Image Image credit: Shadow’s Edge by Resonance
House, LLC
Games for Health Europe 2018, to be held on 8 & 9 October
at TAC (Temporary Art Centre) Eindhoven in The Netherlands, includes on its
first day program the session Can A
Mobile Game Change A Sick Teens Life, presented by Rosemary Lokhorst, Executive
Director at Resonance House, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Community Foundation
Silicon Valley.
“Rosemary Lokhorst is
a technology entrepreneur and game producer, a professional geek with a
creative mind and an interest in looking at things from a different angle.
During her ascending career, she has worked in several Fortune 500 companies
before investing in and joining a start-up with the mission of improving
quality of life through technology in urban developments.
Over the years, she
developed a keen interest in the storytelling potential that technology offers,
and the potential for creating stories that are supported by the right
technology in getting their message across. Discovering her creative side
through that process, she now uses her ‘techspertise’ to produce content she is
passionate about, focusing on impact messaging in entertainment and gaming.”
Rosemary is the
producer and narrator of Shadow’s Edge, a mobile game designed to foster
self-inquiry and acceptance in teenage players facing chronic illnesses and
other health challenges.
Image credit: Shadow’s Edge by Resonance
House, LLC
Through a fund with Silicon Valley Community Foundation, local philanthropist Sheri
Sobrato Brisson and her team launched Shadow's Edge. Brisson saw that many adolescents
undergoing medical treatments could use a simple tool to help guide them
through the emotional journey of illness. She and her small team -- which
includes Rosemary Lokhorst, the producer, researchers, and online community
experts -- created the game. While the game uses terminology related to
illness, diagnosis and treatment, prompts and questions were designed to be
open-ended and broadly relatable.
Offered for free
download and played on any phone or tablet, Shadow’s Edge empowers young
people to discover their personal story and find the courage to express
themselves authentically as they live with significant medical issues. It helps
teens build their emotional endurance to tackle the challenges they face
through the power of their personal narrative. Teens are engaged through their
medium—technology—to come to terms with their experience.
Within The Game
For many young people
who struggle with chronic or serious illness and disability, the weight of
their health challenge is ever-present, yet no one is talking about the dark or
scary side of their situations, let alone giving young people a tool to grow
from their experience.
Using the metaphor of
reviving a city struck by a storm, Shadow’s Edge guides the player
through a process of self-inquiry within an edgy, urban gaming environment.
Players express themselves through covering their city in graffiti as they
create their personal journal and discover inspiration from teens in similar
situations along the way.
Image credit: Shadow’s Edge by Resonance
House, LLC
“Players create graffiti, which
allows them to share their story while filling the city with color.”
The Guardians of the city
are your allies, providing hidden wisdoms and clues to solve puzzles and
riddles as you explore the mysterious urban maze.
Image credit: Shadow’s Edge by Resonance
House, LLC
You have the power to save the abandoned city through your self-expression. Explore the mysterious worlds of Disruption, Disillusionment, and Discovery.
Image credit: Shadow’s Edge by Resonance
House, LLC
Find your voice as you express how
you truly feel, and see your writing elevate the mood and bring back color,
beauty, and greenery as you spray-paint the walls of the city and fill your
diary.
Through game play,
teen players realize they don’t need to stay in a darkness—they have the power
to reshape their world into whatever they choose. Through their expression,
they can create beauty where there was once dilapidation -- There can be light;
there can be color; there can be hope. And, there can be a community!
Shadow’s Edge is multi-lingual - although the game was developed
in English, players can dictate and write in their native language.
Since launching in late 2017, Shadow's Edge has been downloaded more than 1,000 times, and Brisson's team is aiming for 10,000 downloads by the end of 2018, with the hope of retaining a core group of engaged, active players.
Since launching in late 2017, Shadow's Edge has been downloaded more than 1,000 times, and Brisson's team is aiming for 10,000 downloads by the end of 2018, with the hope of retaining a core group of engaged, active players.