Good in Gaming: Understanding Mental Health, Using DLC for Good, and Saving Real Dogs

Ask anyone who’s been in the gaming community long enough, and they’ll tell you this space is about far more than just achievement hunting and esports scores. Gamers can be some of the most compassionate people in the world (though we might be a little biased to think so); they know exactly when and where to turn on multiplayer and work together to make the world a better place.

To celebrate this, the SUPERJUMP team decided that it was time to shed a little more light on the people choosing to use the community to do good. So, we've created the Good in Gaming series, a new recurring SJP piece that will highlight gamers being kind to each other and their world. We hope it'll be a nice little injection of positivity into your week.

From supporting mental health with realistic and compassionate depictions of struggle to raising money for charity to fun programming at local libraries, here are some of our favorite recent Good in Gaming stories.

Cat Webling
Editor

Arkham Shadow Casts a Light on Mental Health Depictions

by Marvel Maximus

Mental illness in popular media is often synonymous with violence, especially in AAA video games where combat is a big part of the gameplay loop. Last year’s award-winning VR game Batman: Arkham Shadow surprisingly swoops in to rectify those depictions. A sequel to the prequel of a long-running franchise, previous entries had players punching through hordes of abused and mentally ill criminal patients. Dr. Christina Fawcett analyzed the first game in the series, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and how it relates to the incarceration of people with mental illness. Originally, the games’ commentary on these issues was relegated to audio tapes and subtext.

Arkham Shadow takes this to a whole new level, utilizing VR to put players virtually inside an institution and participate in group therapy. The writing team at Camouflaj argues that instead of being the precursor to crime, the only offense of mental illness is that it makes people vulnerable to the exploitation of manipulative systems, structures shaped by people in power with selfish intentions. The team even went as far as to hire a clinical psychiatrist as a mental health consultant when planning out the game’s story. Not only that, voice actor and mocap performer Troy Baker spoke fondly of his enlightening experience preparing the role and attested the authenticity of his character’s conditions to the doctor.

Camouflaj didn't have to go the extra mile, but they did, and they should be applauded for it. Instead of perpetuating stigma and harmful depictions, the game puts into context the oppressive conditions of some mental institutions, putting the people in authority in question. In this game, as is the case in real life, monsters are never made in a vacuum. 

To learn more about this, you can look up Dr. Eric Bender or watch the video where he talks with the team at Camouflaj about his involvement in Arkham Shadow. There, you’ll get neat tidbits like the difference between psychopathy and psychosis, and which diagnosis is accurate for characters like The Joker.

SCS Software Using DLCs for Good

by Matthew Lawrence

Every year since 2019 SCS Software, makers of the Euro Truck Simulator series and American Truck Simulator, participate in Pinktober. Pinktober is a global initiative that takes place during October and aims to help raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. Throughout the month, SCS Software promotes their Pink Ribbon Charity Pack DLC which is available for both ATS and ETS2. These packs add a handful of different paint jobs for trucks and trailers, as well as adding some cabin accessories. 100% Of the proceeds for these DLCs go to breast cancer awareness charities, even if the DLCs were purchased outside of the month of October. In 2024 SCS Software was able to donate over $50,000 to the Alliance of Women with Breast Cancer from the money earned on these DLCs. 

SCS Software invites players to help raise awareness for breast cancer research by sharing photos of them driving their trucks with the Pink Ribbon paint jobs. SCS Software frequently features these photos on its social media pages, garnering some great attention from the manufacturers of the featured trucks. SCS Software also hosts charity streams throughout October and asks their players to do the same.

Along with helping to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research, SCS Software has also participated in Movember to help draw attention to men’s health initiatives and likewise donated money to Člověk v tísni (Czech for “People in Need”), an organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to those affected by the war in Ukraine. SCS Software has donated over $75,000 to Člověk v tísni. This money was raised in the same fashion as the money donated to the Alliance of Women with Breast Cancer, with SCS offering a DLC of Ukrainian paint jobs. These paint jobs were released in March of 2022, less than a month after the invasion of Ukraine.

In a game series that contains almost no dialogue and doesn't feature any type of overarching storyline, adding these DLCs and encouraging charity streams and donations has been a great way for SCS Software to do good.

Buy MTX, Save Real Dogs

by Pruthvi Das

We have coffee games and bartending games with interesting characters to talk to. We have laundry games with pandas. We have writing games about offering kind words. These are games that feature cute themes, light mechanics, and/or casual settings, all designed to create relaxing experiences for players. A little over five years ago, we didn’t know what to call them. Now, they’re popular “wholesome” or “cozy” games. And I’m beginning to believe that wholesome/cozy games could, in the long run, help us make a positive impact on the world more effortlessly.

Take Old Friends Dog Game, a biographic pet management game about taking care of senior dogs using your dog sanctuary. As a Gold Winner at the 2022 NYX Game Awards and a Webby honoree for Social Impact in Games, the game (somewhat) chronicles the lives of the senior dogs that have lived and crossed over the rainbow bridge at the real-life sanctuary they stayed in, each of who are immortalized through the dogs you meet in the game itself.

While elements in Old Friends still reflect the general markings of a mobile game, the monetization — or the intentions behind it — give the game a different meaning altogether. Any in-game purchase you make isn’t only for the player experience, but also for showering support and making a difference where we can. If the game turns in profits in a single month, the Runaway team covers the cost of one real-life resident for a full year. As such, the incentive to watch advertisements or purchase in-game content isn’t only more powerful, but it also no longer feels like an invasive chore, a problem most mobile games deal with. The game is a perfect example of how a wholesome idea can make a difference… and hopefully is the first of many to come.

Old Friends is available for both Android and iOS devices.

Miami-Dade Public Libraries Celebrate Video Games With Mario Day and Pokemon Day

by Priya Sridhar

The Miami-Dade Public Library Systems have organized many events for video game and manga fans. Let’s-a go with Mario Day and Pokémon Day! 

World Pokémon Day is celebrated on February 27 every year. You gotta catch ‘em all when new generations and Pokémon come out and trainers prepare for battle. 

Mario Day, on March 10, 2025, honors Super Mario the plumber that has rescued princesses, navigated mushroom worlds, and grown to fantastic heights. His friends and enemies alike have starred in their games telling different stories, from Princess Peach in the theater to Wario crusading for greed.

MDPLS has fun events for Mario Day and Pokémon Day scheduled at the downtown Miami Main Library and other branches. Miami residents who enjoy a mushroom or Pokéball should check them out!