HomeMain MenuPress ReleasesPARENTS INVESTING IN VIRTUAL PETS FOR ANXIOUS AND DEPRESSED TEENS

PARENTS INVESTING IN VIRTUAL PETS FOR ANXIOUS AND DEPRESSED TEENS

Amaru: The Self-care Virtual Pet

Amaru: The Self-care Virtual Pet is a game for Android and iOS that supports players in managing anxiety and depression.

— The global mental health crisis leads Raleigh, North Carolina-based game developers to invent a completely new type of game

RALEIGH, North Carolina, August 6, 2020 — Six Wing Studios, a socially-conscious game developer, has announced the launch of a Kickstarter campaign to support the development of their first game, titled: Amaru: The Self-Care Virtual Pet. 

Six Wing aims to empower players with focus and resilience in order to help battle anxiety and depression, which have increased dramatically in recent years. Research shows that maintaining self-care practices such as mindful breathing, meditation, and gratitude journaling stave off these diseases of despair, and Amaru is expressly designed to encourage these activities. 

Mental-health advocacy groups are also taking notice of Six Wing’s approach. Guardians Mental Health says, “We cannot recommend this mobile game…enough. The self care exercises and entertainment throughout is a new chapter on mental health and gaming together.” And Take This says, “Amaru…is a fascinating game. The developers take well-established principles of self-care psychology and include them in a compelling way while simultaneously eschewing heavy engagement mechanics, encouraging the players to apply the skills in real life!”

Amaru is the first in a series of games in Six Wing’s “Fog of Maya” universe, all of which will explore mental health topics while engaging them in immersive narrative and gameplay. Six Wing’s mission is to engage and empower players by providing them with a massive ecosystem of mindful gaming experiences that improve their well-being and instigate a positive change in society.

“We’re inspired by The Center for Humane Technology in our design,” writes Six Wing’s founder Dr. Gabe Pappalardo, “We believe that our collective well-being will be at risk as long as companies profit from outrage, confusion, addiction and depression.” 

Founder’s Story, Dr. Gabe Pappalardo

Six Wing’s founder, Dr. Gabe Pappalardo, is a lifelong gamer, psychologist, and mindfulness teacher who believes in using technology for positive social change and individual health. Shunning traditional addiction-based game mechanics, Dr. Pappalardo has pioneered a unique approach to game design that is both engaging and calming. He said, “The team and I are grateful for the tremendous support we have received, and eager to help the teen population conquer the mental health challenges brought on by our modern world. There is much work to be done, but we intend to show that games are an extremely useful tool in this battle.”

To view the Kickstarter campaign, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/selfcarevirtualpet/amaru-the-self-care-virtual-pet

About Six Wing Studios

The Fog of Maya game universe is founder Dr. Gabe Pappalardo’s brain child, first conceived in August of 2017. In October of 2017, Dr. Pappalardo founded Six Wing Studios with a core team of dedicated and talented technologists and designers. The initial game release, Amaru: The Self-Care Virtual Pet, is now in beta testing and is the subject of a quickly growing Kickstarter campaign.