Facebook games strives to help high schoolers and college students deal with suicide

LatinaLista — Dealing with the suicide of a loved one or friend is a tough enough thing to handle but for young people it can be devastating. Instead of talking about it with a counselor, a lot of young people will suppress their feelings about what happened.

A new Facebook game hopes to help those young people deal better with the issue. Called Machine Cares, the game was developed by the developer of the video game Fallen London.

The interactive story, created in partnership with ChildLine, a helpline that provides psychological assistance to children and teenagers who have suffered abuse or emotional trauma, is meant to encourage young people to talk about their feelings and reach out for help.

The premise of the story is that the player (the young person) becomes the main character. They sign in with their Facebook account and are given a name badge that signals the game that they are a new resident in the Tower. Moving into the Tower, they learn that the previous tenant committed suicide. The game allows the player to uncover the story of the character’s suicide through stories from other Tower residents.

As can be imagined, with such a mature situation, the game is not for young children since it has adult themes and strong language. But for high school and college students who are more likely to encounter a friend or be aware of a family member who committed suicide, the game acts as a way for the player to explore their feelings and hopefully find someone to talk to about it.