GAMEHARBOR: Design and Development of a Casual Game Platform with an AI Wellbeing Companion for Everyday Mental Health

Background

Mental health apps struggle to keep users engaged, while casual games are something people return to voluntarily and can lift mood. Conversational agents have also shown promise for distress and low mood. Few tools combine games and supportive conversation, and fewer put safety first.

What GameHarbor is

A free, games-first wellbeing app for Android, iOS and the web. Short calming games sit alongside Ollie, an animated octopus companion who listens, teaches evidence-based coping skills and points people to real help when they need it.

How it was built

One JavaScript codebase, packaged for mobile with Capacitor and delivered on the web as a progressive web app. Ollie pairs an on-device conversation engine with optional replies from an open large language model (Google Gemma) hosted on the developer's own server and grounded in 120 reference notes. Design choices draw on research into games, serious games, psychotherapy, conversational agents and app engagement, plus NHS and WHO guidance.

Safety by design

A layered safety system detects crisis language on the device, asks directly and kindly about suicidal thoughts, shows country-specific helplines and stops suggesting games when someone is struggling.

Results so far

Version 1.12.10 includes 62 games across five categories, guided breathing with an optional microphone breath check, mood and journal tools, and PHQ-9 and GAD-7 questionnaires built into the conversation. In the latest automated evaluation, 21 of 22 live AI replies met every rule; the one failure was fixed and passed on retest. All scripted safety, check-in and turn-taking tests passed after fixes.

What it means

A games-first wellbeing app can be built with clinical safety principles, open AI models, privacy by default and very low running costs. Whether it improves wellbeing is not yet known, so a pilot study is proposed. This is an unreviewed preprint, and GameHarbor is a wellbeing tool, not a medical treatment.

How to cite

Jacob, A. I. (2026). GAMEHARBOR: Design and Development of a Casual Game Platform with an AI Wellbeing Companion for Everyday Mental Health (Version 1.0) [Preprint]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23414048

@misc{jacob2026gameharbor,
  author    = {Jacob, Athul Iyju},
  title     = {GAMEHARBOR: Design and Development of a Casual Game Platform with an AI Wellbeing Companion for Everyday Mental Health},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  version   = {1.0},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.23414048},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23414048}
}