's nighttime in which case you'll be
there until the following morning.
Lobby: The hospital has a lobby, through which people enter and exit the
hospital. Patients are normally not allowed to access the lobby area, but they
can
once they reach wellness level 8. Note that even if you can access the lobby,
you're still a patient, so shouldn't leave the hospital grounds outside the
front door, because that will be treated as an escape attempt. Once you reach
the maximum wellness level of 10, then you're released and can walk out of the
hospital and step off the grounds to complete the simulation.
Labyrinth: Grippy Socks is a script that comes with the Daedalus Maze
generation program. In alignment with this, there's a Labyrinth on the hospital grounds too,
that you can walk as a relaxation or meditation tool. This Labyrinth has three rings and four quadrants.
The Labyrinth is located outside the building, and therefore can't be accessed
by patients until they're released (or more accurately until they reach wellness
level 8 that allows them to pass through the lobby). Consider the Labyrinth as a
way to celebrate getting better.
The Grippy Socks simulation is also available on
Indie DB and
GameJolt and
Itch.io. Beyond this, there are other quality simulations that deal with
mental health in a realistic manner, which treat the matter
respectfully. The following four present storylines which you interactively
follow:
Split Mind:
Experience a four day schizophrenia episode as your symptoms continually worsen (and
eventually go away).
Schizophrenia
Simulation: Presents what it's like to have a bad reaction to medication
(the results of which can be horrific if not deadly).
SCHIZO: An intense one
night schizophrenia episode (with horror elements and jump scares).
Schizophrenia by Ivory:
You're in a mansion, with jump scares (and can't go too long without taking
medication before the voices start).
