Then there are games that build spaces that would be impossible in real life. Then there are games like Animal Crossing, that offer a social context in which to apply your architectural and landscaping skills.
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Games like Townscaper allow you to easily create series of buildings and consider how one structure relates to those around it - like a street-scene generator. Then there are games like The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, Biomutant, Enslaved or The Last Of Us that drop you in a once-great but now ruined architecture.Īlong with these pre-built spaces, there are also games that invite you to affect and rebuilt the architecture of a world. Others, like The Witcher, Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and Eastshade, create their own cities and buildings. Some, like Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto and Forza Horizon recreate virtual versions of familiar places. Video games mirror and magnify this built environment in different ways. Our homes, offices, shopping malls, cathedrals, stations, bridges and even public toilets have all been designed. We spend our lives in buildings every day. Playing these games with young people, and answering questions they might have along the way, can be a useful starting point for important conversations about grief." They can help show the player that they are not alone in what they are going through. "The games we have selected don't necessarily offer an ideal way to cope with death but tackle the topic of death openly and with a positive attitude. With these games, players may find valuable space in which to acknowledge grief as a completely normal reaction to bereavement." "To help children cope with loss, it is important that they receive honest explanations about death, appropriate to their level of understanding. "We express grief in different ways depending on our age," they said. By focusing on the intersection between gaming and mental health, they want to raise awareness of mental health challenges and reduce the stigma surrounding these issues.
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I've come up with some games that explore this topic, along with help and suggestions from Gaming The Mind ( Twitter), an organisation of UK-based mental health professionals who aim to promote positive mental health within the gaming community. But also, games can provide a helpful space in which to process, consider and understand death and loss.
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This means that some care is necessary if players are sensitive to losing significant people. Games include interactions, narratives and characters dealing with all aspects of life (and death).