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Show HN: I made a video game to help reduce stress and anxiety

61 points by stan_kirdey 4y ago

bluetidepro 4y ago
I would recommend adding a few videos with more information on your landing page. Even the Steam page just has screenshots. Obviously it's a free game so you're not concerned about sales in the monetary sense, but it would "sell" the game more to have some videos included.
- stan_kirdey 4y ago
  good point, and I already have a few videos on youtube. thanks!
ahub 4y ago
Hey, the steam webpage states: > Evidence-based and community certified. While I'm convinced this kind of stuff can help,I wonder what kind of evidence and certification you can build on that kind of game. I didn't find any documentation on the website. Care to share more ?
- stan_kirdey 4y ago
  There are a few games in the U.S. that were able to get FDA approval to be used for treatment. So potentially a game can be certified as a medical device. As it is my hobby project I do my best to collect research evidence on video games and mental health. I did document some of what is out there here https://vortle.medium.com/does-science-back-mental-health-focused-video-games-yes-it-does-and-we-use-science-at-vortle-2e71f7055457 https://vortle.medium.com/does-science-back-mental-health-fo...
  - personjerry 4y ago
    But those aren't trials on this game, so can you really make a statement like that?
    - stan_kirdey 4y ago
      good point, but I am not saying this game treats any condition
      - iancmceachern 4y ago
        You need to revise your title, it needs to say "...may help to reduce..." Source- I design medical devices
      - personjerry 4y ago
        It seems to be what your phrasing is suggesting, so it's disingenuous at best
      - klyrs 4y ago
        > I made a video game to help reduce stress and anxiety Yes, you are.
        LawTalkingGuy 4y ago
        No, that's not a condition, that's a symptom. I don't need a study to say that pancakes reduce hunger.
        AlecSchueler 4y ago
        Would you need a study to say pancakes reduce anxiety? I'm not sure I follow your logic or the distinctions you're making.
        loa_in_ 4y ago
        Anxiety is anxiety, a feeling. Anxiety disorders are what you mean perhaps? Then there's no mention of the latter.
        LawTalkingGuy 4y ago
        Something can reduce anxiety and yet not cure "the APA definition of Anxiety Disorder" or whatever. Also, whether something is a cure is always a personal question. Even if petting kittens is a proven cure it's not going to work for you if you're allergic to them. For pancakes, definitely we'd need a study. They're not commonly accepted as being able to reduce anxiety.
- stan_kirdey 4y ago
  I see your concern. The two games that are part of Vortle were trialed by others and found to be beneficial and have clinically significant results. I've reimplemented them to use AI and did a bit of different design and game mechanics. Although I can not afford a clinical trial, I did gather feedback from a lot of players on "before/after" feeling and it did show benefit. Doing my best.
- infinitygames 4y ago
  [dead]
sovietmudkipz 4y ago
This is really cool!
Raidion 4y ago
I really think that the ability for games to relax and de-stress is clear (at least from my anecdotal standpoint). This get bonus points for gamifying some meditative and deep breathing techniques. On the other hand, I always worry about the "escapism" of video games in the way they might provide a safer and more comforting activity than tackling the real problems that lead to the stress and anxiety. That being said, all this looks great! You should get a video of gameplay (or at least provide some sort of "what games are these" information so that people can explore them without having to download another app. I simply don't know enough about the game to download another app without more information!
- AdmiralAsshat 4y ago
  > On the other hand, I always worry about the "escapism" of video games in the way they might provide a safer and more comforting activity than tackling the real problems that lead to the stress and anxiety. Let people escape, dude. I'm not gonna tell a guy who works several shitty jobs to barely make rent that he's not allowed to de-stress via his method of choice because he should just be "tackling the real problems". It's not your place to impose a value judgment about how people deal with stress.
  - AlecSchueler 4y ago
    I'm not sure that's what they were doing. I had the same concern, that using video games to address these concerns ultimately doesn't address issues like loneliness, lack of community, unresolved trauma, relationship and substance issues etc. There's nothing wrong with escaping or short term fixes though. Often these can be the things that are needed to help people into the position where they can even care enough about themselves and their feelings to do the other work. The danger just comes when these are used as the only tool. Ultimately the benefits wear off and the user is back at square one. It's no one's place to make value judgements on how others spend their time but issues like depression and anxiety are social issues at the end of the day and it's good to have open discussions about these things. Unaddressed mental health issues can often lead to people acting out and hurting others, and in that sense we're all responsible for voicing our concerns and trying to help one another get onto healthy paths forwards.
Tijdreiziger 4y ago
Out of the gate, the privacy policy looks pretty bad for something that's supposed to reduce anxiety. A few excerpts: Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to: (a) Email address (b) First name and last name (c) Phone number (d) Address, State, Province, ZIP/Postal code, City (e) Cookies and Usage Data We may also collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Service or when you access Service by or through a mobile device (" Usage Data"). This Usage Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. We may use and store information about your location if you give us permission to do so ("Location Data"). While using our Service, we may also collect the following information: sex, age, date of birth, place of birth, passport details, citizenship, registration at place of residence and actual address, telephone number (work, mobile), details of documents on education, qualification, professional training, employment agreements, non-disclosure agreements, information on bonuses and compensation, information on marital status, family members, social security (or other taxpayer identification) number, office location and other data. If you are located outside United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to United States and process it there.
- stan_kirdey 4y ago
  it is generic, the game works offline, doesn't require registration so there is no place to enter any PII
  - Tijdreiziger 4y ago
    If so, I would suggest updating the privacy policy to reflect that.
dangerwill 4y ago
Health care, even low stakes stress reduction video games, and "powered by AI" should be as far apart as possible imo
- stan_kirdey 4y ago
  the "AI" part is mostly for accessibility. The block matching game adjusts its difficulty using RL, and the match-3 figures game has "autoplay" mode also powered by RL. Both modes exist to make the playing experience a bit easier:
- _fs 4y ago
  "Powered by AI" is 2023's "Blockchain"
nadermx 4y ago
Your footer © shows 2021..
- stan_kirdey 4y ago
  thx, need to add a function there!
ineptech 4y ago
I get the "This app is not available for any of your devices" that Play store very unhelpfully never explains. Any guesses why?
- stan_kirdey 4y ago
  when publishing in play store it requires to setup minimum Android version. Could be android version mismatch, I believe the game was built last time for Android 11 and on
dfxm12 4y ago
You wanna talk about videogames to reduce stress and anxiety, Ferry Halim's Orisinal Games were perfect for that. No need to install anything or give anyone your info, simple controls, cute concepts, pacing that started off slow. Too bad they relied on Flash and are gone now...
wcoenen 4y ago
When sound is disabled, there's indeed no sound... until I hit the back button. When I hit the back button, I get a blast of sound for 1 second.
- stan_kirdey 4y ago
  is it on iphone or android?
  - wcoenen 4y ago
    Android, Pixel 4A

61 points by stan_kirdey 4y ago

I would recommend adding a few videos with more information on your landing page. Even the Steam page just has screenshots. Obviously it's a free game so you're not concerned about sales in the monetary sense, but it would "sell" the game more to have some videos included.

stan_kirdey 4y ago
good point, and I already have a few videos on youtube. thanks!

ahub 4y ago

Hey, the steam webpage states: > Evidence-based and community certified. While I'm convinced this kind of stuff can help,I wonder what kind of evidence and certification you can build on that kind of game. I didn't find any documentation on the website. Care to share more ?

stan_kirdey 4y ago
There are a few games in the U.S. that were able to get FDA approval to be used for treatment. So potentially a game can be certified as a medical device. As it is my hobby project I do my best to collect research evidence on video games and mental health. I did document some of what is out there here https://vortle.medium.com/does-science-back-mental-health-focused-video-games-yes-it-does-and-we-use-science-at-vortle-2e71f7055457 https://vortle.medium.com/does-science-back-mental-health-fo...
- personjerry 4y ago
  But those aren't trials on this game, so can you really make a statement like that?
  - stan_kirdey 4y ago
    good point, but I am not saying this game treats any condition
    - iancmceachern 4y ago
      You need to revise your title, it needs to say "...may help to reduce..." Source- I design medical devices
    - personjerry 4y ago
      It seems to be what your phrasing is suggesting, so it's disingenuous at best
    - klyrs 4y ago
      > I made a video game to help reduce stress and anxiety Yes, you are.
      - LawTalkingGuy 4y ago
        No, that's not a condition, that's a symptom. I don't need a study to say that pancakes reduce hunger.
        AlecSchueler 4y ago
        Would you need a study to say pancakes reduce anxiety? I'm not sure I follow your logic or the distinctions you're making.
        loa_in_ 4y ago
        Anxiety is anxiety, a feeling. Anxiety disorders are what you mean perhaps? Then there's no mention of the latter.
        LawTalkingGuy 4y ago
        Something can reduce anxiety and yet not cure "the APA definition of Anxiety Disorder" or whatever. Also, whether something is a cure is always a personal question. Even if petting kittens is a proven cure it's not going to work for you if you're allergic to them. For pancakes, definitely we'd need a study. They're not commonly accepted as being able to reduce anxiety.
stan_kirdey 4y ago
I see your concern. The two games that are part of Vortle were trialed by others and found to be beneficial and have clinically significant results. I've reimplemented them to use AI and did a bit of different design and game mechanics. Although I can not afford a clinical trial, I did gather feedback from a lot of players on "before/after" feeling and it did show benefit. Doing my best.
infinitygames 4y ago
[dead]

sovietmudkipz 4y ago

This is really cool!

Raidion 4y ago

I really think that the ability for games to relax and de-stress is clear (at least from my anecdotal standpoint). This get bonus points for gamifying some meditative and deep breathing techniques. On the other hand, I always worry about the "escapism" of video games in the way they might provide a safer and more comforting activity than tackling the real problems that lead to the stress and anxiety. That being said, all this looks great! You should get a video of gameplay (or at least provide some sort of "what games are these" information so that people can explore them without having to download another app. I simply don't know enough about the game to download another app without more information!

AdmiralAsshat 4y ago
> On the other hand, I always worry about the "escapism" of video games in the way they might provide a safer and more comforting activity than tackling the real problems that lead to the stress and anxiety. Let people escape, dude. I'm not gonna tell a guy who works several shitty jobs to barely make rent that he's not allowed to de-stress via his method of choice because he should just be "tackling the real problems". It's not your place to impose a value judgment about how people deal with stress.
- AlecSchueler 4y ago
  I'm not sure that's what they were doing. I had the same concern, that using video games to address these concerns ultimately doesn't address issues like loneliness, lack of community, unresolved trauma, relationship and substance issues etc. There's nothing wrong with escaping or short term fixes though. Often these can be the things that are needed to help people into the position where they can even care enough about themselves and their feelings to do the other work. The danger just comes when these are used as the only tool. Ultimately the benefits wear off and the user is back at square one. It's no one's place to make value judgements on how others spend their time but issues like depression and anxiety are social issues at the end of the day and it's good to have open discussions about these things. Unaddressed mental health issues can often lead to people acting out and hurting others, and in that sense we're all responsible for voicing our concerns and trying to help one another get onto healthy paths forwards.

Tijdreiziger 4y ago

Out of the gate, the privacy policy looks pretty bad for something that's supposed to reduce anxiety. A few excerpts: Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to: (a) Email address (b) First name and last name (c) Phone number (d) Address, State, Province, ZIP/Postal code, City (e) Cookies and Usage Data We may also collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Service or when you access Service by or through a mobile device (" Usage Data"). This Usage Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. We may use and store information about your location if you give us permission to do so ("Location Data"). While using our Service, we may also collect the following information: sex, age, date of birth, place of birth, passport details, citizenship, registration at place of residence and actual address, telephone number (work, mobile), details of documents on education, qualification, professional training, employment agreements, non-disclosure agreements, information on bonuses and compensation, information on marital status, family members, social security (or other taxpayer identification) number, office location and other data. If you are located outside United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to United States and process it there.

stan_kirdey 4y ago
it is generic, the game works offline, doesn't require registration so there is no place to enter any PII
- Tijdreiziger 4y ago
  If so, I would suggest updating the privacy policy to reflect that.

dangerwill 4y ago

Health care, even low stakes stress reduction video games, and "powered by AI" should be as far apart as possible imo

stan_kirdey 4y ago
the "AI" part is mostly for accessibility. The block matching game adjusts its difficulty using RL, and the match-3 figures game has "autoplay" mode also powered by RL. Both modes exist to make the playing experience a bit easier:
_fs 4y ago
"Powered by AI" is 2023's "Blockchain"

nadermx 4y ago

stan_kirdey 4y ago
thx, need to add a function there!

ineptech 4y ago

I get the "This app is not available for any of your devices" that Play store very unhelpfully never explains. Any guesses why?

stan_kirdey 4y ago
when publishing in play store it requires to setup minimum Android version. Could be android version mismatch, I believe the game was built last time for Android 11 and on

dfxm12 4y ago

You wanna talk about videogames to reduce stress and anxiety, Ferry Halim's Orisinal Games were perfect for that. No need to install anything or give anyone your info, simple controls, cute concepts, pacing that started off slow. Too bad they relied on Flash and are gone now...

wcoenen 4y ago

When sound is disabled, there's indeed no sound... until I hit the back button. When I hit the back button, I get a blast of sound for 1 second.

stan_kirdey 4y ago
is it on iphone or android?
- wcoenen 4y ago
  Android, Pixel 4A