Award-winning Mental-health Pet Game Announces Global Expansion

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Six Wing Studios has announced a new Kickstarter campaign to bring their award-winning mental-health mobile game, Amaru: The Self-Care Virtual Pet, to a global audience.

Released in May 2021 for iOS and Android devices, "Amaru is Tamagotchi meets Headspace," explains game director, Dr. Gabe Pappalardo, who designed Amaru to help tackle the rising mental-health crisis. "We've combined the best features of pet games and self-care apps to support players in developing new habits that help with focus, anxiety, and depression." Amaru allows players to feed, pet, and customize Amaru's appearance, play minigames, and explore a fantasy world as well as engage with a library of self-care resources including goal-setting, journaling prompts, and guided breathing and mindfulness exercises.

Pappalardo noticed that existing self-care and meditation apps lacked features to support users sticking with their new practices. "Forming new habits is hard, especially when you're feeling down. Amaru was designed to prevent dropoff by gamifying the experience of taking care of yourself."

The game has been downloaded over 700,000 times and boasts a 4.8/5.0 rating on Google Play. Amaru has won endorsements from mental-health and videogame nonprofits like Take This, Guardians Mental Health, and Global Game Jam and awards from the Unity for Humanity Community and NC IDEA. The game has raised money for the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), is the focus of a university study, and a survey of 270 Amaru players reveals that they overwhelmingly agree that the game helps with focus, self-care, mood, stress, anxiety, and depression.

Pappalardo is proud of the relief Amaru has provided for players and notes the product could be expanded to increase its impact globally. "Amaru is currently only available in English, and we know mental-health issues aren't limited to English-speakers", explains Pappalardo, "Funds from this Kickstarter will give us the resources to localize Amaru into new languages and radically expand our impact."

Amaru: The Self-care Virtual Pet is available for download today for iOS and Android devices. The game contains free self-care features with optional in-app purchases.

The Kickstarter runs between August 8th and September 29th, 2023, and backers of the project will receive exclusive in-game rewards and limited-edition merchandise like Amaru journals and plushie stuffed-animals.

Media Contact
Gabriel Pappalardo, PhD
CEO, Game Designer
[email protected]
Press Kit

SOURCE Six Wing Studios