Healthcare Technology Featured Article

June 26, 2013

SPARX: The Video Game Where Depression is the Real Enemy


While plenty of people out there turn to video games when bored or anxious or otherwise unhappy, there is only—according to reports—one video game out there that has been clinically proven to fight depression. That game is known as “SPARX,” and it's the topic of an exclusive licensing arrangement between LinkedWellness and the game's developer, Auckland UniServices Limited, the commercial arm of the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

It may be hard to believe, but “SPARX” has been subjected to a randomized clinical trial, and in the process was found to actually decrease depression. The game—a fantasy role-playing game—revolves around a character that travels to seven different Provinces, solving puzzles along the way and at the same time learning a variety of methods to apply to the player's own life to aid in beating depression. For instance, the Volcano Province focuses on “dealing with emotions” while the Ice Province has a focus on “being active.”


The game itself, based on the information from the trailers, takes about three and a half hours to complete—seven Provinces at about a half-hour per province—and offers a bit of simulated training in the aforementioned skills to learn how to apply same in the real world. As for the game's plot, the player will be going out to recover a set of Power Gems in order to restore light to the world via re-activating the Circle of Power.

The real-world skills taken away include things like breathing exercises, yielding coping strategies for depression. Since the game can be played privately, it removes a lot of the stigma associated with depression treatment, and given that depression both impacts about 30 percent of college-age people—with a hefty 80 percent taking no treatment for the issue—something like this could prove sound.

Granted, no one's going to mistake “SPARX” for “Skyrim”--the entire game of “SPARX” might be a quest in some games—but the value in the game lies not in the game play itself but rather in the dissemination of useful skills in a way that users can get behind. Rather than just “some doctor” talking about breathing exercises, the game talks about the same things, and this can have more impact, especially where young people are concerned. “SPARX” has even taken several awards so far, including the Netexplo award from UNESCO, and in 2011 took the World Summit Award as part of the UN's drive on e-health.

Additionally, “SPARX” represents something of a growing trend in game development: the rise of New Zealand as a major center of operations in game development. Back in 2012, six games produced in New Zealand were part of the top 10 iOS games in the United States, including names like “Into the Dead,” “Bloons Tower Defense 5,” and “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.” With these titles and “SPARX” in the fray, we may well see more gaming come out of New Zealand in the near future.

Fighting depression via a video game may sound outlandish to some—and to others sound all too familiar—but with clinical trials behind it, it's not hard to believe that “SPARX” is doing at least some good. Video games are often maligned in many ways: time wasters, generators of improper behavior and poor attitude, or even worse. But with “SPARX” offering actual, verified help for depression, the idea of video games as anything more than a trivial toy may just get some credence.




Edited by Alisen Downey
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