Mind Games: Using Tabletop
Gaming as Mental Health Tools
Mind Games was created and designed by myself as a way to express my love and appreciation for tabletop gaming. I wanted my senior thesis project to be about something extremely meaningful to me. Tabletop gaming can be used as a tool for various mental health ailments as well as a general outlet for those who do not suffer from mental illness. In this zine, I argue that games can be used as a form of play therapy for both adults and children. This zine covers the topics of games about mental health, games as mental health tools and games that can help you unwind.
Sadly, due to COVID-19, the art show where my work was planned to appear was canceled. Online viewing is not the preferred method, due to the lack of 3D glasses, but we work with what we’ve got!
The Zine
Elements
Process
Anaglyph Type and Photos, Mental Health and Gaming
My process began with tying my stylistic choices to my subject matter. A trend used in some table top games is anaglyph typography aka a 3D effect. I felt like this style could represent the ways that we view mental health. Mental health can look like one thing to someone and then be a completely different animal to another. The anaglyph text throughout my zine shows that all it takes is a different viewpoint to change ones perspective. Gaming allows us to explore these different viewpoints by giving us roles to play and tasks to complete.
Influences
My decision to work in a zine format came from the inspiration of 1970s punk music zines. While the punk scene was primarily underground, the best way to get information about a band, a show, or a new punk style was through handmade and cheaply printed zines. The essence behind these zines, something created out of passion and made for mass distribution, connected with me and what I wanted to get done with my own thesis project.
I have always been a fan of the Swiss Design style due to the way it integrates type into the art. The minimalist designs are given just the right amount of flare to stick in the publics mind. This design style is effective in communication which directly connected with how I wanted to establish my over-arching ideas.
Keith Baker, the designer behind games like Gloom and Illimat, was one of my first stops when deciding on who to pull inspiration from. I took from the way these games are physically designed, with overlapping elements and minimalist design structures. Many of the games Baker designs have a tactile element that is constructive for play
therapy tactics.
Exhibition Floor Plan
Due to COVID-19, I was unable to show my work in the way I had originally intended to. I had planned to have two tables and a podium in the art gallery to serve as a play space for the games I discussed in my thesis. On the walls, I would hang large scale, anaglyph prints of my photography contained within the zine. I would hand out both the zine and 3D glasses to visitors and encourage them to play around or two of the games spread out on the table. On the opening night of the show, I had planned to have two Dungeon Masters stationed at the tables, running Dungeons and Dragons.
NOTE: PLEASE EXCUSE THE QUALITY OF THIS LAYOUT. DUE TO COVID-19, I WAS NEVER ABLE TO SET UP THE GALLERY AS I HAD PLANNED. THIS IS SIMPLY A BASIC LAYOUT. THE ART AND OBJECTS EXHIBITED IN THIS PHOTO WERE NOT CREATED BY ME.