Disclaimer: This article focuses on examples of how games can meaningfully address player well-being. It does not evaluate the accuracy or effectiveness of these games’ portrayals of mental or physical health. Nor are any of the games listed here substitutes for professional help.
Content warning: This article deals with themes of depression, suicide, and mental health struggles.
Video games, with their expressive and interactive nature, are uniquely positioned to deliver experiences that can deeply resonate. When crafted with care and compassion, games can nurture players in various ways:
- Foster self-expression and exploration — Games can provide safe spaces for players to explore different identities and express themselves freely.
- Validate and inspire — By portraying characters who grapple with mental-health challenges, neurodivergence, or other difficulties, games can offer validation and hope to players facing similar experiences.
- Build confidence and resilience — Through engaging challenges and opportunities for success, games can help players build confidence in their abilities and develop resilience in the face of setbacks.
- Foster community and connection — Games can create opportunities for social interaction and connection, whether through explicit online play or their surrounding communities.
- Cultivate self-compassion — By encouraging empathy and understanding toward oneself and others, games can foster self-compassion, a cornerstone of emotional well-being.
- Inspire self-reflection and support-seeking — Games can inspire players to reflect on their lives, practice self-care, and even seek support when needed.
This can be important for individuals who may be:
- Living with anxiety or a tendency to overthink.
- On a journey of self-discovery.
- Struggling with self-doubt or fear of failure.
- Feeling isolated or lonely.
- Grappling with self-acceptance.
- Feeling constrained by societal expectations.
Well-being is a key to helping our communities thrive and taking care of ourselves while doing so.
Respecting mental illness: Beyond stereotypes and shallow portrayals
Depicting mental illness in video games is a powerful opportunity, but it is one that demands a delicate balance. It’s a chance to challenge stereotypes, promote empathy, and destigmatize conditions that affect millions. If done poorly, however, portrayals can trivialize or sensationalize experiences, reinforcing harmful misconceptions.
To get it right, creators must approach the topic with humility, respect, and a willingness to collaborate with mental health experts. This means understanding the complexity of different conditions, avoiding simplistic tropes, and considering the potential impact on players from multiple perspectives.
It’s important to remember that video games, like any medium, offer an abstraction of reality. No single game can fully capture the lived experience of mental illness. But by working together, creators and experts can craft narratives that are both authentic and respectful, ultimately contributing to a more compassionate and informed society.
A survey of games that tackle mental health
Though very different in their scope, theme and playstyle, these games all share a common thread — by addressing mental health with sensitivity and incorporating supportive features, these games transcend mere entertainment. Such games demonstrate the potential for video games to foster well-being on an individual level while simultaneously promoting a more compassionate and inclusive understanding of mental health in society.
While the following games are primarily single-player experiences, well-suited for deep personal reflection, the lessons they impart on representation, self-care, self-compassion, and acceptance hold universal value and can be thoughtfully integrated into games of all kinds.
Night in the Woods (2017)
Night in the Woods is an atmospheric adventure game that delves into themes of depression, anxiety, and the search for belonging. The story is told through Mae, a young cat returning to her rust-belt hometown after dropping out of college. Mae’s struggles, the town’s setting, and the diverse cast of characters — some of whom are queer and grappling with mental health issues — create a powerful reflection of the challenges faced by many young adults, particularly those from small-town backgrounds.
The game features dialogues and scenarios where characters discuss their mental-health, including mentions of bipolar disorder and speculation about Mae suffering from a form of dissociative disorder. The developers were also open about their own struggles with mental health on social media, which they pulled from in creating the game.
Night in the Woods also captures the struggle many young people face in small towns, where access to specialized mental health care can be limited. In one dialogue, excerpted below, Mae confides in her friend Bea about a past episode, likely depicting dissociation, where everything became “just shapes.” Bea’s response, lamenting the lack of adequate help from the town’s sole doctor, Dr. Hank, underscores the frustration and isolation many experience in such communities.
Mae: smashing his face in with the bat
Mae: just shapes
Mae: red shapes all over the grass
Bea: oh my god, Mae.
Bea: have you talked to anyone about this?
Mae: after it happened they made me go to therapy
Mae: with Dr Hank-
Bea: oh gaaaaaaaawd. He’s the worst.
It serves as a stark reminder of the challenges faced by those seeking support in areas with inadequate resources and expertise.
Celeste (2018)
In Celeste, Madeline’s arduous climb up Mount Celeste serves as a metaphor for her journey with anxiety and depression. Through internal monologues and interactions, the game explores self-doubt, fear, and the importance of self-acceptance, perseverance, and seeking support from others. The ending emphasizes the ongoing nature of mental-health struggles, mirroring the reality of learning to coexist with these challenges.
Celeste‘s co-creator, Maddy Thorson, drew from her own experiences with anxiety and depression to create the game’s central antagonist, “Part of You,” an external manifestation of Madeline’s inner struggles that chases her at various points in the game. The game also has the option to rename “Madeline,” offering an opportunity for players to more directly self-identify.
By portraying a protagonist openly navigating mental health challenges, Celeste normalizes these experiences and helps dismantle the stigma surrounding them. Players who have faced similar situations can connect with Madeline’s journey, feeling seen and understood. The game’s open dialogue encourages broader discussions about mental well-being both within the game’s community and beyond. Importantly, Madeline was later revealed to be a trans woman, a decision that resonated with the developer’s own journey of self-discovery.
Celeste‘s “Assist Mode” also plays a subtle role in player well-being. Allowing players to adjust the game’s difficulty not only makes the game more accessible, but aligns with the game’s core themes of struggle, self-acceptance, and personal growth. By acknowledging that everyone faces challenges differently, Celeste empowers players to engage with the game on their own terms and reinforces that it is OK to ask for help.
For an excellent examination of Celeste’s themes and treatment: Understanding Celeste | A Reading of a Masterpiece
For a look at how Celeste and other games break the fourth wall: Breaking the Fourth Wall: Games That Check In.
Spiritfarer (2020)
The core theme of Spiritfarer revolves around the universal and deeply personal human experience of death, loss, and grief. Using the act of caring for spirits and helping them pass on as a metaphor for dealing with grief and loss in real life, Spiritfarer allows players to process their own emotions and experiences through the game’s narrative. The emotional connection is further strengthened by the well-developed characters, each with unique personalities, stories, and struggles, allowing players to empathize with their experiences and find solace in their shared journey.
Spiritfarer offers a unique approach to supporting players and addressing aspects of mental well-being through its focus on death, grief, and acceptance. The game directly confronts the difficult topics of mortality and loss, creating a safe space for players to explore and process these complex emotions. By engaging with the dying wishes and stories of the spirits, players are gently encouraged to accept the inevitability of death and find meaning in the connections they’ve made.
The core gameplay loop of nurturing and caring for the spirits fosters a sense of compassion and empathy within the player. Building relationships with these diverse characters allows for exploration of different personalities and perspectives on life, death, and what it means to be human. Activities like cooking, gardening, and exploring create a calming atmosphere that can further help reduce anxiety and stress and add a layer of normalcy, despite being game mechanics.
Spiritfarer‘s gentle and thoughtful approach can provide solace and comfort to those who have experienced loss or those who fear future loss. By creating a space to explore these complex emotions, the game can help individuals develop coping mechanisms and find meaning in difficult times while encouraging a greater appreciation for life and relationships.
Adventures with Anxiety! (2019)
Adventures with Anxiety is an interactive fiction game where you embody Anxiety, a small, wolf-like creature striving to “protect” its human through everyday challenges. The narrative unfolds as a series of “battles” against Anxiety’s perceived threats, allowing you to choose how to react and experience the diverse ways it influences our emotions and decision-making.
The personified (and zoomorphic) portrayal of anxiety encourages players to step back and view their own anxiety in a similar light, recognizing it as a separate entity that can be understood and managed. That understanding of both sides of the internal struggle further acts as a bridge to self-compassion — anxiety is reframed as a protective mechanism rather than a personal attack.
The game also offers choices that lead to different outcomes, some more helpful than others. This empowers players to experiment with different coping mechanisms and discover what works best for them in a safe and supportive environment.
Cozy Grove (2021)
Cozy Grove is a cozy, life-sim game where you befriend spirit bears on a haunted island. Through daily activities like crafting, fishing, and decorating, you’ll help the spirits find peace and restore color to the island. As you navigate restoring the grove, you’ll encounter spirits dealing with unresolved issues and emotions, emphasizing compassion and, by reflection, self-compassion.
Many spirit stories involve dealing with complex emotions like grief, loss, anger, and regret. By helping spirits process these feelings, players are encouraged to confront and explore their own emotions in a safe and supportive environment.
Supporting this is the game’s atmosphere. The calming music, soothing visuals, and slow-paced gameplay promotes emotional well-being and creates space for players to de-stress and reflect on their own feelings as they progress.
Thirsty Suitors (2023)
Thirsty Suitors is a game about mending relationships and confronting the lingering effects of generational trauma. You step into the shoes of Jala, returning to her hometown after an abrupt departure years before. The game’s RPG-style battles against exes are lighthearted yet emotionally charged, offering players the opportunity to confront past baggage and unresolved conflicts with newfound maturity and self-acceptance.
The encounters with your exes, though playful, underscore the complexities of human interaction. The mental impact is underscored further through a system that weaponizes taunts, using their psychological effects to amplify player attacks. Someone who is heartbroken, for instance, may take damage each turn as a result, but will also be harder to hit as well as hit harder due to the intensity of their emotions. This invites players to reflect the psychological impact of their actions.
Jala’s relationships with her family, particularly the cultural expectations placed upon her, also contribute to her stress and anxiety and do a good job of highlighting the sometimes immense pressures that can come from within our families, especially when generational trauma is involved.
Throughout, Thirsty Suitors also models healthy coping mechanisms like cooking, skateboarding, and connecting with loved ones.
Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan (2021)
Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan is an adventure platformer that emphasizes non-violence and emotional connection. A young, kind-hearted individual, Billy embarks on a journey to restore color and happiness to a world drained by the Leviathan, a creature representing negativity and despair.
Each of the diverse creatures Billy encounters is grappling with unique anxieties and insecurities, manifested as a loss of their colors. Through turn-based conversations, players delve into the creatures’ emotional landscapes, helping them overcome their fears. These interactions not only restore the creatures’ colors but also highlight the healing power of compassion and connection.
More generally, the game serves as a safe haven for emotional exploration, normalizing a wide range of feelings through relatable characters and their personal struggles. Despite being a single-player experience, Rainbow Billy fosters a sense of community and belonging by emphasizing the importance of building relationships and supporting each other, ultimately combating feelings of isolation and loneliness.
The core mechanic of non-violent conflict resolution also reinforces empathy and compassion, essential skills for healthy relationships. By understanding and addressing the emotional needs of others, players develop a deeper connection to the world around them.
Rainbow Billy‘s narrative goes beyond entertainment, offering a message of self-acceptance and embracing diversity. Billy’s non-binary identity fosters greater awareness and understanding of gender, promoting inclusivity within the game.
By demonstrating the power of positive emotions and resilience to overcome adversity, Rainbow Billy encourages players to care for their own mental well-being while nurturing compassion for others. It is a heartwarming reminder that kindness, acceptance, and understanding can illuminate even the darkest corners of our world.
Even more games…
While this article focuses on games that explicitly address mental health, countless others offer implicit support for well-being. Meditative experiences like A Little to the Left or Unpacking encourage relaxation and mindfulness, often incorporating elements that promote a sense of calm and connection with nature. Even Tetris, not originally designed for therapeutic purposes, has shown potential in reducing intrusive memories after trauma.
On the other end of the spectrum, titles like Actual Sunlight and That Dragon, Cancer provide raw and unflinching portrayals of mental health struggles and difficult life experiences, creating a space for reflection, empathy, and validation for those who may be experiencing similar challenges.
These examples merely scratch the surface of the diverse ways video games can contribute to mental well-being and offer avenues for healing and growth.
Acknowledgments
With special thanks to Lucas J. W. Johnson (Silverstring Media), Dr. Rachel Kowert (Take This), and the expert team at TakeThis.org for their insights and feedback on this article.
Now what?
For a list of examples of games that practice player care through breaking the fourth wall, see:
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Games That Check In
We can break the fourth wall to connect with and care for players.
