THE LOOP — The goal of the computer game FLUCTuation is to give players an understanding of what it means to suffer from bipolar disorder.
In one level, the player is jumping higher and higher while losing control. In another, it feels like the player is walking through mud.
FLUCTuation is one of the first games developed at DePaul University's new Play for Change lab, which brings together programmers, designers and researchers to "create interactive experiences dedicated to personal and social change," according to founder Doris Rusch, a DePaul professor.
"I always wanted to have my own lab dedicated to making these kinds of games," Rusch said. "I wanted to give these games a home."
Rusch's interest in "games for change" came during her time as a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she designed Akrasia, a game about drug abuse, and Elude, about the struggles of depression.
As with those games, research and data is at the center of what Play for Change wants to accomplish, Rusch said.
FLUCTuation and three other games are part of the "For the records" project, which Rusch has worked on with documentary filmmaker Anuradha Rana — and a slew of students — since 2012. Other mental health issues like obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders and attention deficit disorder also have their respective games and films in the project, largely built on interviews with a single subject.
Corey Buchillon, a master's student studying human-computer interaction, had a chance to play "It's for the Best," a game about dealing with ADD.
Buchillon said the game echoed his experiences of growing up with ADD, where taking medicine is often seen as a solution to dealing with everything else in life.
"I was on medication. I felt like I was the odd man out," Buchillon said. "You can't focus on anything."
The lab, based in DePaul's Daley Building, already is working on a number of other projects, according to Rusch. Among them:
• "Disrespect," a game aimed at teaching children about how to deal with bullying. The lab is working with kids in Englewood to research how the thought process works when dealing with bullies.
• "CURERunners," a game about financial literacy that never mentions money. It's already been released in Austria, where it was downloaded 16,000 times in the first 10 days following its release in April. The "action-packed endless runner" needs to be redeveloped for an American audience because it's extremely difficult to get past the second level, Rusch says.
• "Fear Country," a game that will help people cope with anxiety.
While these games won't be "super-polished" like other games that have made video games a multi-billion dollar industry, they will take a while to create, Rusch said.
But once the research is completed and the games are designed in a meaningful way, they could make an impact, not only on the games industry, but society at large, she says.
"I definitely see how implementing change is possible in game design," Rusch said. "People understand more and more if they experience it. Games can enable and embody experiences."
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