We have completed our Minimum Viable Product and are preparing some social media sharing features to be ready for Beta Testing. We’re making significant progress toward a 2025 launch on iOS and Android!

WELLNESS HERO continues to evolve as a video game for social impact, simulating depression, teaching coping skills, and spreading awareness. Since our last update, we’ve expanded the core gameplay with a new "Pathology Plugin" to simulate Depression and added an interactive call-to-action feature for instant mental health support. These additions deepen the game's purpose as a gamified psychoeducation tool based on CBT, MBSR, and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Notable updates include balancing gameplay, expanding the Journey Paths skill tree, and doubling the number of Daily Challenge events and Wellness Techniques. Feedback from several closed beta tests revealed the need for a clearer onboarding experience, which we’ve addressed with a detailed step-by-step walkthrough for new players.

We’ve also ported the game to Unity 6, enabling broader optimization, and began Beta Testing for Android in addition to iOS.

To prepare for launch, we’ve expanded the Ensemble Interactive website at www.EnsembleInteractive.com to include the beginnings of a press kit, anticipating a comprehensive marketing campaign later this year. Additionally, we’ve been actively Devlogging on our Instagram and other socials at https://www.instagram.com/ensembleinteractive/, where you can find concept art and detailed explanations of our process. As a professor, documenting this project’s process has been a priority to offer insights into its development.

Producer, Creative Director - David Negrin
Art Lead - Hannah Barone
Code Lead - Carson Moon
Design Lead - Donovan Mercado
Marketing Lead - Maxwell Neale

Production Blog

Production Update 5/25/24: We’re in the last 4 weeks of production, and should be Beta Testing in April on target for a Summer 2024 Release on iOS and Android.

WELLNESS HERO is a video game for social impact that simulates depression, teaches coping skills, destigmatizes mental health challenges, and spreads awareness. The casual emotional energy management game transforms the CBT & MBSR based “Spoon Theory” concept into a gamified psychoeducation experience. A framework based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The final game will include in-game interactive calls to action for advocacy, donation, and crisis support through mental health non-profit partners. Designed for mobile iOS and Android platforms on the Unity game ending. (Previously ‘Waves’)

Producer, Creative Director - David Negrin
Art Lead - Hannah Barone
Code Lead - Carson Moon
Design Lead - Donovan Mercado
Marketing Lead - Maxwell Neale

Prototypes & Game Balancing

One of our latest prototypes next to a concept of the field. Once core gameplay was built in the Unity project, we could begin playtesting and iterating on balancing the fun, difficulty, and social impact goals of WH.