Final Girls was created by Kanane Jones. The game is set in a support group meeting that includes a small group of women who have experienced a traumatic event. Players sit in on this meeting sort of like a “fly on a wall”.
The women take turns discussing their week, sharing both the good and bad things that happened. Support is given by the other women and the therapist who is running the meeting. At the end, the therapist directs the women to discuss what they are doing as self-care strategies.
This video game could help women who are struggling with their own, real life, trauma. The game provides some examples of real situations that could cause a woman to become anxious due to the trauma they experienced. It gives some specific examples that are a healthy form of self-care, and makes it clear that things will get better.
The unique thing about Final Girls is that it doesn’t focus on the horrible thing that happened to each woman. It briefly mentions a generalization of what happened to each woman in order to provide context. The true focus of the game on how the women were able to talk about what happened to them, learn coping skills for dealing with the aftermath of the trauma, and have a good life.
Kanane Jones is an abuse survivor who noticed that stories about trauma tend to focus on the traumatic event, but not how people continue on and live their lives. She wanted to tell that story, and decided that a therapy session was the perfect location.
The name of the game, Final Girls, refers to a trope in slasher films where a woman is the last one alive to confront the killer. The game includes some familiar faces. The therapist, Ellen, looks a lot like Ellen Ripley. Carrie is recovering from being bullied in high school. Kanane Jones is a fan of horror movies, and describes her characters as “inspired by” the movies (but not based directly on them).
Final Girls is free to play and is a browser based game. It includes graphics, lettering, and music that reminds me of the older console games. Some parts of the game come with a warning about upcoming content, and players are allowed to skip those parts without penalty.