With the recent news about the inclusion of Gaming Disorder in the draft of the upcoming ICD-11, we asked Dr. Kelli Dunlap (doctor of psychology, game developer, manager of mental health research and design at iThrive games, and Take This volunteer) for her thoughts on the inclusion. While this article is a bit longer and […]
What is a Growth Mindset? How do you approach problems in your everyday life? Do you like to dive in, ready for some educational failure? Or do you find yourself growing disheartened if you don’t succeed right away? These approaches, and the beliefs and attitudes that inform them, are called “mindsets.” Your mindset can greatly […]
Last week, the White House released an 88-second clip of context-free video game violence. It showed a disturbing series of gruesome acts intended to appeal to viewers’ emotions and create a link between video game violence and real life violence that science has thus far been unable to prove. In response, Games for Change has […]
Team Gotham’s Solo is a game about love. Not a game about picking the perfect character to date, or a game about finding love in dire cirumstances — a game about love as a concept, and what it means to us. Solo was inspired by our beliefs and concerns about love experiences. As result of […]
At Take This, we believe in the power of sharing our stories — the power of showing people that they’re not alone. The story of Lucas “Mendokusaii” Håkansson, an Overwatch pro playing with the Houston Outlaws, is a wonderful example of that power. Recently, Håkansson talked to PCGamesN about his history with gaming, streaming, and […]
When we talk about games like Journey or Abzû, the word “meditative” often crops up. Travelling through the desert and mountains or swimming beneath the waves can be calming, certainly, and can help us feel more in touch with ourselves. There’s growing list of games that take the idea of meditative interactivity further, though — […]
Purchasing loot boxes in a game can have a lot in common with gambling. We put in real money, get a random reward, and sometimes go way too far trying to get a win. But while legislative efforts to protect consumers from the hazards of loot boxes may come from a well-intentioned place, they may […]
It’s been just over a year since Night in the Woods was first released to critical acclaim. It’s been lauded for its handling of issues like the economic decline of the American middle class, small town life, growing up, and daily life with mental health issues. In this video, YouTuber Jax-3636 does a great job […]
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice has been embraced by some players as an effective and affecting portrayal of mental health issues, and criticized by others for oversimplifying those same issues. In a recent article in Psychiatric Times, Sharon Packer, MD, a practicing psychiatrist, and gaming scholar Shawn Edrei, PhD, take a look at Hellblade with an eye […]
Games can be powerful tools for healing and growth — that’s something we see again and again in the stories we share. But without game literacy, a lot of the games we love and recommend become a bit unapproachable. Sometimes even impenetrable. Here, Extra Credits explains the idea of game literacy: We all know people […]
