In summer 2024, the Bristol Digital Game Lab co-directors Dr Michael Samuel and Dr Richard Cole, along with digital artist Dr Danny Bacchus, were awarded seed funding from the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) Narrative Technologies fund to explore the potential of a videogame to be used as a conversational tool for fathers living with postnatal depression.
Process (Q4, 2024)
In October 2024, we participated in an initial game jam led by Michael at the Department of Film and Television, University of Bristol. Conversations over the day revolved around a central research question and aim: what is the capacity of a game to engender empathy toward fathers experiencing postnatal depression, and be the catalyst for further conversation?
Given that there is no one size fits all experience of postnatal depression, we felt it was essential to approach the conceptualisation of the game objectively. It was important at the start to dedicate time to understanding some of the nuances of postnatal depression by contextualising the condition medically, historically, and culturally, including reviewing representations across literature, art and visual media. Quickly abandoning the immediate impulse to create a character and a story, we opted instead for a symptoms-led approach to the game’s conceptualisation and design, identifying common symptoms from literature and asking, how might they shape the game world, its mechanics and, ultimately, the player experience?
Showcases (Q1, 2025)
After a busy fourth quarter in 2024, during which time we developed a concept and a working prototype, the first quarter of 2025 was marked by both public-facing and research showcases. At a Narrative Technologies sharing event at the Watershed (23rd January) the three of us presented and took part in a panel conversation about the potential of games (and other interactive narrative forms) as a methodology for working through complex mental health conditions. In March (7th), Danny presented our prototype our prototype at the Pervasive Media Studio’s First Friday event, a monthly public social and showcase of creative work in the community. More recently (2nd April), Michael presented the game as part of a departmental research seminar in Film and TV. His research paper detailed some of the context and research that informed the videogame’s production, insight into the game making process, followed by a Q&A and demo for scholars and students to try. Feedback from these events has been highly encouraging.
Next Phase
Now that we have a working interactive prototype, the next stage is to consult with support workers in the third sector to identify additional needs and potential. Once funding is in place, we plan to run a series of playtests to gain valuable feedback and continue to develop the gain in response to ongoing feedback from professionals and those with lived experience of postnatal depression.
If you are interested in hearing more about the project, or would like to discuss how the Bristol Digital Game Lab could consult on the process of translating your research into an videogame, please contact Michael or Richard.
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