Nick Rodriguez, Dean of Games and Creative Technology at MetStudios, believes certain games do more than distract from emotional pain, providing a structure for processing difficult feelings.
Research from the Oxford Internet Institute published in April 2025 identified 13 distinct ways video games can influence players' mental health, both positively and negatively.
A separate UK study published in August 2025 found video games offered psychological benefits during times of stress by providing agency, social connectedness and a sense of progression.
Here are the top picks:
1. Florence
Rodriguez's top recommendation is Florence, a mobile game that charts a relationship through everyday moments rather than dramatic scenes.
"It doesn't villainise anyone. It doesn't frame the breakup as failure. It simply shows love as something alive, something that grows, shifts, and sometimes stops fitting."
2. Coffee Talk
Set in a rain-soaked city where you play a late-night barista serving supernatural customers, the game creates a particular atmosphere for those processing difficult emotions.
"There's a certain kind of quiet that follows a breakup, not the quiet of being alone, but the quiet of not quite knowing where to place your feelings," Rodriguez explains. "You don't want to overwhelm your friends or revisit old memories. You just want a space that feels a little softer to exist in."
The game builds on a simple premise. "Sometimes, healing isn't about advice. It's about presence. It's about sitting with someone, even if you don't know what to say."
3. Fog of Love
For those wanting to examine relationships with a friend, Rodriguez suggests Fog of Love, a two-player board game that simulates a romantic comedy. Players balance personal desires against their partner's needs, sometimes staying together, sometimes not.
The game treats neither outcome as failure, though Rodriguez warns it's "probably best not to play it with a potential partner, it has a knack for exposing rifts before you've even started!"
4. Unpacking
This video game takes a quieter approach. Players organise belongings across multiple house moves, piecing together a protagonist's life through her possessions. When romance enters the story, it's told through physical space.
"What makes Unpacking so powerful is the way the game gives shape to loss and change – turning emotional chaos into something you can understand, hold, and ultimately move through."
5. Journey
Rodriguez's final pick sees players traverse a desert as a cloaked traveller, occasionally meeting strangers they can only communicate with through musical chirps. These fleeting connections form the game's core message.
"Love doesn't have to last forever to be meaningful."
The research
The recommendations come as researchers examine digital gaming's broader mental health impacts. Researchers at Oxford University who studied over 80,000 players reported that people feel good playing games, with positive impacts surpassing mood improvements from watching television, reading and shopping.
A study from York St John University highlighted video games' potential as a valuable resource for self-care and grief management, whilst ongoing research at the Oxford Internet Institute is collecting detailed behavioural game data to understand how online play shapes human motivation and mental health.
Rodriguez frames his selections as an emotional recovery arc. "Florence helps you understand what happened. Coffee Talk gives you somewhere safe to feel it. Fog of Love reminds you that love is complicated, not magical. Unpacking helps you let go of the life you thought you'd have. Journey teaches you how to walk forward again."
He adds:
"Heartbreak often feels like the end of a story. But games are built on the opposite idea: that you can always begin again."
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