Gray: Games like “Consume Me” show how play can be part of healing

The indie video game “Consume Me,” a semi-autobiographical work by Jenny Jiao Hsia, has gained popularity for confronting the realities of disordered eating. With childlike art and inventive minigames, the game explores calorie counting, parental judgements and the challenges of being a teenager. 

 Professor Kishonna Gray, an expert at video games, community engagement and technology at the University of Michigan School of Information, tells the New York Times that games like “Consume Me” highlight the unique way games can foster empathy and healing. 

“We feel seen and connected when we play games like this,” Gray says. “No, we aren’t shooting anyone. It’s actually a part of the healing arsenal, and this is where games like this add so much value to human life.”

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Read “She Counted Calories as a Teen, Then Created a Game About it” in The New York Times. 

Learn more about Kishonna Gray’s background and research interests by visiting her UMSI faculty profile.