Some games like Factorio and Satisfactory look like crafting sandboxes but soon become much more than that.
Using new game analytics, online courses and bootcamps, they help players identify their game and life skills, develop them and link game players to new work and educational opportunities. Game Academy is a tech venture that helps game players make the most of their in-game talent out of game. We've worked with Game Academy on this list of games that help prepare players for an era where organisations are being rewritten daily, business processes reimagined and the labour market is driven by fusion skills - humans and machines coming together to form new kinds of jobs and work experiences. Organising tasks and distributing work in the name of efficiency and effectiveness is also a common feature of many games. The good news is that the process of transferring work tasks to computers and automated mechanisms is something they can try their hand at in the games in this list. As a result, growing, managing and relating to machines are and will be important skills for children to develop. Playing these games with young people, and answering questions they might have along the way, can be a useful starting point for important conversations about grief."Īutomation is hailed as the future of work and industry is set for economic rebound. They can help show the player that they are not alone in what they are going through. "The games we have selected don't necessarily offer an ideal way to cope with death but tackle the topic of death openly and with a positive attitude. With these games, players may find valuable space in which to acknowledge grief as a completely normal reaction to bereavement." "To help children cope with loss, it is important that they receive honest explanations about death, appropriate to their level of understanding. "We express grief in different ways depending on our age," they said. By focusing on the intersection between gaming and mental health, they want to raise awareness of mental health challenges and reduce the stigma surrounding these issues. I've come up with some games that explore this topic, along with help and suggestions from Gaming The Mind ( Twitter), an organisation of UK-based mental health professionals who aim to promote positive mental health within the gaming community. But also, games can provide a helpful space in which to process, consider and understand death and loss. This means that some care is necessary if players are sensitive to losing significant people. Games include interactions, narratives and characters dealing with all aspects of life (and death).