174 Chapter 3 a third study showed that compared to online CBT-based psychoeducation, playing MindLight resulted in similar improvements in anxiety symptoms and state anxiety in response to a (social and cognitive) stressor (Tsui et al., 2021). These results are promising, but it remains unclear whether the means by which children improve in anxiety symptoms are through the game mechanics that were explicitly designed into MindLight. Investigating such in-game processes is extremely valuable, not only because it gives insight into who will benefit most from the game, but also into which game mechanics are most important for anxiety symptom-reduction more generally (and those that are in need of further development). By testing the effect of the game mechanics in MindLight, the current study provides a first step towards building a toolbox of validated game mechanics. In turn, those validated game mechanics that are able to change causal processes associated with the development and maintenance of anxiety could be used in new applied games targeting anxiety symptoms or other psychopathologies with the same underlying deficits. Table 1 Overview of the evidence-based principles that are translated into game mechanics in MindLight and the specific in-game play behaviours that are indicative of these mechanics Evidence-based principle Game mechanic In-game play behaviours Engaged Avoidant/safety Relaxation Neurofeedback Bright mindlight No mindlight Exposure Approach fear events Exploration Decloak/attack fear events Defeat Pick up coins Turn on ceiling light Hide in chest Inactivity Attention bias modification Attention bias puzzles Solve puzzle MindLight MindLight is a video game for children 8 to 12 years of age, designed and developed in a cross-disciplinary collaboration among developmental psychologists, clinicians, game designers, and children themselves. In the game, the player is in grandma’s dark and decrepit mansion and needs to save her from evil forces by chasing away or uncovering “fear events” and solving puzzles. The player plays through the game by using his/her “mindlight”, a beam of light at the end of an antenna attached to the magical hat the avatar is wearing. The player needs this light in order to move through the dark game environment.
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