ENG 225 Rhetoric and Gaming

The purpose of this article, “Gamification in Stress Management Apps: A Critical App Review” , by Alexandra Hoffman, et all, was to discover how effective the gamification of mental health apps are. They found that the majority of mental health apps are not utilizing gamification to its full potential. There’s a chart that details their exact findings on page eight. Many apps did not include the basic gamification qualities: an avatar for example. Zero games had the ability to customize an avatar. Also, there’s a PDF link available on page 12 that shows the majority of apps had zero gamification qualities to them. The second-largest majority had only one or two gamification techniques.. Most apps don’t utilize gamification techniques as well as they could. This was a study done in Germany, although one of the requirements for the app was that they must be available in English. They reviewed sixty-two apps by downloading them and then seeing what they had to offer. Data was analyzed b...

This paper, “ Mental Health Messages in Prominent Mental Health Apps ” by Lisa Parker, et al, addressed exactly what the title states. Their analysis was quantitative, and they looked into apps from four countries: the UK, United States, Australia, and Canada. App stores differ by country, and as a result, their content is radically different. So, they looked into apps on the top 100 in mental health in their country. Figure 1.1 is a good description of their screening process, how they chose the apps they ended with. Essentially, these apps had to be designed for a mobile platform, they had to be available in the countries listed above, and they had to have messages about mental health within. They ended with 61 mental health apps that passed this test, out of 3,032. Thirty-five of their apps claimed to reduce anxiety, 16 claimed to help with mood disorders, and the rest (11 apps) claimed to help well-being or other mental health issues, such as anger management. They found two mes...