Ken Koontzonline
Short bio
In house game designer, artist, producer and lover of games. I bring diversity, design experience and the NOISE!!!!
Top-3 games
- Grim Dawn
- World of Warcraft
- Ark: Survival Evolved
“Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.”
Paul Rand
About me
My background in the arts and architectural design have afforded me the ability to engage in projects that cross the disciplines of visual art and design, combined with my love of visual media and entertainment I find myself passionate about developing video games. I view development with perspective from both art and design. Through exploration, experience and sheer desire for discovery, my approach constantly jumps over the edge of the two disciplines to find the best solution for creating a fun and aesthetically appealing game environment.
I love this quote because in games, the best ones are always simple to grasp (i.e. put the ball in the basket or capture your opponents king) however these games take a lot of time to master (Basketball or Chess). I believe games find depth not in the amount of options/features the player has but in the number of strategies the player can develop. Now fuse in visual aesthetics that can enhance an emotional connection or trigger a memory in the player and a deep satisfying experience can ensue.
Projects I’ve worked on
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CategoryResilienceDate08/03/2021Study/CourseLocation
Reducing Stress Through Virtual Social Support
About the projectPeople with large social networks on average live longer, happier, less stressed lives. We can potentially leverage video games and virtual spaces to increase the experience of social support and impact daily stress and anxiety. Therefore, this project aims to show that virtual social support can lower stress, and potentially impact stress coping behaviours.
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CategoryDepressionDate08/03/2021Study/CourseLocation
Social Games as Prevention Tools for Depression in Adolescents
About the projectIn my PhD project I study social games for the prevention of depression. In my project I take part in both the development and testing of games. I want to use video games to help youth become more emotionally resilient and to decrease the stigma that surrounds depression. I do this in close collaboration with other researchers and game designers. I am particularly interested in games that are played in a social context, because I believe that both social threat and social support are key factors in the development and maintenance of depression.
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CategorySubstance AbuseDate08/03/2021Study/CourseLocation
Designing and Testing a Game Intervention to Help Youth Quit Smoking
About the projectSmoking is one of the leading public health problems in the world. In the Netherlands today, still 1 in 4 youth between the ages of 16 and 25 smoke. Even more worrisome is that there are almost no evidence-based interventions available to help them quit smoking. That’s why we, in collaboration with scientists, game designers and smoking youth, developed and tested a game to help youth quit smoking. HitnRun is a mobile game in which you can train your impulse control, and in which you collaborate in teams, support each other’s quit attempts, and compete against other teams.
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CategoryResilienceDate24/04/2018Study/CourseLocation
Facing the Challenge Together: a Social Game for Emotional Resilience
About the projectOur research aims to transform young people’s mental health by developing and testing a social game for resiliency when facing stress events. Working in collaboration with the Award winning studio Aardman Animations, we want to harness the important mental health implications of both social support and mindsets, to develop a fun and engaging intervention.
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CategoryGamingDate23/04/2018Study/CourseLocation
Control Over Automatic Action Tendencies Under Threat: A Biofeedback Training in Virtual Reality
About the projectFast and accurate decision making in threatening situations is vital for police officers on duty. However, under threat, people tend to react impulsively and lack cognitive control. This is why police officers need to train control over their responses to threat as much as possible. To enable this, we develop a virtual training environment with real-time biofeedback. We combine virtual reality and biofeedback to create a personalized, realistic training experience, while honing state-of-the-art technology and psychophysical theory.
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CategoryResilienceDate31/08/2020Study/CourseLocation
Excavo: Realigning Your Digital Life
About the projectDigital media are designed to serve many different functions: socialising, working, building relationships, as well as playing and being entertained. In this project, we seek to understand the impact of different features of digital media, and help youth align what they value and love with what they do on digital platforms, in order to increase wellbeing and coherent identity development.
My updates
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@Ken Koontz - 27-10-2020
@GEMH_Lab is Hiring! https://t.co/NwSh6Zq5EH #hiring #gamedev #mentalhealth https://t.co/9NqimpwyL2
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Digital Scrapbook: A value assessment prototype
Ken Koontz - 30-06-2020A 5-10 min texted based value assessment exercise
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@Ken Koontz - 13-07-2019
Summer Work Retreat @GEMH_Lab More work, sun, coffee, wine and fun crammed into a week than thought possible. *not… https://t.co/gUT9TTYcZj
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@Ken Koontz - 05-03-2019
RT @Gryphire: Part 3 of #GEMHPortraits before running off to #ICPS19: the energetic and creative driving force at @GEMH_Lab - @KenKoontz17!…
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@Ken Koontz - 19-03-2018
https://t.co/F0E2sVgsr8 Is it the Game Design that is addicting or the connections to online friends made while playing?
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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?
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Theme Month March - Gaming by Campfire
Ken Koontz - 09-03-2018Every March, to coincide with the Game Developers conference and many other major gaming news & updates, we felt now would be a great opportunity to take a look at some of the games available that can have a positive impact on mental and emotional well-being. Games that you can relax to but still be immersed in a non casual way.
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Game Experiences for Better Mental Well-Being
Ken Koontz - 09-03-2018GEMH Lab recommends games available that can have a positive impact on mental and emotional well-being.
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@Ken Koontz - 13-12-2017
GEMH Lab - Theme Month December - Loneliness | GEMH Lab https://t.co/llqgxVnfzg
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@Ken Koontz - 12-12-2017
GEMH Lab - Theme Month December - Loneliness | GEMH Lab https://t.co/llqgxV5EHI
Events View all events
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30JuneAbout the event
Indigo 2017
LocationDe Lik, Utrecht
Dutch Game Garden invites you to INDIGO, the showcase for the finest, most outstanding games by independent developers.
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UNTILL15October18OctoberAbout the event
CHI Play 2017
LocationPakhuis De Zwijger, Amsterdam
CHI PLAY is an international and interdisciplinary conference for researchers and professionals across all areas of play, games and human-computer interaction.
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02JuneAbout the event
Symposium Health Games
LocationUniversity of Utrecht
Anouk Tuijnman from the GEMH lab will give a presentation on Applied Games and Mental Health: Moving Stories. Moving Stories will also be shown at the demo session.
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26FebruaryAbout the event
Games for Mental Health in the Lowlands
LocationKU Leuven
The symposium will be held in the renovated building 'Collegium Veteranorum'
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UNTILL24October26OctoberAbout the event
VR Days
LocationDeLaMar Theatre/Kromhouthal
VR Days Europe is a 3-day celebration of Virtual and Augmented content, creativity and innovation.
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UNTILL19October23OctoberAbout the event
Cinekid for Professionals
LocationPakhuis de Zwijger
Cinekid for Professionals is an international industry event during the Cinekid Festival in October, this year streaming online.
My publications
Worked together with
Professor and Chair of the Developmental Psychopathology department in the Behavioural Science Institute; writer; voracious podcast consumer; mother of two upstanding little gamers
Director of GEMH Lab
Researcher, interdisciplinary work and collaboration, wants to understand the how's and why's, loves her high heels and coffee in the morning, walks and talks too fast.
Assistant Professor, Co-Director of GEMH Lab
Assistant Professor within the Developmental Psychopathology group of the Behavioural Science Institute
Assistant Professor
Assistant prof. and data geek at the GEMH lab, dynamical modelling, personalisation, wants to put the I back into AI, news junkie, cat lover.
Assistant Professor
Game developer, VR-guru, mocap artist, animator, video editor and all-round problem solver. Avid gamer, movie lover and dabbling photographer.
Game Designer
I am a passionate researcher interested in improving the well-being of young people with the use of innovative interventions.
PhD-Candidate
Researcher, psychologist, PhD-candidate, gamer, dungeon master, language enthusiast and lover of all things geeky.
PhD-Candidate
I work with clients to design ecosystems, adapt bleeding edge research and develop end-to-end strategies that help improve the lives of their patients, practitioners and users.
Executive Creative Director - Collaborator
Maartje Luijten
Assistant Professor
Wil Cunningham
William Cunningham is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto and holds a cross appointment in the Marketing Area at the Rotman School. Research and Teaching interests in: Affective Science, Social Cognition, Neuroscience, Attitude and Evaluation
Associate Professor, University of Toronto