What began as a niche experiment in behavioral therapy is now part of a growing trend in digital medicine. Prescription games like EndeavorRx and therapeutic platforms like SPARX are gaining traction, not just for novelty, but because they address one of medicine’s most persistent challenges: engagement. Many patients — especially children and teens — resist conventional therapy formats. Games, by contrast, offer structure, feedback, and most importantly, motivation.
This shift is being driven by growing evidence that games can produce measurable outcomes. Researchers, clinicians, and regulatory bodies are no longer ignoring what these platforms can deliver when they’re built around clear clinical goals. And though the benefits are rarely dramatic, they’re consistent enough to be taken seriously.
Fda-Backed Video Games for Attention Disorders
In 2020, the FDA authorized EndeavorRx, the first video game designed and approved as a medical treatment. It targets children aged 8 to 12 diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Rather than prescribing pills alone, doctors can now add a digital game to the care plan — one that trains attention using multisensory tasks and real-time difficulty adjustment.
The game runs for 25 minutes per session, five days a week, and is powered by a system called the Selective Stimulus Management Engine, which balances challenge and frustration. In the pivotal trial involving 348 children, researchers observed a statistically significant improvement in attention scores. Forbes notes that while these improvements were modest, they were sufficient for regulatory clearance, provided the game is used as part of a broader treatment plan and not as a standalone replacement for medication.
For many parents, the idea of doctors prescribing video games may seem ironic. But EndeavorRx is carefully structured: it is time-limited, outcome-driven, and deliberately avoids the endless loops common in commercial games. It’s not about screen time; it’s about turning that screen into a tool with a medical purpose.
Turning Mental Health Therapy Into a Quest
While ADHD has gotten the regulatory headlines, depression and anxiety are also being addressed through gameplay — with some surprising success. One of the most studied cases is SPARX, a fantasy role-playing game developed in New Zealand. According to Forbes, in a randomized controlled trial, SPARX was found to be just as effective as traditional therapy in treating adolescents with mild to moderate depression.
In the game, players navigate a digital world while learning cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) skills, wrapped in battles and storylines rather than worksheets or lectures. This format appeals to teens who might otherwise avoid therapy. Similarly, SuperBetter has shown positive outcomes for adults, helping reduce distress and support well-being with just a few minutes of daily use. Newer entries like eQuoo have demonstrated reduced anxiety and increased resilience in randomized studies.
Backing this up, a Johns Hopkins Children’s Center review published in JAMA Pediatrics in September 2024 analyzed 27 randomized clinical trials involving nearly 3,000 young people. The review found that video games specifically designed for ADHD and depression yielded modest but measurable improvements in attention and mood, with average effect sizes around 0.28. The takeaway is clear: these tools don’t replace therapy — they repackage it into something young patients actually use.
Pain and Medication Adherence Get a Digital Upgrade
Video games are also being deployed in unexpected parts of medicine, including pain management and treatment adherence. In burn clinics, for example, the immersive VR game SnowWorld is used to distract patients during wound care. Users enter a virtual ice canyon where they throw snowballs at penguins, diverting their brains from the pain. The same source reports that studies and meta-analyses show SnowWorld can reduce perceived pain by 35 to 50 percent during procedures. Functional MRI scans confirm reduced activity in brain regions associated with pain while playing.
When it comes to medication, especially in chronic or complex conditions, maintaining adherence is often a bigger challenge than the illness itself. One digital intervention tackling this is Re-Mission, a third-person shooter developed for teens with cancer.
In the game, players control a robot fighting cancer cells from inside the body, using chemotherapy “power-ups.” In a randomized trial, participants who played Re-Mission not only stuck more consistently to their treatment regimens but also reported better understanding of their disease and stronger belief in their ability to manage it.
This isn’t about replacing traditional treatment — it’s about reinforcing it. Whether it’s managing pain or following a chemotherapy schedule, these games tap into motivation, a resource that’s often missing from standard clinical tools. What’s new isn’t just the format, but the ability of that format to deliver on old problems in new ways.