PlaySafety: Virtual environments as a persuasive tool to contrast risky behaviors in youth

Game Design in Mental Health Care: Case Study–Based Framework for Integrating Game Design Into Therapeutic Content

“…Previously, digital games that have been developed for mental health care often embodied similar characteristics as those found in fully functional entertainment games, although with a health-related purpose at its core [14]. Such games usually contain a carefully designed fully functioning "game space" with their own gameplay mechanics and interactive aesthetics (eg, [15][16][17]). In some cases the therapeutic tasks and activities themselves are embedded in a game-level structure and players would need to achieve various health-related objectives in order to progress through the game [15,16].…”

“…For example, in the SPARX game, users go through different levels that challenge them to acquire core skills that would help them better cope with depression [ 16 ]. In other cases, the game space itself is designed to provide awareness (often by encouraging players to reflect through gameplay) and persuades players to adopt and maintain a behavior that improves well-being [ 4 , 17 ]. An example of this could be seen in the Playsafety game where players are shown various scenarios that depict dangerous situations related to drug use and are shown the consequences of making the wrong decision in those scenarios [ 17 ].…”

“…In other cases, the game space itself is designed to provide awareness (often by encouraging players to reflect through gameplay) and persuades players to adopt and maintain a behavior that improves well-being [ 4 , 17 ]. An example of this could be seen in the Playsafety game where players are shown various scenarios that depict dangerous situations related to drug use and are shown the consequences of making the wrong decision in those scenarios [ 17 ]. Overall, the design process of these games generally resembles those that are used to develop serious games in other application domains, such as in education.…”

“…First, interactions within the game world can be linked more directly to the interactions within the therapeutic activity, thus making them more meaningful and relevant to the therapeutic outcome. This is opposed to a nonintegrated approach with a separate game world (eg, Figure 1 ), where core player actions in the game space (such as going through various scenarios to learn about the dangers of drugs) play a more supportive role toward the outcome of the therapeutic activities [ 17 ]. In the integrated game therapy world used in the burnout gamification for instance, the actions of players in the game world (shooting down negative statements to earn points) are shared with those of the therapy world (rejecting negative thoughts as part of the therapy process) [ 22 ].…”

Using a Virtual Serious Game (Deusto-e-motion1.0) to Assess the Theory of Mind in Primary School Children: Observational Descriptive Study

“…Another game that exploits the representation of behavioral cause and effects is called Playsafety (Purgato & Gamberini, 2005), and addressed young people's unsafe behavior; defined according to preliminary investigation of the nighttimes scenarios where dangerous behaviors most frequently occur, and to a scenario-based design, several situations were created (disco, park and restroom for drug abuse, a motorbike ride for safety driving). Players, represented by avatars, were offered different reaction options, followed by scenes depicting the consequences of their choice (Kerr, Neale, & Cobb, 2002).…”