Source: Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada Blog
What if you could learn about what it?s like to have Tourette Syndrome while enjoying a video game experience? Well now you can! Introducing Tourette?s Quest, a fantasy/puzzle-solving game where you play a character with TS. And it really goes to lengths to simulate, metaphorically, the disorder?s symptoms. Says one review of Tourette?s Quest:
Encountering monsters, using your weapons and getting hurt will increase your stress level (quite understandably). As stress increases, it is more likely that a tic will occur. As described in the definition of the disorder, a tic is usually preceded by a prescient feeling?in the game, this is conveyed as a thought bubble. If you are about to blink, for example, an eye appears in a thought bubble and you know that in a few moments, the screen will go black for a second. It would be wise to be clear of danger when you see the eye in the thought bubble.*Other tics include a hand spasm, where you use you weapons involuntarily; a leg twitch, where you jolt to the side, often running into harm?s way; or a cough, which can awaken sleeping monsters whom you then have to kill.
You can suppress a tic by pressing the space bar, but this will increase your pent-up stress and make future tics more frequent and severe. There are other mechanical aspects to the game, but they all contribute to maintaining*this balance of stress level and tic management, while trying to traverse the dungeon without dying.
The individual behind this unique educational game is Lars Doucet, who, as you may have guessed, has Tourette Syndrome himself.
Congratulations to Lars for helping educate gamers about Tourette Syndrome.
Anyone can play the game right here
What if you could learn about what it?s like to have Tourette Syndrome while enjoying a video game experience? Well now you can! Introducing Tourette?s Quest, a fantasy/puzzle-solving game where you play a character with TS. And it really goes to lengths to simulate, metaphorically, the disorder?s symptoms. Says one review of Tourette?s Quest:
Encountering monsters, using your weapons and getting hurt will increase your stress level (quite understandably). As stress increases, it is more likely that a tic will occur. As described in the definition of the disorder, a tic is usually preceded by a prescient feeling?in the game, this is conveyed as a thought bubble. If you are about to blink, for example, an eye appears in a thought bubble and you know that in a few moments, the screen will go black for a second. It would be wise to be clear of danger when you see the eye in the thought bubble.*Other tics include a hand spasm, where you use you weapons involuntarily; a leg twitch, where you jolt to the side, often running into harm?s way; or a cough, which can awaken sleeping monsters whom you then have to kill.
You can suppress a tic by pressing the space bar, but this will increase your pent-up stress and make future tics more frequent and severe. There are other mechanical aspects to the game, but they all contribute to maintaining*this balance of stress level and tic management, while trying to traverse the dungeon without dying.
The individual behind this unique educational game is Lars Doucet, who, as you may have guessed, has Tourette Syndrome himself.
Congratulations to Lars for helping educate gamers about Tourette Syndrome.
Anyone can play the game right here
