GDC 2025 Session Viewer
Thriving Players Summit: Avoiding Toxic Positivity in Games for Emotional Well-Being
Hannah C. Gunderman (Wellbeing Researcher, Lumi Interactive)
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass, Summits Pass, Expo Pass, Audio Pass, Indie Games Summit Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Advocacy
Format: Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
The world can be a scary, exhausting, and upsetting place to navigate. Too often, when we seek out games and apps that are meant to help us gather strength and moments of peace to support our well-being and mental health, we are faced with toxic positivity — the idea that we should strive towards happiness no matter our circumstances, putting the blame solely on the individual for struggles they may be experiencing with their well-being. As game developers, we can design affirming and supportive digital experiences to support player well-being while not ignoring the harsh realities of the world we live in and its impact on our mental health.
Takeaway
Attendees will learn what toxic positivity is, how it can be harmful to our emotional wellbeing, and why we as game developers should do the work to identify toxic positivity that we use in our life in order to avoid replicating it with our players through our game design.
Intended Audience
The target audience of this presentation is game developers, particularly in cozy games and emotional wellbeing/mental health games. While no prerequisite knowledge is necessary, attendees should strive to bring a willingness towards unlearning as concepts and structures including white supremacy and capitalism will be explicitly named and interrogated.
