Play can be therapeutic. However, can you imagine a future where play is therapeutic? GamingJust what the doctor ordered Literally ordered?
DeepWell DTx has a mission to secure this future. While the company is still in its early stages, it can do a few things simultaneously. It is a publishing and development business that will develop therapeutic games in-house as well as help its partners. It also provides regulatory services.
Every prescribed treatment and every over-the-counter medication in the United States is subject to regulatory approval by the Food & Drug Administration. Securing approvals is a lengthy and expensive process, but successfully navigating that process is what could turn DeepWell’s goal to deliver and set the standard for “medicinal entertainment” into reality.
Mike Wilson, DeepWell cofounder and CEO, stated that the thing that keeps everyone involved coming back to DeepWell is the mission, the purpose, and the potential size of this mission. It’s more than the games we play. [it’s also about]Reframe people’s views on the games they love.
Wilson, a founding father of the irreverent indie game publishing label Devolver Digital, is teamed up here with Ryan Douglas, an accomplished inventor of medical technologies and former executive in the medtech space — two vastly different backgrounds. It’s fitting, though, that their idea was born out mutual empathy.
The business and practice of healing
Wilson explained that Ryan was in the midst of grieving when Wilson met him. Douglas was in the middle of Nextern’s impending exit. Nextern was a medical device company where he spent 15 years as the president, CEO and co-chairman. That life-altering event occurred as Douglas was going through a more personal level of grief.
“He had just lost his wife, after a long struggle.” [health struggle]Wilson stated that Wilson was in a vulnerable spot and that he had been there before. Both men were looking to retire after a successful career in the business side of unique creative fields. They quickly became close friends.
Wilson spoke of an earlier conversation during which he shared his thoughts with his DeepWell partner. He said, “I understand where your at.” While I have not lost my wife, I have lost my best friend, lost my sister and lost my dad. If you’re looking for someone to cry and just sit around, I’m the one for you. You don’t have any business to do together.
Unexpectedly, it was business that brought them together. Wilson, who quit Devolver in 2020 had plans to create an immersive art experience “completely apart from digital” as his next move. Douglas, who was working on a book with Wilson’s partner in the new venture, ended up taking over for his co-writer in what proved to be a pivotal meeting.
“Ryan was like the last minute tag-in. It was great because Ryan actually lived.” [nearby]Wilson explained. Douglas and Wilson realized that their friendship was not what it seemed. However, his project did end up in disarray due to the 2020 pandemic. WasSomething they could all build together. Douglas is an expert in building large companies and managing the bureaucratic system of the federal government. Wilson’s company, on the other hand, was smaller and more scrappy than the others. But it had achieved global reach and Wilson had developed the contacts necessary to access the world of gaming.
“Ryan, and I could not be more different.” Wilson stated that they had one thing in common: we came up with quicker, more efficient ways to navigate an industry that was becoming increasingly bloated, stodgy, slow-moving.
Douglas was initially resistant to being convinced.
A fresh idea is better than stale research
Mike and I are kind of uniquely suited for this job because we didn’t have to. We were both happy with the results of our careers as well as our lives. Douglas stated that we were actually just trying to get settled and play tennis.
Douglas was eager to relax and was skeptical when Wilson shared his ideas for DeepWell. In the end, however, it was science that convinced him.
“Mike […]I threw in a few studies, but as I dug deeper and further, I realized that I had more to learn. [was] like ‘Oh my god!'” It is very promising. Review of past studies Publication in early 2022Another looked at the tangible and quantifiable benefits that video games provided to patients with depression. They were more open to and engaged in psychotherapy. Another, Oxford University.Many years ago, it was discovered that games can have positive effects on one’s mental well being.
Douglas was shocked by the depth of existing research and began to see encouraging signs for Wilson’s pitch. He was struck by the fact that research had shown that games can be used as a “therapeutic delivery method.” Patients need to be accountable for their own health and to make sure they take their medication as prescribed.
Douglas understands that it might sound absurd, but it is not easy to convince patients to take good care of their health. “All that we do is invent stuff which could keep you alive,” Douglas said. [but]”Nobody will do it,” he said, with a rueful chuckle. “So, the therapeutic delivery grabbed my attention right away.”
Douglas also saw the potential for games to be used as an adjunctive therapy, which is an area he’s familiar with from his experience in the medical device space. This is one example: Games have the ability to keep patients engaged.
This context may help patients to better tolerate the effects of some powerful pharmaceuticals. There are many drugs that can be used to treat serious illnesses. However, there are also side effects that can be unpleasant or even deadly. The body can be made more responsive to the drug by using an adjunctive treatment. Patients may take lower doses of drugs and still receive the full benefit.
“Depending on what your diet was, and what you did, as well as how much sun you get today, you may want to take a different dosage of the drug. [do it]Douglas stated, “at a different time.”
“Talk about Pokémon going to a whole other level. We’ve been following you throughout the day and now we want to tell you. NowYou have the opportunity to take only a small amount of this pill, which is a prime time. It will give you all the therapeutic benefits that you require Give your [body]Rest.
Science is fun!
Douglas was able to see the potential in all this, but he wasn’t convinced. He turned to his family for assistance, as they were all professionals involved in medical research in one way or another. They worked together on a meta-study, which examined a lot of research about play-as therapy and gave it a close inspection that tested the methods and research processes.
ThatDouglas made his breakthrough here.
“It’s no play that isn’t powerful. It’s just that […]Douglas stated, “There was all this academic arrogance.” It’s a very meta position.
He kept seeing examples of researchers using old-fashioned strategies to educate patients and alter their behavior upfront, then passing that information off to developers with a “gamify” request. Douglas saw the potential for things to fall apart.
Douglas was already surprised at the amount of research that exists on the therapeutic benefits and uses of play. But it was there that he saw the apparent contradiction between science and art. Calls to “gamify that” were led by researchers. This resulted in developers developing “secondary” game mechanics like social status, badges, scores, and levels.
“That’s not the way to play. He said that it was the cool shit. Douglas, the founder of DeepWell and a medtech expert, immediately recognized that secondary mechanics were merely the reward. While they can be used to reinforce and communicate the therapeutic benefits, it is the act of playing that matters most when it comes to medicinal entertainment.
“What’s wrong with your Fitbit? RocketMathThe problem with many of these things is that they don’t work. Play. You lose the engagement mechanism but also the neurochemicals [your body creates]You are more likely to create a new neural pathway during play and to choose it to be your preferred path.”
It’s the games that keep us playing and engaged that are most enjoyable. If a game is meant to provide therapeutic benefits, it’s best to avoid it. isn’tWhile it is fun to play with, it doesn’t work as well as you would expect.
“Once that was clear, I felt like I recognized it. Douglas explained that this was academic arrogance. The “big dogs” were doctors and the game developers followed their orders. Even though they had deep knowledge of play and its effects, this was not their fault.
“Game developers can be described as observational scientists. Douglas stated that they are data scientists. Although there is a lot of institutional knowledge available at this point, it’s not as extensive as in the early days. AsteroidsAnd Pac-ManThe best creators found strategies and techniques to keep players invested in their games and eventually increase their investment.
Douglas knew all this and immediately recognized the flaw in the earlier “treatment-first” approach. Douglas immediately saw how doctors “actually took away” the potential to treat the game by getting in the way creators’ creativity. The meta study was not only a selling point for Wilson’s plans, but also a warning sign.
“[DeepWell has] this entire infrastructure where the doctors and the quality people and the regulatory folks and the legal — everybody’sAs a game developer, I am there to help make sure the game is a success.”
Teach devs what you already know
In May, the company hosted its inaugural annual Mental Health conference. Game JamInvite developers to form teams. Make a game by starting from scratch“that educates or addresses mental health issues.” Grand Prize winner for the Mental Health Game Jam is Inner RoomThe narrative adventure “Pandemic Depression” is a story-driven adventure that explores the subject of pandemic anxiety. The runner-up was built for PlaydateA game based on breathing exercises, called Bíotópico. The third place winner is FumbleThis is a puzzle-like language game about social anxiety.
Wilson relied upon his industry experience to find the right developers for these games. “I went there to meet the developers. [creators]I was able to personally meet people who were involved in the development of games. […]He said that he was looking at the industry in an optimistic way and was able to see it in a positive way.” It was just one conversation with people I know and old friends.
Wilson quickly discovered that there was not much to pitch. Devs loved the idea of creating a pathway for therapeutic games to become federally recognized.
Kate Edwards, the former executive director at The Global Game Jam (and Independent Game Developers Association), was one of those who was easily convinced. “I’m like: Just stop. I’m in. She said it to Wilson when he pitched her. “I think a lot people in this industry know this already or feel it implicitly. [that games can have therapeutic value]. She said that this was a way to raise the truth of it in a medium she’s been using for decades.”
Problems with how games are perceived in the mainstream are much more important than the difficulty of attracting developers. Edwards stated that while Edwards doesn’t believe that the game we are creating is completely unrelated to the general perception of games in certain circles, Edwards believes that this is not a problem. “I was excited to join this because I believe that this is an extremely solid, science-based approach to elevating that entire conversation.”
Wilson stated, “I feel like only the nefarious people are using the science right at the moment.” There are many games that use predatory strategies to exploit the psychology of players in order make a profit. It would be a great shame if this was the end of the psychology study in video games.
It’s a long road ahead
DeepWell is a result of the pandemic. The work to build it has just begun. Although the global fight against COVID-19 has helped ease some bureaucratic burdens at the FDA, there is no guarantee that these changes will last.
DeepWell is still in its infancy, but the journey of the founders has been instructive. The gap between “medicinal entertainment” pitch and actual FDA approvals is huge. There’s also a pathway to understanding how games actually work. could DeepWell’s fascinating origin story reveals that it could end up being something the doctor ordered.
