(1) Basic Info

Players: 3-6

Length: Approximately 45 min

Age: Teen+

(2) Razor

Providing presence and understanding for those that are in need. Keeping their struggles and weaknesses in mind and providing help in every way possible, as all connections have meanings within them.

An uplifting therapy where players connect deeply, sharing their journeys and strengthening each other through empathy, encouragement, and shared resilience.

(3) Slogan

Mindful Connections, Meaningful Lives

(4) Vision Statement & Top level summary of your game idea

Caring Connections is a collaborative board game where players role-play as individuals in group therapy sessions, fostering meaningful interactions to support one another in overcoming mental health challenges. Each player has a unique occupation and mental health issues, utilizing support cards and resources to assist each other in solving tasks. If any player’s mental health deteriorates significantly past a certain threshold, they "die" from suicide, causing a significant setback to the remaining players’ mental health as well. This dynamic emphasizes the importance of resource management and the well-being of others, promoting the significance of support within the team.

(8) Why Your Project is Innovative?

(a) Innovation

Our game is similar to a simulation game that requires people to cooperate rather than competing with each other. We base this game on the concept of therapy and/or support groups, which is rather rare in the board game/party game landscape. Communication is a necessary skill to have in the game, prompting people to talk and roleplay freely.

(b) Relevance

Mental health is an important aspect of our lives but we don’t really talk much about it since it can be considered a taboo topic in many cultures. The burden of overcoming hardships related to mental health is always on the shoulders of the person suffering from it, which is not a healthy opinion to hold. Therefore, we hope that our game, with the focus on the importance of community in helping each other with struggles, can convey the message that it is okay to seek out help when you are in a difficult place. There are many communities, groups, and services that are designed to help people. Community and society is important to individuals’ happiness and well-being, and our game highlights this by its cooperative features where players are incentivized to help each other. When one person falls, everyone falls behind too - it’s necessary for people to help each other to overcome challenges.

(c) Selling points

The game is about empathizing with people with mental health issues as you play as them for seven virtual days. The game is part-educational, part-humourous, and full-entertainment. We don’t want the game to be too dry and/or preachy so there are many humorous aspects to it but still hopefully gets the message across. It is a fun game to play with your friends and families and also a fun conversation starter for mental health talks among the group.

(9) Introduction 

The players are different individuals with a certain mental condition that hinders their everyday live. Somehow each player was put in the same support group together and are there to provide support to each other and accomplish team goals set within the assigned group. However everyday is not as smooth sailing as everybody hopes for, certain days worse than the other, hence why the need for emotional support is required among groupmates to essentially stay alive. The only goal is to persevere as a group and keep everyone alive and friends you make along the way.