Category: Games

Games

I’ve been organising weekly Zoom Game Parties during self-isolation

I have been in self-isolation for 19 days now. Before the university cancelled face-to-face classes, I was a mentor for our Mates program (it’s more of a social thing, for new students starting university and arriving in Melbourne). It’s tough, starting university for the first time, arriving in a new city, new country, and then a few weeks in, everyone is forced to stay indoors, … Continue reading I’ve been organising weekly Zoom Game Parties during self-isolation

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Dev, Games

I made a game for Rising Sea Game Jam

But you can’t play it yet, ‘coz it will be released as part of an album. And also because of self-isolation, social distancing, and the whole world being told to wash their hands while singing to Happy Birthday. The theme for the game jam is “Woven”, what is so interesting about this game jam is it’s a collaboration between Southeast Asian game developers. It starts … Continue reading I made a game for Rising Sea Game Jam

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Dev, Games, PhD

I made a game for Games Aid Mental Health Jam #GamesAIDMHJam

Games Aid organized an online game jam on itch.io with the theme of mental health and a duration of a week. So it’s okay to take it slow and be more relaxed about it. And I decided to join and make a game. Given the theme, I thought maybe it might be very personal, so instead of tapping my artist friends, I decided to draw … Continue reading I made a game for Games Aid Mental Health Jam #GamesAIDMHJam

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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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Games, Literature Review, PhD

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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Games, Literature Review, PhD, 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

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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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Dev, Games

Teaching Kids How to Code Video Games

For the past few school holidays, I’ve been teaching kids how to code video games. We have 2 types of “game engines” (yes, in quotations, because it’s by no means an actual game engine), a 2D and a 3D one. The 2D one has block coding options, while the 3D one actually have kids doing line coding using Javascript. I am quite impressed at the … Continue reading Teaching Kids How to Code Video Games

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Dev, Games

Harnessing the Power of Empathy Games for Mental Health Awareness

Finding and creating a supportive mental health community while developing games I have been a game developer for the past 8 years. But I worked in game studios and I programmed whatever my company told me to. But I never made my own game on my own. As part of my Masters by Practice for a degree in Video Game Enterprise and Production, I had … Continue reading Harnessing the Power of Empathy Games for Mental Health Awareness

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