Self Esteem Games

Self Esteem games are computer games that are created to help improve ones self esteem. There is a set of 3 games created by Mind Habits, that claim they can “boost self confidence and reduce stress” by playing their games for 5 minutes a day. Does it work? A team from McGill University in Quebec, Canada tested these games and have labeled them a success! The games train your brain to focus on positive feedback, rather than negative feedback. There is a free 60 minute version available here, try it for yourself and see.

The series consists of 3 separate games.

1. Grow you Chi - you click on your name and smiling faces.
2. Eye Spy the Matrix - you are given a block of 16 faces, and you have to find the one that is smiling.
3. Wham! Self Esteem Conditioning - creates links between yourself and social acceptance.

I wouldn't say these games are particularly fun. They call them games, yes, but to me they are more like drill practice math worksheets. They get the job done, but I don't know many people that would do them strictly for the fun of it.

On the plus side though, if you are someone who is depressed or has a negative self image, this could possibly be the easiest cure I've ever heard of. Okay, I probably shouldn't use the word 'cure', but really, if these games do improve your self esteem, who wouldn't try it. There's no drugs, no chemicals, no therapy or counseling, what do you have to loose, 5 minutes a day of playing a monotonous computer game. Heck I spend more time chewing my finger nails a day. I should point out the website does not claim that it will replace the need for medication or counseling, it simply states that it can “boost self confidence and reduce stress”.

I went to a computer gaming conference 2 years ago and saw a presentation on serious games. I forgot all about that until something sparked my interest in 'self esteem games', while I was doing my research for my blog these games looked familiar and I realized I saw them before under a different name. So you may also see these game referred to as 'serious games'.

One last thing to add on this note is that there are a LOT of articles about these very 3 games on the internet. When I Google 'self esteem games' or anything of that nature this seems to be the majority of the results that I get. So, that could mean 2 things. Either there are very few other so called self esteem games out there, or, these games are really just that good that everybody is raving about them.