Take This is absolutely delighted to announce the finalists for the 2024 Mental Health in Games Awards (formerly the Dr. Mark Kline Award for Mental Health Representation in Games). This biennial award recognizes video games released in the previous two years that represent excellence in compassionate, non-stigmatizing portrayals of mental health themes and mental health challenges. This year, we introduced a second category to also recognize excellence in tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs).
Past award winners include Psychonauts 2, Celeste, and Stardew Valley. In 2022 we introduced the Community Choice Award which went to Spiritfarer.
Click here to jump to the TTRPG finalists.
In no particular order, the 2024 finalists for the Take This Mental Health in Games Awards for Video Games are:
Developer: Larian Studios – Publisher: Larian Studios
The third game in a popular series, Baldur’s Gate 3 brings the Dungeons & Dragons table to life. Players journey through the Forgotten Realms to discover the truth behind the mysterious mind flayer parasite planted in their brains. Resist the parasite and turn the darkness away or embrace the parasite and become truly evil.
Every character who joins your adventuring party describes a personal past filled with various forms of loss, grief, and pain. You – the player – have the ability to help your companions to grow and heal through their pain or to embrace anger and evil.
Developer: Bungie – Publisher: Bungie
Destiny 2 is a story-driven first-person shooter. The storyline of the Season of the Haunted included anthropomorphised “Nightmares” from the pasts of many major characters. Players come face-to-face with the regrets and fears of these characters and explore themes like survivor’s guilt, estrangement from loved ones, and self-blame and guilt.
Developer: Silverstring Media, Inc. – Publisher: Fellow Traveler
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is an introspective walking simulator that takes place in life’s in-between spaces, like riding in a car during a midnight drive or taking a late-night walk in the park. Players choose from four late night journeys to embark upon. The fellow travelers you meet along the way will engage you in thought-provoking and existential conversations that will have you questioning your place in the universe.
Disclosure: Take This served as a consultant on this game. These finalists were the most nominated by a public, ranked-choice, nomination process, and Take This staff have no influence over the final judging process, which will be completed by a group of industry and community luminaries, and none of whom work for Take This.
Developer: Northway Games – Publisher: Finji
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a narrative-driven RPG visual novel with deck building mechanics. The setting of the game takes place on humanity’s first extrasolar space colony on the planet Vertumna. Players play as a youth growing up on Vertumna, and player decisions impact how the colony evolves over a 10 year period. The game takes about 10 hours to play through, however it is designed intentionally for replayability. The game features impactful themes and explores difficult and emotionally challenging topics such as depression, survivor’s guilt, and post traumatic stress disorder.
Developer: Outerloop Games – Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Thirsty Suitors is a queer, story-driven adventure game with turn-based combat, skateboarding, and a cooking mini-game! Players embody main character Jal as she returns to her hometown – navigating her relationships with her family and reconciling with her exes. Thirsty Suitors is a game about family, culture, and navigating relationships. The game features storylines based on the themes of intergenerational trauma, emotional reconciliation, and the immigrant experience.
In no particular order, the 2024 finalists for the Take This Mental Health in Games Awards for TableTop Roleplaying Games are:
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions
In this game based on the Powers by the Apocalypse game engine, players use one of seven playbooks to create an Omen class monster. In a world where monsters are shunned, players must forge deep bonds to work together to save their world from being brought to its end by the mysterious Harbingers. The games uses different types of monsters as a metaphor for different marginalized identities, and encourages players to work together as a party to develop support systems and grow as individuals and members of a community.
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
This sourcebook for the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons explores the mysteries of the infamous Deck of Many Things. This sourcebook introduces players to the first canonically autistic nonplayer character in D&D lore: Asteria, who was written and developed by an openly autistic game designer/writer.
Publisher: Darrington Press
This horror TTRPG published by the same company who produces Critical Role introduces a “brain scar” mechanic where players are encouraged to reflect on how things like grief and loss can affect a character in both the short and long-term. The game acknowledges the fact that actual trauma requires both time and a safe space to heal while encouraging players and game masters to collaborate on how characters might heal over time in the game.
Publisher: Stéphanie Dusablon
In The Dreamland Expedition players take on the roles of stuffed animals who travel into the Dreamland to find out why Fear has taken over their child’s dreams. The players must decide how to overcome obstacles as they journey through the Dreamland, but are cautioned to remember that fear cannot be conquered by force alone. This indie TTRPG can be played as a solo journaling game or as a group with or without a game master.