Niantic, developers of the world-famous AR game Pokemon Go, have touted the purported benefits of playing location-based games to better general mental wellbeing for World Mental Health Day 2022. Their post included player testimonies about how playing the game had benefited them. They also wrote about the reported mental-health benefits for conditions such as non-clinical depression, referencing recent research by academics such as Dr Tanja S.H. Wingenbach.

Dr Wingenbach wrote about the reasoning behind their conclusions and justification for this research. As Dr Wingenbach stated, “I was particularly intrigued by the social aspects of the game, which then sparked the current study. As humans, we are inherently social and have a need for social interactions, whether we are aware of it or not. To think that there is a relationship with well-being then really is not far-fetched.”

What’s the effect on mental health?

Non-clinical depression, whilst not ‘less serious’ than clinical depression, is what many more people experience day to day. Whilst clinical depression often requires more serious intervention, lifestyle and health changes can be instrumental in treating non-clinical depression. Of course the actual medical reasoning is much more complex, but that’s a brief layman’s interpretation.

Practices that can alleviate non-clinical mental health issues include socialising with others, as well as regular exercise. Naturally, for the developers of Pokemon Go this is one of the appeals of their game. CEO of Niantic John Hanke stated, “At Niantic we believe we can use technology to lean into the ‘reality’ of augmented reality — encouraging everyone, ourselves included, to stand up, walk outside, and connect with people and the world around us.”

Pokemon Go challenges players to capture the world famous ‘Pocket Monsters’ by stepping out into the real world and using their phone cameras as AR devices. Players point their camera over real-world terrain and use gestures to capture Pokemon overlaid onto the landscape. They can then train them, battle with friends and complete other challenges, much as they would in the classic games. Niantic have utilised their AR technology for other games such as Pikmin Bloom and the upcoming Marvel: World of Heroes.