eram minigame as a guilt based moral ocd/harm ocd rep (?) analysis
people usually interpret the eram minigame as a way to show kris intrusive thoughts, OR as a way to show that kris has actual violent urges they try to repress. i think that's both.
it was stated a few times that kris used to be a problem child, pulling cruel pranks on noelle and throwing bath bombs in the toilet.
aqua, who's a representation of younger kris, shows what they were like as s kid, and it's pretty obvious they had an interest in knives and had difficulties with distinguishing between fun and violence. I'm not saying they were some king von kid but they were clearly a problem kid that got into a lot of trouble, and didn't quite understand where is the line between mischief and hurting others.
the egg room in ch4 shows that kris experienced some traumatic event and attended art therapy. the line "here we paint and don't kill people" also implies the violent tendency kris used to have, and that they clearly have done something bad or had something to do with that bad thing happening. of course it's probably dessappearance because it's basically what's deltarune plot revolving around.
I'm not gonna theorize about what exactly happened on ThatDay™ but I'll assume kris had a hand in what happened.
of course they didn't want it, and they would never let it happen if they knew what it would end up like.
but they feel guilt about what happened, and this guilt can be the possible reason for why they work for the knight (which could or could not be dess), and it's implied they're hurting themselves (also, the golden flower seeds doesn't have any good implications)
as I've covered kris's past and guilt, I'm gonna cover the eram minigame.
dark worlds are a reflection of the mind of their creator, and what could be eram minigame in light world doesn't matter in this analysis as much as what it could be in kris's mind, since the whole tv dark world is a glimpse into kris themselves.
first boards are just kris killing random mobs around to get strong enough to go out of bounds. this is basically a metaphor for desensitizing yourself to violence, like it was in undertale geno route, but here it has a bit different meaning. killing enemies in game isn't a bad thing because this is what these types of rpg are for, but in this specific case it's a metaphor for how innocent mischief can lead to the urges escalating and getting out of bounds = crossing the line, basically.
the ice maze board is more about the side b that about anything else. in normal route it not only shows the player how to do side b, but also shows kris "this is what you're capable of. this is what you can do, so what's stopping you?". it's an escalation again. from innocent violence (represented as videogame violence) to abusing your friend.
the city board is the next level of escalation. kris kills susie and ralsei, and kris is visibly scared of the possibility of this ever happening. kris knows that they don't want it but the chance of this happening will never be zero.
and then, roots and the main eram battle. the roots is more abstract but the enemies can be easily recognised as hometown residents, which is ALSO another level of escalation. innocent mischief, then hurting your friend, then murdering your friends, and eventually genocide.
you ask, how it's even related to ocd? and I'll answer (at least as someone who has ocd and moral/harm ocd is one of my most frequent issues).
when you have intrusive thoughts AND guilt over something bad you did in the past, your brain starts to spiral, like:
"you're already a bad person, so why don't you just go and kill all your friends and finally show them who you actually are?"
"you're irredeemable, this means you have to make things even worse"
"you can't fix anything, the only path left is to hell".
the sword minigame not only shows how kris's mischief and lack of self control lead them to eventually screw up REALLY bad, but also what their guilt urges them to do, because "you can't redeem yourself, you can only be worse".
and weird route is this exact "being worse". the player's actions from this point of view represent kris giving up and, instead of redeeming themselves, becoming worse, just like their guilt says.
eram IS guilt and ocd in this point of view. not "what happened", not "what will happen" but "what if".
and "what if"s are the worst thing ever in ocd. because you'll never know.