As I look deeper into the development of tabletop game designs aimed at enhancing social skills for gamers, I’ve been looking at a lot of existing games for inspiration and context. Surprisingly, I discovered a vast array of games designed specifically to improve social skills, many of which targets predominantly to the younger underage audiences. Coming across this was both enlightening and daunting.
The more I looked, the more I realized how crowded this field already is. Many games are already out there, offering everything from simple card interactions to complex role-playing scenarios, some even requiring professional therapists to facilitate like the D&D therapy sessions. This saturation made me question the uniqueness of my initial intervention idea – to create a game that blends role-playing elements of games with therapeutic elements for gamers who struggle socially offline.
Despite the crowded landscape, my passion for helping this specific community, gamers who find online interactions more comfortable than offline ones, remains the same. However, I acknowledge that creating another game from scratch might not be the most effective approach.
Reflecting on this, I’m considering a shift in my approach. Instead of building a new game, why not leverage the plethora of existing games? Many of these games, though already well-designed for therapeutic purposes, might not be reaching or resonate with the audience I want to help. My new vision involves making a guidebook, curating a collection of these games, each selected for its potential to develop specific social skills, but still fun enough to also grab the attention of my target audience.
Imagine a guidebook that not only lists games but also explains how each can be used therapeutically, and also categorize what type of social skills each game will help build. This resource could be helpful for individuals or even organizations like Game Therapy UK, which already utilizes trained professionals and tabletop gaming as a form of social therapy. If I could partner with such organizations, I could gain insights into practical application of these games in therapeutic settings and refine the guide to ensure that it truly benefits gamers.
Moreover, I’m also thinking of including a marketing approach to help elevate the guidebook and this practice of using games as a form of social skills training, increasing visibility and impact, encouraging more widespread adoption and helping it reach those who could benefit most. This potential pivot from creating to curating doesn’t diminish the project’s value; rather, I think it enhances the feasibility and potential impact.
The road ahead looks clear: research, connect with experts, and start compiling a guide that could make a real difference. But I need someone to check my ideas first, not sure if I’m on the right path or no.
EDIT 5/13/2024 4:56PM
After the tutorial today and the incubator session, I was able to share my intervention with a few tutors and students, I’ve also talked to them about the challenges I’m currently facing (create or curate?), and why I have the urge to change track. A lot of the people I spoke to today thinks that I should stick to my guns, the target audience I am going to address is very different and unique. I will seek more feedback in the next few days.
EDIT 5/15/2021 11:52PM
Went to see Richard during office hours today to seek feedback regarding my current predicament, it was quite enlightening. I want to approach the problem of supporting gamers with low self-esteem, guiding them to more accessible help, and I proposed two different ways to approach: a specially designed game or a zine helpbook. I was thinking in the line of committing to one and only doing one approach, but Richard pointed out to me that why not test both? It’s quite complementary to each other. Just like that, it’s like that mental block in my head is removed. In hindsight, it was quite obvious that I was being way too solution-focused, even having a solution directly embedded into my “how can” question. With this new insight, my new refined question, without being too solution-focused, is “How Can Young Gamers with Low Self-Esteem be Supported in Improving Their Self-Assurance?” This way, I can try different approaches and adjust as needed.