Is this game idea too serious?

[Evil]

Hate to be rehashing this even more, but it sounds like "The Park."

[Andail]

I think the idea of this game could only be sending out good messages about suicide (if it's done properly). I mean, not only is it a game about suicide that wouldn't joke about it, it's a game that might teach people ways to avoid it and how to handle a potential suicide. Not that I'm saying you should make it educational but I can't see how anyone could find it offensive.

It's one thing if it depicts suicide in an open-minded, human way.
But don't make it about life's-to-wonderful-to-kill-yourself, or some sort of moralising propaganda against the shame of comitting suicide.
Not even a professional psychologist can literary "teach" somebody to avoid it.

[InCreator]

-- And I would like to see someone who could say that an amateur adventure game pushed him into suicide!
Ridiculous.

Dark stories are good.

[simulacra]

It sounds interesting. I don't think there is any story that is too dark to be told, but it all depends on how it is done. To be frank, I've had one of the darkest periods of my life recently and have used much of that in my artistic work. (A classic way of dealing with such things by the way.)

I do not want to reveal too much, but there will be some strong suicide/post mortem themes in my upcoming game The Zone. It would be interesting too see how you plan such a story. Please tell us more.

[Pesty]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this already, but the game Mourir en Mer is a game more or less about suicide that is very tastefully done and it's one of my favorite AGS games. I'd suggest playing that to get an idea of how you could do it.

As for art style, so long as the story is strong, I don't think a cartoony art style will have any impact on it.

[Andail]

Mourir en mer is more about somebody who's bound to die, and wishes to do it at a special location.

I agree that it's not morbid or tasteless, but it's still not a matter of choosing whether to live or die...at least that's the way I interpreted it

[Barcik@Work]

I think it is a very nice artistic element to have a contrast between the medium and the theme, or the theme and the setting. I'll use my usual example for this one - Begnini's "La Vita e Bella". On thje surface, a tragi-comedy about the Holocuast. Yet, it only helps build the tremendous strength of the movie, and doesn't seem offensive for one second. The same is true with any work of art - you can use this to further sharpen and emhpasise your point.
However, you do have two traps to avoid. The first one, is do not parodize such a serious theme. The second, do not mock it (close, but not the same). As long as it is done in an appropriate matter, it is all well.

[Pesty]

Mourir en mer is more about somebody who's bound to die, and wishes to do it at a special location.

I agree that it's not morbid or tasteless, but it's still not a matter of choosing whether to live or die...at least that's the way I interpreted it

I never felt like the main character HAD to die when he did, or that death, at the time of the game, was inevitable. Maybe that's the way the creator meant it. It probably is. The fact remains that it's about death and is done well. Even if it's not about suicide specifically, it's still a good example of working with a potentially touchy subject in a gentle manner.