Celeste

I haven't played a game this hard in a while...

How to Make Dying in a Game Less Frustrating

By allowing players to continue and start playing again quickly.  I died often in this game.  My family were placing bets on death count by the time I finish the game.  Dying just takes me back to the beginning of an area, not the beginning of a level.  Quitting does the same, so if I get tired I just pull up the menu and quit.  When I return, my character is at the beginning of the area where I left the game and I didn't have to start from beginning of the level.

Climbing

In this game, a transition will quickly place my character back to beginning of an area so that I can practice all the moves I need to chain together to progress into the next area.  I definitely see the similarities between this game and rock climbing, where the levels are built with familiar features, and it is up to me to figure out what I need to do to move from one spot to next.

Depression and Anxiety

These topics were brought up and discussed many times throughout the game, and nicely integrated into game play and story.  At minimum they help create a bond between player and the in-game characters.  I liked the fact that the game got me thinking and visualizing about how other people feels when they are isolated and depressed.

Results

Above picture summarized my struggle, after almost 10 hours and 2200 deaths later I finally finished the game.  People in my family were placing bets.