Cheltenham family tragedy turned into Linda & Joan video game

The prologue, Four Months Earlier, sees Mr Quinn and his mum, Linda, taking a walk in Giffith Park in Los Angeles

A programmer is turning the "worst year of his life" into an interactive video game that aims to help people think about their last few months together.

Russell Quinn, 41, from Cheltenham, now living in Los Angeles, came up with the idea after his mother and grandmother died within a few weeks of each other.

The player takes on different roles within the family and is asked to have conversations or perform tasks.

The video game Linda & Joan will be released in 2022.

Mr Quinn says the making Linda & Joan has been a comforting and therapeutic process for him

In the game, the player switches between Mr Quinn, his mum, Linda, and his grandmother, Joan, to help the family cope with different situations.

The solution might be a conversation, in which you make dialogue choices, or performing a specific task - such as booking a taxi to the hospital.

Designer and programmer Mr Quinn said: "I'd been working in digital narrative experiences for a number of years, so the idea to turn my story into a narrative video game felt like an obvious one for me.

"One of the big game mechanics is that you will be able to switch the perspective of who you are controlling and you really get to see things from the other perspectives."

The game provides feedback about the characters' emotional state and the player must then try to bring the most comfort to the family member who needs it the most.

Mr Quinn hopes the game will be an immersive story that people want to play because they find it intriguing

Linda died aged 63 in December 2017 from breast cancer. A few weeks later Joan, 89, broke her hip after a fall in her house and died during surgery.

"The aim is to give people space to consider what the end of someone's life involves and how they might deal with it," Mr Quinn said.

Mr Quinn said as a narrative work it should give people space to consider what might happen or, in some cases, to feel less alone with what has happened to their family.

"In a similar way to film and literature, it's primarily a story rather than a targeted therapeutic tool," he said.

Mr Quinn said losing his mother and grandmother also meant he lost the last connection to his home in Cheltenham

A free standalone prologue, called Four Months Earlier, was released earlier this year and takes the player on a walk in Griffith Park in LA, during which Mr Quinn and his mother talk about support at the end of life.

"The response has been great, one guy whose mother had just been diagnosed with breast cancer said how the dialogue rang very true. His summary of what the experience meant to him was one of the most touching responses I've had," Mr Quinn added.