Playful Resilience: Empowering Recovery through Autobiographical Game-Based Storytelling in the Opioid Epidemic

The opioid epidemic is a persistent public health problem throughout Canada, with opioid-related deaths spiking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on Brantford and Hamilton, Ontario, which have high rates of opioid poisoning, this participatory game jam project examines how 21 adults (ages 18+) with a history of opioid addiction make sense of their life experiences through the processes of autobiographical game-based storytelling, including ideation, narrative design, and environmental storytelling. Phenomenological interviews, processual artifacts like concept sketches, doodles, and reflections, and game prototypes generated through Scratch, Twine, and Bitsy facilitated the exploration of six key phenomena representing autobiographical game-based storytelling: maze metaphors, decision-making, compact games, morality and religion, resilience, and social communion. This interdisciplinary project explores how game-based storytelling supports recovery and restores dignity among adults experiencing opioid addiction while raising awareness of health inequities, thereby humanizing the opioid crisis.