Designing Virtual Reality Games for Grief: A Workshop Approach with Mental Health Professionals

Abstract: Although serious games have been increasingly used for mental health applications, few explicitly address coping with grief as a core mechanic and narrative experience for patients. Existing grief-related digital games often focus on clinical training for medical professionals rather than immersive storytelling and agency in emotional processing for the patient. In response, we designed Road to Acceptance, a VR game that presents grief through first-person narrative and gameplay. As the next phase of evaluation, we propose a workshop-based study with 12 licensed mental health professionals to assess the therapeutic impacts of the game and the alignment with best practices in grief education and interventions. This will inform iterative game design and patient evaluation methods, ensuring that the experience is clinically appropriate. Potential findings can contribute to the design principles of grief-related virtual reality experiences, bridging the gap between interactive media, mental health interventions, and immersive storytelling.