Unity
Visual Studio
Substance Painter
Blender
11/05/2022 - 10/25/2023
Duration
Research
Game Design
Game Development
Test
Noticing widespread anxiety among university students, I explored its roots and found that information overload often leads to unrealistic self-expectations. To address this, I created a game that metaphorically represents life stages, prompting players to reflect on how information influences choices and goals. The goal is to offer a broader perspective on life stages, encouraging a unique outlook and mitigating anxiety.
Caves
Initiation
Dive Deeper: What’s Behind college students' Anxiety?
From student’s perspective
From expert‘s perspective
More Study
In China, many popular internet buzzwords among young people are linked to anxiety. This led me to investigate the root causes of severe anxiety among Chinese university students.
躺平
Tired of Running in Place, Young Chinese ‘Lie Down’, which meanings rejecting rat race.
破防了
It means “overwhelm”, or “moved to tears”.
佛系
Close to "slacker", have no desires, no needs, and no expectations, yearn to be free of strong feelings, not to take anyone or anything too seriously.
芭比Q
It means that “I‘m toast”
大冤种
It means “such a bummer”.
摆烂
It means just giving up/in, acting irresponsibly/recklessly in despair or an action of vandalism.
天选打工人
It means “diligent laborer”.
内卷
Involution, similar to rat race, refers to unreasonable or excessive competition.
emo
It means “emotional”, or “gloomy”.
Leila
20 years-old
Junior student
Challenge level
Skill level
Sun Zhifeng
Associate Professor
Ph.D., Developmental and Educational Psychology
needs and behaviors
“Your needs drive your actions, while emotions are closely tied to both your needs and motivations. Values, including professional, life, moral, and social values, explicitly express these needs. The connection between values and one's worldview is intricately linked to the environmental and cultural context of personal growth.”
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Motivation increases as needs are met
Self-actualization
Esteem
Love/belonging
Safety
Physiological
Deficiency Needs
Being (growth) Needs
Motivation decreases as needs are met
The Eight Mental States of Flow Theory
Process: Plot the challenges and difficulty levels of your life goals against your current skill proficiency in the following chart.
Result:
The origin of anxiety for many college students stems from high self-expectations that often surpass their perceived abilities.
Age of 16-18: In her high school in a small town
Age of 18-22: In the university in Shenzhen
Expanding Networks
Exposure to Success Stories
Peer Comparison
Mentor Influence
Exposure to New Ideas
Limited exposure to various paths
Emphasis on university admission
Limited career awareness
leila’s evolving high hopes for herself due to the peripheral information
Anxiety comes from high expectations.
information amount around Leila
Expectation
Age
Global Perspective
Challenge level
Skill level
Conclusion: The current situation of student anxiety in society
The access to information contribute to the evolution of high self-expectations among university students. We are currently living in “Information Age”. The access to information, especially through digital channels and the internet, can indeed contribute to the evolution of high self-expectations among university students. Several factors may contribute to this phenomenon:
Personal belief systems
University students are influenced to joining online and offline Academic and Career Competition with high expectations.
Internet
Living environment
University Students
New Ideas
New Perspectives
Peer Comparisons
New Resources
Mentor Influence
Career Aspirations
Global Perspective
Extracurricular Exposure
Success Stories
Peer Comparisons
Social Media and Networking
More Information Access
Highlights showcasing
Social Comparison
Social Pressure
Idealized Digital Persona
Access to information can indeed influence individuals at various stages of life, and it contributes to feelings of anxiety.
Information overload breeds anxiety. Life stages bring varied information; not adapting our mindset adds to anxieties. I want to foster diverse perspectives on information and goal-related anxieties.
Social Comparison based on information
Academic
Performance
Successful individuals
Body
Image
Perceptions of relationships and social success
Others' family lives, achievements
Financial security
Aging and potential health issues
Anxiety
Subjectivity of Perception
Closed-Mindedness
Limited Perspective
Confirmation Bias
Inspiration
Be in a cave
See the shadow on the cave wall
See the information around us
Perceive the world based on the information one possess
Be in a stage of life
High school student
Undergraduate student
Graduate student
Metaphor: the Allegory of the Cave
To manage anxiety related to information I think differently.
Each stage of life is a “Cave”
The Allegory of the Cave is a philosophical metaphor presented by the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, as recounted by his student Plato in his work "The Republic."
In the allegory, the prisoners, having never seen anything beyond the cave, perceive the shadows as the only reality. Their understanding of the world is limited to the shadows on the wall, and they consider these shadows as the true forms of objects.
Perceive the shadows as the only reality
Examining your life as a whole allows people to put individual stressors or challenges into a broader context. This broader view can help people see the inter-connectedness of various aspects of life and understand that challenges are often temporary.
Adopting a holistic perspective
Using interactive gaming environments as a tool
Exploration of whether interactive gaming environments can foster a more insightful and holistic perspective.
Focus on leveraging the immersive experiences offered by games
Aim to offer individuals a macroscopic perspective on how information and choices impact their lives, using metaphorical approaches
Initial appearance viewing
Environment 1 exploration and objects selection
Environment 2 exploration and objects selection
New appearance
viewing
New appearance
viewing
Enter
Space1
Alternate
Space2
Alternate
Space3
In Cave2
Inspired by university environment
In Cave1
Inspired by high school environment
Conceptualization
The game metaphorically illustrates two life stages: high school and college. Environmental information shapes route choices, item collection symbolizes life goals, and player appearances evolve with distinct decisions.
Storyboard
I fell into a strange space and saw myself for the first time. Step into the mirror.
I entered another space again and found that my appearance had changed again. Patterns appeared on my glasses and I had an extra medal on my body.
Approaching the book, a bubble appeared next to the book. I walked forward and found that bubbles would pop up next to many objects. If I touched these bubbles, they would be collected by me.
I entered a pool, and there were a lot of people in it. When I walked next to them, I saw a lot of bubbles popping up around them. I started to study the contents on the bubbles and collected bubbles that interested me.
I reached the end while triggering and collecting bubbles. I entered the same different space as the beginning again.
I saw in the mirror that my head had changed shape, my skin had changed color, I had some strange patterns on my body, and I had an extra pair of glasses. I continued into the mirror.
On the big desk. There were various liberal arts and science books on the table, sports equipment, artwork, musical instruments... I walked over to a book on the table.
I found the exit and left this level.
Implementation details
Game Mechanism 1: Express the complexity and diversity of real-world information and enhance the richness of the game
Game Mechanism 2: How the player's life stage encounters different information and actively chooses it
Game Mechanism 3: Effects of exposure to different information on performance
Initially the message will not appear. As the player roams in space, nearby objects will appear. This is its random contact with external information; the player can choose to understand/not understand this information. To understand is to click to select.
Player is not in range of objects.
Nothing appears in space.
Initial appearance
After info touch in Cave 1, the appearance and head form changed.
After info touch in Cave 2, the wearing of glasses and badges appeared - also a new appearance.
Player is in range of objects.
Object appears.
Player can select touch or not.
Player gets the object and his appearance will be changed based on different types of objects
Art
Art
Love
Love
Sports
Sports
Social action
Social action
Literature
Literature
Study
Study
Science
Science
Hobby
In each cave, I design 4 types of info for players to counter with, which would further influence their apparance.
Finalization
Picked up blue objects the most (appearance changes) and then the purple objects (head form changes)
Enter: initial appearance viewing
Exit Cave 1
Exit Cave 2
Reflect the new appearance
Reflect the new appearance again
Unlock more appearance
In Cave 1: explore areas to counter with different information (objects)
In Cave 2: explore areas to counter with different information (objects)
Test & feedback
Dianjun, 21, says “Scene one was engaging; I found many elements I love, collected targets, and climbed to the top, revealing an intriguing transformation. ”
Test & feedback
Lily, 23, says “Scene two, floating in water, was magical, featuring dynamic NPCs. Less interested in collecting, I observed NPC movements, I pondered the patterns behind appearance changes.”
Leila, 20, says “The diverse appearances and scenic routes provide unique experiences for players. The author's unique concepts offered a fresh perspective on the environment's impact on choices.”
Further Iteraton
This is a project that can be done for a lifetime.
I have only done two stages of life so far, but as I grow older and experience more, there will continue to be new stages of life, new information, new choices and insights, and I will continue to do the following levels.
