Development of a casual video game (Match Emoji) with psychological well-being concepts for young adolescents

Abstract

Digital interventions for mental health and well-being have been shown to be effective in trials, yet uptake and retention in real-world settings are often disappointing. A more significant impact may be achieved by building interventions that are closer to how target groups use technology to support their own psychological well-being. Casual video games may be poised to offer an opportunity in this area as they are a highly popular activity among young people. We propose that mental health content can be integrated into the explicit content and the implicit processes used in casual video games. In this paper, we describe the design and core processes of Match Emoji, a casual video game designed to support the development of psychological well-being via gameplay and micro-messages. The iterative development of Match Emoji involved various phases, including a systematic review of the literature, consultation with target users, clinicians, game developers, and close reading of the literature. Expert collaboration was sought throughout the process to ensure gameplay and messages matched behaviour change and learning theories. An acceptability and feasibility study of Match Emoji will inform a randomised controlled trial in the future.

Development of a serious game-based cognitive rehabilitation system for patients with brain injury

“…The software was created on a mobile-based platform to be easily accessible for both the patient and the therapist. According to research, the use of smartphones is high among young people, and smartphone owners use an average of 10 apps per day and 30 apps per month [ 65 ]. It has been used as an educational intervention for cognitive rehabilitation in populations with attention deficit disorder [ 66 ] and elderly people [ 67 ].…”

A Novel Casual Video Game With Simple Mental Health and Well-Being Concepts (Match Emoji): Mixed Methods Feasibility Study

“…The Match Emoji rationale, content, and processes have previously been described [ 33 ]. In brief, the micromessages in Match Emoji are based upon psychological well-being literature, specifically the Five Ways to Wellbeing [ 36 ].…”

“…Young people indicated interest in this idea, with a match-3–style CVG being preferred. Subsequently, a game designer was contracted to develop the first version of Match Emoji , a simple match-3 CVG that includes brief text-based mental health and well-being messages, which have been previously described [ 33 ]. In brief, this includes short “micromessages,” which were developed using psychological well-being literature and were sometimes linked to gameplay, for example, “Great job focusing and matching the emojis!” and “Phew!…”

Videojuegos, salud, convivencia y adicción. ¿Qué dice la evidencia científica?

“…En relación con los videojuegos casuales, son aquellos que se distinguen por ser de rápido acceso, fáciles de aprender y suelen ser jugados a través de teléfonos inteligentes (Pine et al, 2021); estudios como el de Chamarro et al (2020) corroboran los efectos negativos de la frustración en el desarrollo del IGD entre los jugadores y destacan el papel del tiempo dedicado al juego y las expectativas de uso del juego en el desarrollo del IGD.…”