With both the theory and the practice, it is time to dive in and find out if gamified solutions are a wish fulfillment fever dream or if they really can increase mental health literacy, how they do it, and how they work in practice in Finland.<\/p>\n
Games for mental health literacy<\/h1>\n
As part of their 2024 study, Anvari, Hammer and Wehbe created a game to research whether mental health literacy can be improved with a serious game. Short answer: Yes, it can.<\/p>\n
They developed a game called \u201dPet Project\u201dthat combined mixed reality with mechanics inspired by other mental health related serious games. The game was played combining big display and users\u2019 mobile phones, and it included minigames that raised the participants\u2019 awareness on mental health. Completion of minigames awarded snowballs, and week culminated in a snowball fight on a big display.<\/p>\n The results were promising \u2013 the participants both enjoyed the game and felt more informed about mental health subjects. Some elements that were helpful were creating opportunities for attachment \u2013 by having a customizable player character, for example \u2013 being captivating, which meant different techniques for boosting engagement, and finding ways to design for collaboration, not competition.<\/p>\n Various methods were employed, from tracking digital engagement with the game, to observing the players, to in-app Survey and qualitative interviews.<\/p>\n This was then seen in a study. But what about practice \u2013 what about these kind of games in Finland?<\/p>\n Koala-ryhm\u00e4 has a card game, simply titled \u201dKoalan korttipeli\u201d. In this card game, players get to collaborate to solve problems for their characters, create stories, and discuss struggles and solutions tied to mental health. It\u2019s as much for other people to understand someone struggling with mental health as for people who do.<\/p>\n \u201dThe game activism idea in Koala Ryhm\u00e4 started with wanting to raise awareness and discussion about mental health related things in many different ways\u201d, Sinna tells me. \u201dIdea was that even someone without personally experiencing mental health struggles could, through the card game, understand the experiences of someone in mental health rehabilitation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dAdding empathy and understanding\u201d, adds Venla.<\/p>\n In the card game, people create their characters in a character sheet, resembling DnD and tying back to the study where the importance of character customisation was ntoed. This brought humour and added distance: \u201dYou create yourself a character so it\u2019s not you who is experiencing the situations from situation cards, but it could be a three-headed wizard who is experiencing them instead\u201d, Sinna says.<\/p>\n The game is played by picking cards from different piles and compiling them into a story. It is played together: On their turn, a player will pick up a card, read it to everyone, and then solution to the situation will be brainstormed together.<\/p>\n The game has three different card types: Situation cards, experience cards, and solution cards. There are six different types of situation cards, with categories such as leaving home, running errands, social situations, studies and career life, outdoor activities and hobbies. To play the game, one would pick one situation card, and two experience and solution cards. Then they choose one of each. Based on this, a story will be built, it could be an individual story for each round or continuous one.<\/p>\n In one particular game, the situation was \u201dYour hobby group has kept you active, and supported your mental health. Summer break is here, and somehow you have to survive the summer without group meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dThe options for \u2019experience\u2019 were \u2019my social battery is full\u2019 and \u2019it feels as if someone is following me\u2019, and I picked \u2019my social battery is full\u201d, Venla says. \u201dThe solutions were \u2019AI\u2019 or \u2019panic\u2019. I chose AI, and the chain of thought was that \u2019alright, actually I am quite tired and my social battery is full so I can talk to AI when I\u2019m in the need of company [in-game].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dYes, those fit together quite well\u201d, Sinna says. \u201dSometimes they don\u2019t\u2026 Sometimes you have to use quite a lot of imagination, and it\u2019s quite ok, you don\u2019t always have to be exactly realistic in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Often, to warm the group up, the facilitator will go first. When played, The card game tends to spark a lot of conversations, some silly, some going deep. \u201dIn one game we discovered that when solution was always avoidance, that lead to loneliness\u201d, Venla says about a game that inspired particularly deep conversation<\/p>\n In Koala, designing and creating the game is just as important as the end result and end users. The card game has had multiple iterations. \u201dThe hardest thing is always to decide that okay, now the game is ready, now we no longer take any new comments.\u201d<\/p>\n Similar to Pet Project, collaboration is an important part of the game. \u201dWe play the game together and can help each other out, and there is not really one winner\u201d, says Venla.<\/p>\n So\u2026 can games heal the world?<\/p>\n Probably not completely. But it seems that they can help people come together and talk about things, and understand each other better. Which is a win in my books.<\/p>\n Research paper:<\/strong>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kuvitus1-1024x296.png\")
<\/a>Game activism in Finland: Koalan Korttipeli<\/h1>\n
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<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kuvitus3-1024x438.jpg\")
<\/a>Games for change<\/h1>\n
\nAnvari, S. S., Hammer, J., & Wehbe, R. R. (2024). \u201cMore than just a game, it\u2019s an app that builds awareness around Mental Health\u201d: Mental Health Stigma Reduction Using Games for Change. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8(CHI PLAY), Article 325. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/3677090<\/a><\/p>\n