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Donating our Playstations to families in poverty
Anouk Tuijnman - 05-06-2020We have written blogs about games to play online with family and friends or games that can help you relax. Both of which seem very needed in the uncertain times we live in now, most of us quarantined. However, we realized that not all families have access to these games. We wanted to do something for them. We have donated our Playstations that we have used for studies in the past to families who live in poverty. You can read more about that and the organisations that we donated them to in this blogpost.
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Stay Connected! Games to Play Online with Friends or Family
Joanneke Weerdmeester - 27-03-2020We compiled a huge list of online games you can play together; classic video games as well as online board games. Updated list: 2-11-2020
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iamYu: Jeugdzorg die gaat over jou!
Anna Lichtwarck-Aschoff - 24-10-2019VOTE NOW!! The iamYu app competes for the ZonMw Medical Inspirator award. Cast your vote here [insert url] and contribute to personalized & collaborative youth care!
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Sayonara Hard Mode
Erik van den Berge - 24-09-2019A long-lasting debate around game difficulty flared up again recently. Should games be inherently challenging? What can-or should-developers do to make their games more accessible? Does taking away the challenge hamstring a game’s ability to build resilience? My playthrough of Sayonara Wild Hearts provided me with the answers.
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The Charizard Cortex's True Lesson
Nastasia Griffioen - 08-05-2019A new Stanford study has uncovered the next puzzle piece about how our brains process what we see around us... using Pokémon! I think, however, that there is an additional, valuable thing to be learned from this study, which has also to do with how we view things, but in a way you might not expect.
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Hot off the press: a paper about the use of design thinking to improve mental health interventions for youth
Hanneke Scholten - 15-01-2019A new paper by Hanneke Scholten and Isabela Granic is out, published by the Journal of Medical Internet Research! Find 'Use of the Principles of Design Thinking to Address Limitations of Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth: Viewpoint' here or read about it here.
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Should you play Pokemon Go with your family?
Marlou Poppelaars - 18-12-2018In a small side street leading from the riverfront up to the city center a strange collection of people were gathered. Among them pre-teen children accompanied by a parent, a group of about a dozen teenage boys, several smaller groups of older teenagers and young adults, interspersed by older adults and senior citizens. All gathering to and playing together with the aim of battling and catching the legendary Pokémon Giratina. So why is it that Pokemon go still attracts so many players from all ages? And should your family join in?
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Let’s Talk about Mental Health: YouTubers and Twitch Streamers Speak Up.
Babet Halberstadt - 16-09-2018Recently, a number of YouTubers and Twitch streamers have started talking about their own mental health struggles, trying to start a conversation with their viewers about this topic. In this blog I showcase a couple of these videos in the hopes that it might encourage you to speak up as well.
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Relax with Monument Valley
Aniek Wols - 14-05-2018This month’s theme is about help-seeking for anxiety and depression. There are quite some people that play video games to feel better and to lower their anxiety and depressive feelings. In this blog, I would like to tell you more about Monument Valley. This game is not only one of GEMH’s favourite games, but also a game that a lot of participants in one of our studies enjoyed very much because it is so relaxing and calming.
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The Most Meaningful Waste of a Month
Ken Koontz - 19-03-2018The condition "Gaming Disorder" describes a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior so severe that it takes "precedence over other life interests". But is it the game design that is addicting or the emotional connections to an online social network made while playing the game?