Hope’s Quest: A Therapeutic Video Game—previously known as Think Again—is an independent role-playing game designed to help you cope with emotional difficulties. The game was made in collaboration with medical doctors and therapists to deliver a game that focuses on emotional difficulties that most people have experienced, such as anxiety and depression. While it cannot identify or treat mental conditions, it can help you accept those feelings and encourage you to see a mental health professional. 

What is Hope’s Quest?

Hope’s Quest stands out from other programs and applications that offer a similar therapeutic experience. It uses evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to ensure players of the effectiveness of the activities. By applying the best practices available, the treatments in the game are likely to produce positive results. The approach also guarantees you that the newest research and studies have been considered in the game. 

The game presents you with a user guide that explains three abilities: Think Again, Consult, Brighten. Think Again means that you need to uncover and deal with your thoughts, while Brighten refers to your mood—you need to review the notes on your in-game character’s phone for this. Consult means that you will need to call your counselor to help you skip a challenge. Both the Brighten and Consult options cost one battery each. 

You will be able to tell your mood by looking at the upper-right corner of your screen. The red bar is your mood meter, while the three squares are your phone’s battery. Everyone else in the game are non-playable characters whom you need to interact with; you must learn to adapt to their behaviors, as well as respond. Once you’ve responded, you will be redirected to the cutscene where the NPC will send his or her reply. 

Let it all out

Hope’s Quest is a casual and novel game that everyone can play. It tackles various emotional hurdles we all face in a way that everyone can understand and be open to. The 16-bit graphics also help the experience feeling more welcoming, as the adorable characters warm you up to talking about your feelings and other vulnerabilities.