elude by doris c. rusch - games for health europe 2011
DESCRIPTION
Elude - Playing the Opposite of PlayThe purpose of this presentation is twofold: First, to share with attendants the process and results of an exciting collaboration between video game design research and child psychiatry that fruited in Elude, the video game on depression. Second, to explore opportunities for use of specifically designed video games in mental health care.For many, a video game on depression may seem impossible or at least intangible. After all, the opposite of play is not “work”; it is “depression”. Yet, application of video game design research with input from psychiatry culminated in Elude, a polished yet controversial video game prototype about depression that intends to make the feelings of this dangerous, mental illness experientially tangible. Such a game may make it possible for friends and relatives of people living with depression understand what their loved ones are going through.The game approaches depression from a subjective point of view. It models the inner experiences during depression that seldom find a voice. Elude’s overall structure and mechanics were designed over the course of 2010 at Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab’s summer program by Doris C. Rusch with Atilla Ceranoglu as medical advisor who ensured clinical accuracy of the modeled system.During the presentation, you will get a chance to see a demonstration of the finished game and learn about the development process, which included many hard decisions that balanced the developers’ desire for creative freedom with the necessity to keep the core vision in place and the game’s metaphors consistent. We will also explore further opportunities for Elude and other video games in the service of mental health counseling.TRANSCRIPT
Elude - playing the opposite of play
Doris C. Rusch; G4H Europe, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
game design researcher meets therapist at:
Doris C. Rusch, Dr.MIT GAMBIT Game [email protected]
T. Atilla Ceranoglu, M.D.Mass. General Hospital
Thursday, November 3, 2011
research: games tackling the human condition
+
purposeful game design
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our concept of choice:
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Facts on Depression• 2.2 million depressed adolescents in
2004
• More than twice likely to use drugs
• 7% may commit suicide
• Less than half (40%) received treatment
...Under-response!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Step 1:
defining the purpose of the game
Thursday, November 3, 2011
NOT to cure depression but:
• informing friends and relatives of depressed
• increase understanding of how depression manifests
• generally, raise awareness for this dangerous mental health issue
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step 2:
defining the design approach to inform and raise awareness
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embracing
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modeling “what it feels like”
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not preachy!Thursday, November 3, 2011
depression is about loss:
loss of meaningloss of goals
loss of control loss of agency
loss of playfulnessloss of sense of self
loss of focus loss of energyloss of voice
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games are about playThursday, November 3, 2011
expansiveness, freedom, joy!
play is a state of mind
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depression is the opposite of play
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In order to make “loss” tangible, the game will also model that which is lost.
It aims to show the contrast between playfulness / agency and depression / loss of agency
and the transition between the two in an experiential way.
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Step 3:
translating high level ideas into concretegame structure
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game world = emotional landscape
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objective: tap happiness potential
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conflict: mood struggle
you want to get “up”, but antagonistic force tries to bring you “down”
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structure:
n
h
n
d
normal = nhappy = h
transition = tdepression = d
n
t
d
t
h
n
t
d
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the importance of passion
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step 4: putting the flesh on the skeleton:
creative freedom, metaphors and nuances of meaning
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struggling against “down” force, take I:
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struggling against
a “down” force, take II
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struggling against “down” force, take III
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Thursday, November 3, 2011
