Table 1.
Game characteristics.
| Game name | Language | Genre | Time limits | Game storyline | Character customization (Y/N) | Biofeedback (Y/N) | Motion–activated video game (Y/N) | Game website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aislados | Spanish | Role-playing game | 55 min./session | Students visit a shipwreck, whose occupants end up lost on an island. Players control one of the characters and make decisions on how to deal with different situations. | Unclear | No | No | Not available |
| Arise | English | Puzzle game | 10 min. | No storyline | No | No | No | Not available |
| Ching Ching Story | Chinese | Role-playing game | NA | Overall game has ten missions to be fulfilled [storyline not clear]. | Unclear | No | No | Not available |
| Cockroach Game | Spanish | Puzzle game | 15–35 min. | Two scenarios with different levels of difficulty. 1) user sees cockroaches on various surfaces displayed on the phone screen; the virtual insects wear (closed toe) shoes at the first level, summer shoes (open toe) at the intermediate level, and on a hand at the advanced level. 2) users see (on camera) virtual cockroaches on real surfaces (e.g., on their real clothes, hands, etc.). | No | No | No | Not available |
| Dojo | English | Adventure and puzzle game | 30 min./session | Player discovers a hidden temple and is accompanied by Dojo masters through various trainings and challenges. The player must remain calm under stress. | No | Yes | Yes | YouTube demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNV4A8R8v4A |
| e-SMART-MH | English | Role-playing game | 15–20 min. | Young adult interacts with three-dimensional avatars of healthcare providers and staff in a virtual office visit. A virtual coach supports the young adult in communications with the healthcare team; gives tailored feedback. | Unclear | No | No | Not available |
| Feeling Better | Romanian and English | Action and adventure game | NA | Player selects a character and undertakes a flying challenge to collect functional emotions written on colorful balloons, while avoiding dysfunctional emotions and other obstacles. | Unclear | No | No | https://rethinkplatform.ro/ |
| GameSquad | English | Exergames | NA | In Just Dance, players imitate on-screen dance choreography from over 40 songs, and are judged on their ability to follow a dance routine to a chosen song. Players can unlock gifts such as new songs, game modes, and Dance Mashups combining different dance routines. | No | No | No | YouTube link to Just Dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S_Ch_qzWp8 |
| Journey | None | Adventure game | Not clear | Players travel through a desert and underground areas to the top of a snowy mountain. | No | No | No | https://thatgamecompany.com/journey/# |
| Maya | Spanish | RPG adventure game | 11:57 min. | Maya, a sad teenager, gets involved in an environmental protest with her friend to save a park. They give information to an official. The protesters win and save the park. | Unclear | No | No | Not available |
| Minecraft | None | Exploration game |
10–20 min. | Two comparable, virtual environments: a pirate island (“island”), and a large mansion and surroundings for players to explore. | No | No | No | Not available |
| Muse | English (Dutch translation of tutorials) | Gamified smartphone app | 5–20 min./session | A game-based meditation app with 10 relaxation tutorials that are played on an iPad. Players wear an electroencephalography (EEG)–based headband that provides real-time neurofeedback. | No | Yes | No | https://choosemuse.com/ |
| OCfree | Korean | Quests, serious and educational games | NA | No storyline. | NA | No | No | Not available |
| OnTrack>The Game | English | Role-playing game | 45-60 min. | Initial scene as players have moved in and need to unpack. Energy-consuming activities (e.g., unpacking, visiting new environments) delete an energy bar, which is restored by doing restorative activities (e.g., taking a shower, sleeping). Game teaches about causes, symptoms, and treatment of FEP through a computer. Characters visit other places where they can watch videos inspiring hope and recovery. | Yes | No | No | YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9WiJYCePNI |
| Pesky gNATs | English | Role-playing game | 45-50 min. | A series of game characters introduce mental health concepts through conversation, embedded animations, videos, and questions about player's own situation. Players carry an in-game notebook for answering characters' questions and recording new ideas. Negative automatic thoughts are presented as little creatures called gNATs who sting people, causing 9 types of negative thinking. gNATs provide a concrete representation of a key CBT concept. | No | No | No | https://peskygnats.com/ |
| PlayMancer | Spanish | Role-playing game | 20 min. | Video game includes three mini-games: (1) The Face of Cronos, based on biofeedback; (2) Treasures of the Sea, a virtual swimming game that trains for visuospatial abilities, visual working memory, and decision making; and (3) Sign of the Magupta, a relaxation game. | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Not available |
| POD Adventures | English, Hindi, and Konkani | Adventure game | Not clear | Game teaches problem-solving skills through interactive animated vignettes and personalized action plans, with encouraging prompts and feedback by an in-app guide character. Storyline is not clear. | Unclear | No | No | https://appsonwindows.com/apk/10045950/ |
| Professor Gooley and the Flame of Mind | Chinese | Role-playing and adventure game | 45 min. | User takes on role of a space intern in a fictional setting showing cognitive distortions on earth. Guided by Professor Gooley, they undertake a space journey to 8 planets, searching for the Flame of Mind to solve the world health crisis. Quests prompt them to learn and apply psychological constructs to obtain the various components for activating the Flame of Mind. | Unclear | No | No | www.gooley.edu.hk |
| RAGE-Control | English | Action game (Space Invader style) | 30–45 min. learning phase; 15 min. self-regulation phase | Like the arcade game, Space Invaders, with a pulse oximeter to measure heart rate. Player maneuvers a spaceship horizontally, firing at enemy spaceships, withholding fire when friendly spaceships fly past. | No | Yes | No | YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1s8D8FpG90 |
| RAW HAND | English and Korean | Platform game | 30 min./session | Players select one of five games in the platform and perform related tasks based on the concept of repetitive exposure and response prevention. | No | Yes | Yes | Not available |
| Reach Out Central | English | Role-playing game | 69-91 min. | Player completes a short survey that measures positive affect, then is presented with game scenario around move to a new town. In-game mood (tracked over time) is affected by activities and response to characters and situations. | Unclear | No | No | Not available |
| Recovery Warrior | English | Body motion-activated game | NA | The suite of games makes use of whole-body motion detection and a voice-recognition feature. Drug refusal elicits the phrase “I'm clean”. Games include Recovery Ninja (destroy drugs), Recovery Ninja+Goodies (destroy and discern), Recovery Climber (avoid drugs), Recovery Racer (destroy drugs), Recovery Racer+Goodies (destroy and discern), Recovery Runner (avoid drugs), and Recovery Runner+Goodies (avoid and discern). | No | No | Yes | Not available |
| REThink | Romanian and English | Several genres, mainly action and adventure game | 50 min. | Developed around the character of RETMAN, player practices Rational Emotive and Behavioral Therapy. RETMAN guides youth in saving the minds of Earth's inhabitants from the powers of Irrationalizer. | Unclear | No | No | https://rethinkplatform.ro/ |
| Shots Game | Dutch | Gamified digital platform | Not clear | Game is like a slot machine; uses a coin-based reward system and attractive graphics, animations (e.g., spinning wheels with pictures of beverages), and sound effects. | No | No | No | Not available |
| SmartCAT | English | Platform game |
2-5-min./ mini- game | Each game (of 4) contains content for multiple scenarios and levels of difficulty. | No | No | No | Not available |
| SPARX (SPARX-R and Rainbow SPARX) | English | Fantasy game | 30 min./ module | In SPARX (Smart, Positive, Active, Realistic, X-factor thoughts), the young person chooses an avatar and undertakes a series of challenges to restore the balance in a fantasy world dominated by GNATs (Gloomy Negative Automatic Thoughts). | Yes | No | No | https://www.sparx.org.nz/home |
| Stigma-Stop | English and Spanish | Role-playing game | 60 min. | Various scenarios. | No | No | Unclear | YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbr827Y4nvw |
| The Journey | English | Fantasy game | 20-30 min./ module | Setting is a fantasy game environment, where user selects and names an avatar, undertakes a quest through magical lands. Themes are linked to content (e.g., cognitive restructuring techniques covered in Sky and Star Cities). Points earned for completing each of seven modules; rewards after each module. | No | No | No | Available on request from the author |
| The SIMS Life Stories™ | English | Role-playing game | Not clear | Game follows the lives of Riley, who moves from SimCity to Four Corners to start a new life with her Aunt Sharon, and Vincent, a millionaire searching for true love. The towns in which Riley and Vincent live are also available for gameplay after completion of the stories. | Yes | No | No | https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/The_Sims_Life_Stories |
| This is Your Life | Dutch | Fantasy game | 30 min. | User follows a journey toward a flourishing life, guided by a professor. | Unclear | No | No | Not available |
| Walk in My Shoes | English | Platform or narrative game | 2–3 hours, entire game | No storyline | Unclear | No | No | Not available |
| What Happened?! | Dutch | Role-playing game | NA | In game sessions, the adolescent wakes up after a night of partying and does not remember what happened the night before. The 2-dimensional game leads the player to find out what happened. | Unclear | No | No | Not available |