Agenda

When game developer Sam Glassenberg's daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, he was sent home with a single page of crossed-out math and cryptic instructions — and told to start injecting a lethal drug into his 5-year-old child. It was the worst-designed experience of his life. So he turned it into a game.

This session unpacks the design of Level One — the first video game being used as the standard onboarding tool for patients facing a crushing medical diagnosis. Built by a team of veteran game developers, Level One replaces months of stressful trial-and-error with particle systems, rhythm mechanics, and a two-button loop. It's not an "educational app." It's a real game that looks and feels like top entertainment — and rewires the brain to master complex, invisible systems. This talk reveals how the tools of mass-market game design can transform the most broken real-world experiences.

Takeaway

Attendees learn how to design intuitive, visual systems that build real-world mental models. Through the case study of Level One, they see how mass-market mechanics — rhythm mechanics, particle physics, and predictive aiming — can teach life-critical skills, shift behavior, and make invisible systems playable, understandable, and emotionally resonant.

Intended Audience

This talk is for game designers of all levels interested in systems design, onboarding, or designing for behavior change. No medical knowledge required. Attendees should be familiar with core mechanics like timing, prediction, and input tuning. Anyone curious about applying entertainment design to real-world problems will find actionable insight here.