Hell is Other People understands what it means to hide behind a smile

This article contains discussion of anxiety, depression, and other mental health struggles. 

I think it’s massively important to discuss mental health struggles and allow people to be open about their experiences without judgement. Sadly, there is still stigma around certain diagnoses, and some people who have never been to a low point find it very hard to relate to anyone who has. Hell is Other People is an indie game that feels like the change I want to see in the world. 

Hell is Other People by Miss Self Destruct is a new take on the point-and-click genre. Rather than the focus being on items and adventure, this game fills your inventory with emotions that you aren’t quite sure how to use. Solving puzzles isn’t about fitting the right piece into the right hole, but rather adjusting your own behavior to please those around you, therefore masking the true horror of your own internal struggles. 

Fake it ‘til you make it

Hell is Other People doesn’t start with other people at all, just a girl and a cat having some intense and deeply relatable dialogue. At least, for me. I was 12 the first time someone called me a “social chameleon.” I didn’t know what the term meant back then, but in the 23 years since, I’ve come to understand it very well. I have lived with anxiety and depression my entire life, and I have become very good at temporarily masking my true feelings in social situations.

The girl in Hell is Other People tells the cat that she does not feel human because she does not know how she’s supposed to be. She wants to learn how to “become human,” how to live as other people do without having to think about every move she makes or word she says. The cat, who serves as something of a spirit guide throughout the demo, teaches her how to fake a smile. 

For someone who has never struggled with anxiety before, that entire concept may seem very strange. But for those of us who have felt as the little girl does, the act of faking a smile to avoid unwanted questions and blend into the background is one that is intimately familiar. A smile is your best mask of “normality,” even when you feel anything but happy inside. 

Meet the parents

I grew up within a very critical family and, even now, I have memories of people asking me why I couldn’t “be more like my brother,” “just be normal,” or “behave like a human being.” Those words still float through my mind, even though I’ve come a long way in my mental health journey and am in a much better place than I’ve ever been. Still, when the in-game parents started to belittle the poor girl I was playing as, I suddenly felt like I was going to battle for my own inner child who didn’t have the strength to speak up for herself. 

You could say things got a little personal, but this entire article should tell you that. 

Without going into too much detail, these parents are downright cruel to their child, and the visiting friends aren’t much better. I found myself thinking of who I had once been. They talked about her like she wasn’t there and said profoundly negative things directly in front of her. Even I was left feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the end of it. 

Through watching “the others” (the parents and their friends), you absorb new skills and unlock them for your own use, allowing you to “act like a human.” Except I’d argue that the skills you learn aren’t the skills you need to learn. In the demo, you learn flattery and guilt, which can be used to influence how those around you respond. 

But you’re not really told how you’re supposed to use them, or who you’re supposed to use them on. You have to teach yourself through trial and error, with the errors increasing your dissociation, overwhelm, and paranoia stats at an alarming rate. It’s a remarkably realistic portrayal of trying to navigate a world you don’t feel fully equipped to be part of. 

A guiding hand

You’re not completely alone, although your guides in Hell is Other People are very much the type that only you can see. You have the cat, who appears periodically to offer poetic pearls of wisdom that I still find incredibly touching. Then there’s your alter ego, who becomes your main guide in the early stages of the game. 

Talking to your alter ego in your bedroom unlocks new information about how to observe and adapt to being around “the others” and how to manage your stats when they threaten to cap out. She tells you how to reduce your dissociation by spinning and how to focus on the small things that make you happy when you’re overwhelmed. 

But even these guides aren’t always useful, eventually running out of helpful things to tell you. To me, this represents the people who love to offer “friendly” advice when you’re depressed, only to disappear when that advice stops being enough and leave you alone to deal with whatever you’re going through. Everything got a little personal during my playthrough of the demo, so I might just be reading too much into things and projecting my own experience onto the game. 

Trigger warnings

Before you even see the title screen of Hell is Other People, a trigger warning appears, and this is one time when I will say it is absolutely needed. This game is filled with triggers that many people will find uncomfortable, especially if they’re currently struggling with some of the issues it portrays. 

With that said, for those who feel comfortable engaging with its subject matter, I would recommend Hell is Other People to anyone who has experienced mental health struggles, knows someone who has, or simply wants to understand what it can feel like. Hell is Other People feels like a bridge between ignorance and understanding when it comes to mental health. 

Hell is Other People doesn’t have a release date yet, but the prologue demo was released on Steam on September 18, 2026. How the game affects you may differ hugely depending on your own life experiences, but I’d highly recommend giving this one a go.