Mental health video game designed by Nunavut youth nearing completion

A handful of Inuit youth from Nunavut hope a video game they're helping develop will assist other young people with their mental health. 

"I've never built something like this with anyone else," said Brooke Qatsiya of Kinngait. "I just hope the youth will enjoy it." 

Virtual Qaggiq has been in the works since 2022, and was born out of a similar game that Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers made together at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. 

The original game teaches young users cognitive behaviour therapy and emotional regulation to cope with stress and depression. Players enter a fantasy world and complete levels while learning skills to deal with negative feelings. 

A study published last fall shows it was tested in Nunavut in 2014 and found to be a promising tool for Inuit youth too — but that young people who tried it out wanted to see their own Inuit culture weaved through the game.

That feedback paved the way for two projects that received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. A Pangnirtung-based tech startup called Pinnguaq adapted the initial game to include Inuit culture and landscapes. It's called I-SPARX. Then, an entirely new game rooted in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuit traditional knowledge) called Virtual Qaggiq started being created.

Yvonne Bohr, a clinical and community psychologist and researcher at York University who is leading research on the new game's development, said Virtual Qaggiq should be done by the end of March. 

Bohr said a team of youth have designed the game and now the software development company We Wear Many Hats is helping develop it and bring the stories within the game to life. Once it's done, it'll be tested out by youth, analyzed again and shared more widely. 

"I think we really have developed a really good game," said Madeleine Qumuatuq, a cultural adviser for Virtual Qaggiq. "It tries to conquer a lot of issues that we deal with on a daily basis such as bullying or jealousy … and also living well amongst each other." 

Reuben Qaunaq, a 21-year-old man from Arctic Bay, has been involved in the projects as a cultural adviser since 2020. One of the things he's learned from the game, he said, is a breathing technique he can use in stressful situations. 

It's helped him "tremendously," he said.

"It's just deep breathing through your nose … it's helped me you know, to calm me down." 

He said there are few mental health resources in his community, and he hopes once the game is widely rolled out, it'll be a resource that young people can use to live better.

"This could be something to help people like me," he said. 

"I just hope it would help youth mostly with their mental health and when they have nothing to do, just staying home and … connecting with our culture through a game," said Qatsiya. 

Ernie Lyall of Taloyoak, Nunavut, is another youth helping to create the game. He hopes it'll encourage young people to think outside of the box when it comes to dealing with depression and stress. 

Bohr says the capacity of video games to teach young people new skills is limited, but she hopes it's a starting point that can get youth thinking about some of the things they can do to feel better when they're feeling down. 

"We're pretty confident that this game will also, you know, generate a lot of constructive feelings." 

Both she and Qumuatuq hope that once the testing is done, it can be made available to youth across Canada — both Inuit and non-Inuit.