BoosterBuddy

Booster Buddy is a mobile app that aims to help teens and young adults improve their mental health through gamification of daily tasks. Based on different intervention strategies such as cognitive behavioral therapy, meditation, and mindfulness, the program uses a series of games and quests to teach coping skills, follow self-care routines, increase real-life socialization, and establish positive habits. When entering the program, the user selects their “booster buddy”- an animated figure which is the main character in the program. The program requires users to log in for daily jump-starts; these begin with a check-in of the user’s current state and then guide the user to complete 3 quests (e.g. take 3 slow deep breaths, think of 3 places in your city you would like to go) in order to wake the booster buddy up. Each quest marked as complete rewards the user with points they can redeem with accessories for the booster buddy.  Adapting to the user’s emotional state, the difficulty level of the activities increases as the user reports feeling better. In addition to the daily jump-starts, Booster Buddy includes appointment and medication reminders; a crisis management plan; an extensive collection of coping skills; and a calendar to review accomplishments and well-being over time.