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5 Games that Undertake the Theme of Mental Health

Writer's picture: Leia EmeeraLeia Emeera
5 games that explore mental health
5 Games that Explore Mental Health Theme

Why Mental Health Matters

Mental health is important at every stage of life—it affects the way you act, react and feel. Our choices, the things we say and our resilience can be affected. More than that, mental health also affects our physical health—stress, for instance, raises the risk of heart disease, while depression can increase the chance of strokes. Therefore, taking care of your mental health is non-negotiable.

Why Talking About Mental Health is Important

While mental health discussions are more common now, stigma still exists, especially among generations raised to "suck it up." Disorders are a concern that affects many—it broadly ranges from common phobia to psychosis, and despite its universal nature, yet support can be hard to find.

Fortunately, mental health awareness has grown in recent years, thanks to those who are bringing it into the spotlight—whether in discussions, media, or entertainment.


5 Games That Tackle Mental Health Challenges


Video games are a well-loved type of interactive media, that allows players to fully immerse themselves into the worlds built and the characters they control. Therefore, it’s a great medium to convey themes and messages that can stick to the unsuspecting.


The following games present characters dealing with mental health challenges in varied forms—through adventure, horror, and even puzzle gameplay. These titles highlight that mental health is a relevant theme across all genres.


1. The Beginners Guide

The Beginner's Guide Game
Source: The Refined Geek
  • Initial release date: October 1, 2015

  • Genre: Walking Simulator, Adventure, Indie

  • Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, Mac operating systems

  • Developer: Everything Unlimited Ltd.


The Beginners Guide is a walking simulator, where players play through snippets of 18 games. Each instalment differs in environment, gameplay, and goal—if any. Instructions are given by an elusive narrator, Wreden, who directs players and provides snippets of context for the minigames presented.


Initially, all we know is that they were developed by the narrator’s longtime friend, Coda. Explore, converse and solve puzzles—but players cannot die, akin to most walking sims.


Players are given small pieces of information about Coda, to deduce who he is and what drove him to create such abstract pieces—each space feeling devoid, following themes of isolation, incompletion and disordered communication.


To avoid any major spoilers, we’ll stop here. Ultimately, this is a game about both Wren and Coda’s psyche and the emotional turmoil that plagues them.


2. Fran Bow

Fran Bow Game
Source: The Fran Bow Wiki
  • Initial release date: August 17, 2015

  • Genre: Adventure, Psychological Horror, Puzzle

  • Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Android, PlayStation 4, macOS, Windows

  • Developer: Killmonday Games


Initially set in an asylum, Fran Bow follows a girl who had to watch her parents get murdered. It’s a psychological horror puzzle game, with levels that players have to solve by switching between two dimensions.


This is done so by the medicine administered to Fran by her psychiatrist, which transforms the world into a morbid parallel of reality—a relatively unique gameplay element.


The character aims to reunite with her one and only friend, Mr. Midnight, the cat. The first chapter of this game that explores mental health theme ends with her escape, and from then on, the worlds she traverses only diverges further from what is considered normal.


Fran Bow tells the story of a trauma-induced amnesiac, who simultaneously experiences schizophrenic hallucinations. Besides its beautiful art direction, unique storytelling and mechanics, the game reminds its players that children are never too young to struggle with mental disorder.


3. The Binding of Isaac

The Binding of Isaac Afterbirth: Roguelite, Action-Adventure, Shooter game
Source: The Binding of Isaac Wiki
  • Initial release date: September 28, 2011

  • Genre: Roguelite, Action-Adventure, Shooter

  • Platforms: Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac operating systems

  • Developer: Edmund McMillen, Florian Himsl


This famed roguelite opens with a cutscene, of a mother and a child in their living room. Isaac’s mother then receives word from who she believes as God; this voice tells her that her son is evil and must be rid of.


Isaac, in a panic, jumps into the basement of their house. The game begins, and the player must navigate across monster-ridden floors with nothing but Isaac’s tears, to defeat his mother. True to the genre, the gameplay includes randomly generated levels and permanent deaths.


The game does have meta progression, where new levels, stories, items, bosses and characters are unlocked as you complete the game numerous times. Some monsters and all unlocked characters resemble Isaac closely, and items and bosses are overt biblical allusions. The Binding of Isaac is a game that calls attention to religion-induced trauma, and hints to dissociative identity disorder (DID) as an after effect of said trauma.

4. Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 2 game
Source: Eurogamer
  • Initial release date: September 24, 2001

  • Genre: Survival Horror, Puzzle, Third-Person Shooter, Adventure

  • Platforms: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Xbox

  • Developers: Konami, Team Silent, Creature Labs, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan


Silent Hill 2 is the second instalment of the largely influential video game series. It’s a horror game that doesn’t exploit mental illness for cheap jumpscares, and instead translates disorder into atmosphere, well-thought enemy designs and story.


Players take control of James Sunderland in the town of Silent Hill to look for his wife. It’s a monster ridden place—yet gameplay does not centre around killing them, and instead it is driven by overcoming obstructions, finding keys and solving puzzles.


Monsters are a physical manifestation of the roaming people’s fears and trauma, and are essentially pieces of their own psyche. Take Angela, for example. She’s an 18-year-old girl that James stumbles across amidst his journey—and the pair continuously runs into a monster called Abstract Daddy.


We learn that it isn’t a fear that belongs to James, but to Angela instead—the creature is an embodiment of her past trauma, indicative of the assault Angela was forced to face. Silent Hill reflects human grief, cope and the individual disorders of centric characters. Some may argue that it vilifies mental health by attributing them to monstrous entities—but it rather is representative of how disorder can force fragmented identities.



5. Sanitarium

Sanitarium games
Source: VentureBeat
  • Initial release date: 1998

  • Genre: Psychological Horror, Point & Click, Graphic Adventure Game

  • (Modern) Platforms: Android, Microsoft Windows, iOS

  • Developer: DreamForge Intertainment, DotEmu, Piko Interactive, Bleem.Net


Rather obviously, this isometric-perspective game is set in a sanitarium. It is an archaic word for a type of hospital, for long-staying patients. Players navigate through pointing and clicking, taking reign of an amnesiac named Max, who had newly awoken from a coma. You’ve been told that you were injured while trying to steal a doctor’s car, and from there on out you are on your own.


As the players descend past halls and floors, levels start to shift into different pieces of land. Max faces different antagonistic monsters that belong to various genres—from sci-fi to historical fiction. Reality blends with imagination. This game blends art with disorder, namely the umbrella of psychosis, presenting a captivating world of a person who has been dealt an unfortunate deck of cards.


Overview

The topic of mental health and its various disorders is broad and complex, but the five games mentioned above approach these themes thoughtfully, avoiding exploitation. Expanding mental health awareness across diverse media is essential—not everyone reads, watches, or plays the same way.


By weaving mental health themes into interactive storytelling, these developers contribute meaningfully to the broader conversation in a medium that reaches and resonates with many.


Author Bio

From Malaysia, Leia Emeera is a writer at TESSR, and a published author. She has been putting pen to paper ever since she learned how to, and has an anthology to her name, titled 'Ten'. Leia loves music, games and her beloved labrador retriever, George. She aims to further her studies in English Literature and Creative Writing the moment her gap year ends. 'Till then, you will find her sitting behind a desk, writing with TESSR.


Connect with her on LinkedIn: Leia Emeera

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