InteraQuest is dedicated to creating video games that are fun and beneficial to the player. In addition, we seek to provide professionals such as therapists, educators and parents additional tools to directly help those in need.
Our games address a huge vacuum in the video gaming industry - games that emphasize appropriate role modeling and interpersonal skills as opposed to violence and mayhem. Products with good game play and depth - that entertain without the need for intense action and continual combat. They also address the need for more effective interventions for individuals who have interpersonal skills issues.
The video game market has already accepted electronic toy type games that do not resort to violence (like Sim-City™, various Tycoon® games, and the Sims™). However, none of them presents social or other life skills in an immersive-interactive style that attracts the mainstream video game players of today.
We have chosen to design this product in the Role Playing Game (RPG) genre, due to its emphasis on story line and characters. Up to now, the genre has primarily used characters to direct the story, as targets and as victims. Our RPG products will maintain a high level of entertainment expected by mainstream consumers, while shifting the emphasis to communication and mental skills. If created properly, RPGs can provide a non-threatening environment in which to practice interpersonal skills - a feature particularly needed by delay-averse learners who are reluctant to practice in the real world for fear of rejection and repercussion.
The therapeutic tools are specialized scenarios created from the full game and focused to address specific areas of skill development for use by therapists and educators who work with those (particularly delay-averse learners) who have deficits in skills the game addresses. These scenarios are tied in with evaluative tools to aid therapists and educators; providing a comfortable environment for players to gain skills applicable to the real world, at therapy, in group, and at home.
Our development Methodology aids skill development, while entertaining all players. We further ensure the effectiveness and quality of our games by putting them through repeated design reviews, focus and clinical testing. By making them irresistible to players and effective interventions they are inherently capable of being a huge philanthropic or commercial success as entertainment products.
Recognizing that the same story design will not be effective to all groups, we have targeted this game to male and female players age 10 through adult. This audience was chosen because we believe they are most in need of effective intervention and are the ones least receptive to working in group sessions due to the social rejection they have already experienced. The embedded skills and story will be tailored to this age range.
This age group is also the most active in playing video games, owning or having access to the new PCs and consoles capable of handling the latest software. This ensures the advanced technology required to run our products is already present in the target market. Recently, the target group’s favorite games, based on sales, have been The Sims™ “communication game” series from EA, and previously, the Diablo™ “role-playing game” series from Blizzard. Both of these games are in genres addressed by our current game design. This bodes well for the success of our games as they are similar to both genres.
The game will be marketed to young and adults as "adventures where you can change the world", without having to kill everything you see. The game-based tools are aimed at therapists, educators, counselors, and researchers who assist individuals with interpersonal skills and are seeking different and more effective ways to assist their patients.
Awareness of the use of games as therapeutic tools is growing. for example, BusinessWeek online May 13, 2004 - "Games could provide a solution. It goes without saying that they are a lot more fun than visiting therapists or taking medications. Plus, one American in two - that's 146 million people - already play computer and video games, according to the Entertainment Software Assn."
Growing trends in society show the need for games focused on human values rather than extolling violence. Many parents, legislators, and other organizations are becoming more concerned at the violence in games. InteraQuest is ready to provide an alternative - games based on forming relationships with people.