Games that Educate and Impower: Ben's Cancer Games

When I came across a few games such as the McDonald's game and Presidential Pong I found them slightly entertaining but overall unpersuasive. It was not until I came across Ben's cancer game that I actually became a little moved while reading the description of the game. Ben, a survivor of leukemia created a game for other children who have cancer in which they can go through their body killing all the mutated blood cells and collect shields to help them fight the residual effects of their chemo treatments. This idea of a game that helps children with cancer fight through the chemotherapy treatments and gives them the feeling that they are in control is a great idea for their mental well being and possibly for there physical well being depending on whether or not you believe in the idea that your mental state affects your physical well being.Games like this can be highly beneficial. Children fighting such diseases don't always want to talk to someone about their situation, but this game and games like it have the possibility of giving these children the support they need as well as that small sense of control which can make all the difference in their mental state as they fight such a difficult disease.

This area of gaming has huge possibilities for growth in helping the treatment of childhood and adolescent diseases. I also saw games to help educates children about asthma and things they could do to help their symptoms and to help with depression. These games give the players the ability to get support while keeping a certain level of privacy.