Soteria – Dreams as Currency (SDC) is a single-player, 3D adventure game designed to promote players’ readiness to use psycho-therapeutically proven strategies to overcome general anxiety disorder. Based on the research of Anxiety Treatment Center founder Prof. Reid Wilson, it serves to communicate principles of anxiety treatment in a way that enables experiential understanding. The design leverages “recursive learning” principles that subvert player expectations and initiate a “perspective switch” from avoiding to confronting anxiety. Taking the role of Ana, a young woman feeling trapped by her fears, the player aims to liberate Ana’s dreams from the evil entity, Oicys. The game is set in a metaphorical harbor town crawling with Shadow Creatures (representations of fears) and dedicated to the Goddess of Safety, Soteria. The first part of the game revolves around stealth mechanics. The second part changes to “lingering” through fear and provoking it through dialogue options. http://playforchange.cdm.depaul.edu/projects/soteria/ \
