Catalan, Cristobal, Gega, Lina orcid.org/0000-0003-2902-9256 and Hook, Jonathan David orcid.org/0000-0002-0588-7013 (2024) Storytelling Games for General Anxiety:Clinician Perspectives on Walking Simulator Games as Intervention. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 339. ISSN 2573-0142
Abstract
General anxiety is a common mental health condition across the world, with many barriers preventing people from accessing treatments. A growing body of evidence suggests that serious games offer appealing and effective solutions for anxiety. Despite their potential, an understanding of game design qualities and contextual game mechanics in game-based interventions are significantly under-explored, especially for general anxiety. Alternative and emerging game genres may offer new intervention approaches previously overlooked in digital mental health research. We use story-led exploration games, particularly the environmental storytelling walking simulator game genre, as an analytical template to understand new game design strategies and features that can potentially enable engaging and efficacious serious games as interventions for general anxiety. Using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, we summarize input from expert clinical participants who identified and evaluated several game design qualities towards developing walking simulators as potential serious game interventions.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 Copyright is held by the owner/author(s). This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the University’s Research Publications and Open Access policy. |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Theatre, Film, TV and Interactive Media (York) The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Hull York Medical School (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 16 Aug 2024 12:50 |
Last Modified: | 02 Apr 2025 23:28 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1145/3677104 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1145/3677104 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:216204 |