MoM An Effort to Comprising CBT in Digital Gaming

Mental disorder has its widespread presence and increasing around the globe at an alarming rate. In spite of the existence of effective psychotherapeutic strategies, a significant percentage of individuals do not get access to mental healthcare facilities. A handful amount of research has been conducted to facilitate the existing therapies more accessible via digitization. In this paper, we have proposed a digitized game that is able to magnify the impact of one of the strategies of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This can provide an opportunity for self assessment of individuals' emotional state and enhance impulsive dominance on positive thinking. We have developed a serious game Militant of the Maze (MoM), accessible via handheld devices (e.g. cell phone, tablet) that comprises strategies of CBT that emphasizes the consequence of ‘alternation’ to prevail over challenges of everyday life. We hypothesized that perseverance of the ability of ‘alternation’ can notably improve treating the patients dealing with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The experimental outcome demonstrated that the existence of ‘alternation’ in gameplay can significantly improve players' positive affect and decreases the negative affect, which can impact improving the efficacy of psychotherapeutic treatment by influencing players' mindset of opting for an alternative solution while confronting circumstances in everyday life.