With 2019 in the rearview mirror, the thing we see (closer than it may appear…) is that Shadow’s Edge is catching on! If you haven’t tried it yet, the FREE game helps young people explore the emotional side of challenging experiences – because everybody is dealing with something, and by digging into the emotional side of illness, mental health challenges like anxiety and depression, or just the inevitable times when you feel alone and scared, hopefully you can find resilience at the end of your journey. Now in early 2020, the game is up to 20,000 downloads, with reviews like these:
“I was skeptical when my friend suggested this application. It’s not like I am really sick. But I have my issues. And thought, if nothing else it could relax me. But then I really got into the story of these Guardians, who seem to be going through as many feelings as I am. Cool that the game has a story that can mean so much.”
“As a person with a chronic illness, I can attest that there is nothing out there. This game is the only thing that exists as a tool to help me emotionally.”
“I love this game! I don’t have a disease, but I just pick the questions that apply to me and focus on exploring the world and creating graffiti.”
Not only are we getting downloads and reviews, but we’re starting to hear the buzz other places, too. Check out these 2019 highlights:
- We won 5 awards and were finalist for 2 more. Including Edison Product Innovation, Serious Play, a Stevie’s Award and Parent’s Choice.
- We were featured in Venture Beat, Bustle and had TV appearances on TheTalk and ABC7 News.
- We spoke internationally at over 20 conferences like Serious Play, Brazil Independent Games Festival, Games for Health in the Netherlands, Transformative Tech and the Childlife Conference.
- We made several upgrades to the game that our players asked for including offline play for use in treatment sessions, workshops and camps, and a function for that institutions can use to work with patients, only with patient consent.
- Launched in Brazil which is now our second biggest market.
- Toured with Highschool Nation and Hollister Co.
- Published over 70 blog posts with over 25,000 pageviews!
- Added two people to our team to support our partner associations and healthcare professionals
And then of course there’s the community growing around the game. There are almost 24,000 followers on the Digging Deep Facebook page, our parent organization whose journal started the idea for Shadow’s Edge! We just reached 1,000 posts at the Digging Deep Instagram, and the Shadow’s Edge Instagram is closing in on 2,000 followers.
Help us help more young people who are struggling! Follow one of the accounts above. Read one of our posts. Or download the game and give it a try, for free at the App Store or Google Play. We can’t wait to see what 2020 has in store!
Garth Sundem is a parent, husband, and author of books including “Real Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Change”.
