I was listening to a Reply-All podcast episode called, Autumn, the other day and it reminded me how powerful and life-changing games can be. The episode is about Autumn who, during a troubled childhood, loses the one person who seems to love and care for her – her Grandmother. Autumn doesn’t get to say goodbye or grieve in the way she needs to…

During this time she is also playing The Sims – building a representation of the perfect world that she wished she lived in. Her grandmother’s death triggers an idea for Autumn and she rebuilds the world to match her own less-perfect life. There is one difference though, she includes her grandmother in the sim with aging turned OFF.

As Autumn’s sim grows older and has her own family, she realises there is something she must do. She must turn aging ON for her grandmother’s sim – she must say goodbye but this time, on her terms. Autumn actually uses this GAME to relive a pivotal moment in her life – the death of her grandmother – but in a way that allows her to better process and deal with it.

I personally find it amazing and truely inspiring that we can deal with trauma through playing games. Games are a powerful platform for us to express ourselves and play out What-If scenarios.

Something to think about when next playing or designing a game experience.