Author: Michelle Chen

makes games and other things
Literature Review, PhD

PhD in Video Games: My Reading List

As I’m starting to accumulate books in my physical and EndNote library, I think I might as well share my reading list here as well. If you are also doing or planning to do a PhD in Video Games, here are some books that are on my reading list and you should also check out. Also, if you have any book recommendations, please comment or tweet me @purplelilgirl, thank you.

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event, Literature Review, PhD

Walking in the “Rain Room”

Can’t really dance, ‘coz that would be to sudden a movement. But you can walk slowly through the room, and raise your arms and not be rained on (don’t wear dark colors, like my sister, or you will get a bit wet). It was an interesting experience, they have sensors in the ceiling so that rain will avoid you, but at the same time it … Continue reading Walking in the “Rain Room”

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Literature Review, PhD, Review

Walking in someone else’s stilletos in “A Mile in My Shoes”

With my Pikachu socks (it’s a great look). Anyway, I went to the popup exhibit of “A Mile in My Shoes” by the Empathy Museum in Melbourne. It’s a shoe shop in a shoe box, where you can borrow someone else’s shoes (and walk a mile in them if you really want to, along the Yarra River or just around the Art Center, I sat … Continue reading Walking in someone else’s stilletos in “A Mile in My Shoes”

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Apps, Dev, Games

Making a new game, the brain farts

I dunno about you, but for me, I come up with game ideas in that time when I’m lying in bed and struggling to fall asleep. And then my brain would start farting of all the details and actually make it harder to fall asleep. And then when I wake up, I have to write all the brain farts down and hopefully make it make sense (mostly, it’s just a bullet point list of random ideas, some images and some videos).

I thought it would be fun to capture that moment in time, and share the progress of a new game slash app that I am working on.

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Michelle Chen1 Comment
event, Literature Review, PhD

Here are some talks about Video Games and Mental Health at MIGW

Melbourne International Games Week is just around the corner (October 5-14) and I compiled a list of talks about Video Games and Mental Health at GCAP (Game Connect Asia Pacific) and PAX Aus (Penny Arcade Expo Australia), which I will check out (and maybe you’d be interested too).

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Games, Literature Review, MENTAL Jam, PhD, Related Games and Apps

Games that can help with your mental health [Part 2]

So I really entered a rabbit hole, and I performed a comprehensive search for games and apps for mental health, using this search string: (“video games” OR “serious games” OR “gamification” OR “app”) AND (“mental health” OR “depression” OR “anxiety” OR “empathy”) and publication date after 2015, in these databases: Scopus, PubMed, Medline and Embase, and it yielded quite a bit.

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Classes, Literature Review, PhD, Review

Reading Related Literature with Mendeley

So I just got started with my PhD in Design (actually it’s video games, I’ll be researching about video games and mental health), and first up, it’s related literature reviews (may also include some gray literature, and playing games). Before I get started, actually, I already started and I downloaded 70+ PDFs of related literature and I need to organize them and read and highlight … Continue reading Reading Related Literature with Mendeley

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Games, Literature Review, MENTAL Jam, PhD, Related Games and Apps, Review

Game Review: Shadow’s Edge

Shadow’s Edge is described as “game designed and developed for the sole purpose of supporting young patient’s emotional health, connecting players to themselves and their peers in similar situations in a meaningful and fun way”. The game is set in Shadow’s Edge, and at the start of the game you can see colorful graffiti on the wall (I’m getting Melbourne vibes). But a storm pretty … Continue reading Game Review: Shadow’s Edge

Michelle Chen1 Comment
Literature Review, MENTAL Jam, PhD, Related Games and Apps, Review

Game Review: ReachOut Orb

ReachOut Orb is an interactive game for teaching well-being to Year 9 and 10 students. In the game, you enter a world where a negative force known that drained color from the world and you must return color to the world. So you go around the world solving this Pacman like puzzles, talking to people and solving their problems. I like how it tries to … Continue reading Game Review: ReachOut Orb

Michelle Chen1 Comment
Classes, Games, PhD

I’m doing a PhD! (it’s still in video games)

So it’s a PhD in Design at RMIT in Melbourne Australia, and my topic is “Developing Video Games for Mental Health”. After I finished my Masters and having completed a game about depression, and having talked to the lovely people who contributed their stories to the game, I realized that I wanted to do more for mental health awareness. I roped in some friends and … Continue reading I’m doing a PhD! (it’s still in video games)

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Classes

I studied Psychology

I just received an email about the Confirmation of Award, which means that I have finished my University Certificate in Psychology! That’s right, a game developer with a programming background, decided to study Psychology… at the University of Derby online. This is a late post. I mentioned it briefly in my CV post, but I didn’t delve into each too much, because half way through … Continue reading I studied Psychology

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